PORTLAND UNITED RES 10 WITCHAMPTON UNITED 0

SIMON Crouch struck five times as the Blues recorded one of the biggest victories of the season in the Dorset Senior League.

Only Upwey & Broadwey, who thrashed Okeford 11-0 in March, have scored more in a single match this term – Corfe Mullen and Westland Sports also hit double figures against Kingston Lacy and South Cheriton respectively.

Will Gould opened the scoring 10 minutes in and it was all one-way traffic from there.

The Blues led 6-0 at the break and added four more after the interval, with Ryan McKechnie’s volleyed second the pick of the bunch, according to boss Chris Hicks.

But Crouch was the star of the show and his manager was del-ighted to see the striker get his reward for a lot of hard work throughout the campaign.

“Crouchie had a great game and he took all his goals well,” said Hicks. “I’m really pleased for him.

“He works hard and put himself about but sometimes struggles to find the back of the net, so it’s good to see him re-warded.”

Simon Austin and Chris Evans also got their names on the scoresheet for Portland, who don’t play again until next Monday.

Reflecting on the final score, Hicks added: “It was a bit of a shock result and to get that many was quite a surprise.

“But we have been creating a lot of chances and it’s a result that has been coming.

“I can’t fault the lads, they were great, and it’s the big-gest win I’ve had as a man-ager.

“Witchampton must have had players out be we didn’t have our strongest starting XI either.”

Blues: Bickerstaff, A Gould, Burton, Bessant (Hicks 70), W Gould (D Whyton 70), Churchill, McKechnie, Austin, Hansford, Evans, Crouch Match ball sponsor: Jack Sansom