PORTLAND TOWN A 6 PORTLAND TOWN B 0

PORTLAND Town created their own piece of Dorset history when two teams from the same club battled it out in an official fixture for the first time ever in the county.

The A and B teams met in the group stages of the Bankes Cup, Dorset’s oldest cup competition, and it was Ben White’s side that came out on top.

Danny Sheppard scored four times for the As, while Shane Maguire and Elliott Gould were also on the mark.

Despite the one-sided look to the result it was a fairly even contest for 75 minutes as Colin Rice’s team gave as good as they got.

The Bs started the game the brighter with the front pairing of Jason Pearson and Dylan Riley looking particularly sharp.

Riley provided an inch-perfect cross for Pearson in the fourth minute but the striker couldn’t direct his header on target and the opportunity went begging.

Their opponents always looked a threat, the lively Sheppard tormenting the B defence of Ben Rowe, Paul Barber, Chris Ginifer and Matt Britton.

And it was Sheppard who broke the deadlock on seven minutes, finishing from a tight angle to make it 1-0.

The second came shortly after as the As piled on the pressure. A succession of corners resulted in an effort been palmed on to the bar by Garry Gale only to see it drop to Maguire just a yard out for a simple tap in.

More pressure was put on the B goal and Edd Barber powered a header just wide moments later.

The B team were then given a lifeline as a clumsy challenge by A skipper Mike O’Donovan in the box resulted in a penalty and a yellow card for the defender – Riley took the spot-kick but his shot went wide of the mark.

But the Bs were punished moments later when Sheppard added a third before the break.

Midfield duo John Chester and man of the match Lewie Dolan seemed to take control of the game for the Bs after the interval, but chances were spurned.

A fourth was then added by Gould whose 18-yard volley was the pick of the bunch.

Both sides then made changes with debutants Steve Wedlake and Brandon Middleditch coming on for the Bs and As respectively.

Sheppard completed his hat-trick and netted a fourth before the end for a somewhat flattering scoreline in favour of the A team.