Upwey & BROADWEY 1

Portland UTD RES 1

STEVE Reynolds described Upwey’s hard-fought draw against local rivals Portland United Reserves as “a small step in the right direction”.

The result ended a run of five successive defeats for the Wey-mouth outfit, who also checked their recent poor disciplinary record by not receiving a single card over the 90 minutes.

Ben Coltart put the hosts in front at Redlands after just 35 seconds, and was later denied a second by a debatable offside decision.

Upwey also felt they should have had a penalty before some sloppy defending at a throw-in enabled the Blues to snatch a point in the second half.

Reynolds, who took charge of his first game since taking time out of the game, said: “We got in front early and then scored what looked like another legitimate goal, only to have it ruled out for offside.

“We then had a good penalty shout for handball turned down.

“The referee said it was ball to hand but the lad had his elbow above his head so I can understand what Simon Ansell means when we said a couple of weeks ago that we haven’t had the rub of the green.

“For the rest of the game both teams cancelled each other out and to be honest it was not the best of spectacles.

“Clinton Coltart made a couple of saves for us but I think overall we deserved to claim the three points and I think Portland would agree with that even though they were a bit more switched on to things at times.

“I was certainly disappointed with their equaliser because I had already warned our lads to stay switched on at throw-ins before the game.

“The fact the thrower managed to throw it to someone’s feet and then be given the chance to get it back and cross it is a schoolboy error from our point of view and to Portland’s credit they took the opport-unity.

“To come through the game without a single yellow card and having stopped the rot, there is no doubt it was a small step in the right direction and hopefully we can now build on this ahead of another difficult game against Bishops Caundle next Saturday.”

Unfortunately for Upwey, Sean Stewart suffered ligament damage in the game and could be ruled out for the rest of the season.

Reynolds added: “It happened just before half-time when Sean had his leg twisted around by a really bad tackle.

“Had a black and white shirt committed the foul he would definitely gone in the book and the fact we might lose him now for several weeks is a huge blow.”

Upwey: C Coltart, McLucas (Porteous 65), Burton, Anderson, Pearce, Zima, Frost, Jarvis, Stewart (McDonald 48), Devaney, B Coltart. Sub not used: Coombs.