 He made his second and final appearance of the season on 3 May in Bury's 3–0 home defeat by Wrexham, when he replaced Paul O'Shaughnessy after 69 minutes.During Bury's 2003–04 pre-season campaign, Porter scored the third in their 3–0 win over Leigh RMI, before scoring a hat-trick against a young Oldham Athletic side to stake a claim for a starting position in Bury's opening game of the season.His pre-season form paid dividends, earning a starting berth alongside David Nugent in the season opening 4–2 defeat against Swansea City on 9 August 2003.