GOALS from Ed Bastick, Alex Halloran and Ash Smith secured a superb 3-0 win for Portland over Bridport at the Weyline Stadium last night.

Blues’ boss Brendon King admitted the first goal probably gave the islanders a bit more confidence as they proceeded to have a dominant end of the clash.

King said: “Give credit to Bridport in the first half, they got in our faces and made it difficult, so we changed it around.

“In the second half we got on top and I think when we scored the first goal it gave us a bit more confidence and we started popping the ball about a bit more how we want to and I think we were really good then.”

Bridport manager Adam Fricker admitted it was a good test for his side.

“It was a good workout for us, I think for 70 minutes it was an even affair but I think fitness told when they were able to freshen up a bit.

“From our perspective we were delighted with what the lads did.

“We managed to get some important minutes into Leighton Thomas and Richard Hebditch who has not played any minutes this season.”

Portland’s dominant second half secured a superb victory over Bridport with an Ed Bastick strike prompting a wave of Portland attacks.

The encounter was heated with

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challenges flying in early with the teams well-matched but Portland became the dominant force midway through the second half.

The sight of new signing Bastick linking up well with Jamie Beasley will have warmed the home support.

Bastick made a superb debut, scoring midway through the second half after lovely work from Alex Godfrey and reeled off in celebration to soak up the applause.

The defences won out in the first half, as both sides made inroads but without ever creating a clear path.

The closest effort being a save from Jordan Tewkesbury from a Leighton Thomas ball in to stop Bridport’s Mark Salter from tapping in late on.

Bridport were in the ascendancy as they increasingly looked likely to break through as Portland began to wilt.

However, the script went out of the window for the second half with a great performance from the home side that saw Portland increasingly dominant as it went on.

Alex Godfrey grabbed the second goal with a superb shot from the outside of his boot.

Jason Hutchings in the Bridport goal was called into two fantastic saves as Portland clicked into gear.

Ashton Smith scored a somewhat bizarre third close to the stroke full time, after the ball was punched clear he fired through the crowd weakly which made its way past Hutchings in the Bridport goal.

Portland: Tewkesbury, McKechnie, Butcher, Marshallsay (Bessant 46), S Buckler (Dovell 77), Clarke (Godfrey 46), Halloran (Smith 46), Whyton (Read 71), Symes, Beasley (Mitchell 77)

Bridport: Hutchings, Regan (Weedon 65), Poart, B Symes (Cox 77), Rutter, Richardson, Thomas, Peach (Hebditch 20), Salter, M Buckler, Latas. Subs not used: Smith

Attendance: 121