Famous five for Portland (From Dorset Echo)

Famous five for Portland

6:00pm Tuesday 26th February 2013 in Sport By Echo Reporter

Under-18 Division Three

PORTLAND TOWN 4

SOUTH CHERITON 0

PORTLAND Town made it a fantastic five wins in a row with a 4-0 victory over South Cheriton in a hard-fought encounter at Redlands.

Town now sit proudly in joint-second place in the table with the prospect of going higher with a win at Poole this week.

The hosts were the dominant force from the off but South Cheriton proved difficult to break through and they were not afraid of putting in some meaty challenges, eventually leaving them with a handful of yellow cards.

Archie Markwell came closest to giving Town the lead in the 20th minute but his effort rebounded off a post.

Cheriton should have taken the lead when they broke through one-on-one with Matty Peart but the forward could only place his effort wide of the goal.

Town did take the lead in the 30th minute through a wonder strike from Matt Dunlop. JJ Ogilvie was crudely taken down 35 yards from goal but that was not far enough out to deny Dunlop, who unleashed an unstoppable effort that sailed over the keeper’s head.

Captain Floyd Musson was then kicked in the head in the Cheriton penalty box but the referee only awarded an indirect free-kick on the edge of the six-yard box. Dunlop took the free-kick but it was blocked on the goalline.

The Town lead was doubled on the stroke of half-time with McCauley Sherred superbly heading in at the back post from a Dunlop cross.

Town were soon into their stride in the second half and played some lovely possession football as they totally bossed the game.

However, for all their possession they were still struggling to break down a resolute Cheriton rearguard. Numerous near misses came and went before Zach Holden scored a goal of the season contender in the 75th minute.

Brendan McNulty’s pin-point corner found Holden just inside the 18-yard box and the Town player acrobatically scissor-kicked the ball into the top corner.

Town killed the game off with 10 minutes remaining when man of the match Dunlop laid the ball back for Adam Hanger and he rifled in a curling effort from 25 yards. The home side came close to adding a fifth through Kane Bennett, Holden and Hanger but had to settle for four.

Man of the Match: Matt Dunlop