DORCHESTER RESERVES 1

AFC PORTCHESTER RESERVES 1

A LATE strike from substitute Luke Woodland gave the Magpies a share of the spoils at the Avenue against fellow Wyvern Premier Division title contenders AFC Portchester.

Woodland, a second-half replacement for Alex Godfrey, fired through the legs of visiting keeper Ross Casey in the last minute to earn his side a draw.

Curtis Robbins had given Port-chester the lead just after the interval when he was quickest to react to a Jordan Fancey effort which was parried by Josh Lucas.

The draw means Dorchester stay fourth in the table, just behind Team Solent on goal difference, while Portchester close the gap on leaders Sholing to two points with as many games in hand.

Dorchester’s David Jerrard had the first chance of the match when he blasted over Connor Doe’s cross from the right.

Chris Williams then picked up a booking for a foul on the edge of the hosts’ box, though the resulting free-kick came to nothing.

The only other real scoring opportunity of note fell to Portchester’s Lee Johnson, however, his long-range attempt was dealt with by Lucas.

After Robbins opened the scoring early in the second half the Portchester striker could have had another a few minutes later.

He got to a left-wing cross first but couldn’t direct his header on target.

At the other end, Jerrard continued to be Dorchester’s main threat, with the centre forward seeing a shot tipped around a post by Casey.

Both sides went close in the closing stages, Matt Pople forced Lucas to tip a shot over the bar, while Brandon Huckstepp saw an effort fly past a post.

Just when it looked like Portchester would gain revenge over Dorchester for their 2-1 defeat to the Magpies in October – their only defeat in the league this season – Woodland burst through and despatched the ball into the back of the visitors’ net past the onrushing Casey.

Speaking to Echosport after the game, Dorchester joint-manager Neil Mackie felt a draw was just about the right result.

“Portchester are always a good side and they had a few senior players in their side that helped them out,” he said.

“Our boys haven’t trained this year so they looked a bit rusty, but that was to be expected.

“We were two evenly-matched sides and the game seemed to ebb and flow, with one team on top for a period and then the other.

“We upped our game once they scored and our boys kept push-ing until Luke scored the equaliser.

“Both teams had their strong points and weaknesses, and a draw was probably a fair result.”

He added: “It was good to get the lads some football but we’ve got a bit of work to do to get them back to how they were playing before Christmas.”

Woodland’s goal was a particularly sweet moment for the player following a spell out with ankle ligament damage.

Magpies: Lucas, Doe, Michie, Walters, Rolls, Williams (Giles), Huckstepp, Godfrey (Woodland), Brown (Neate), Jerrard, White