PORTLAND UNITED 2

FAREHAM TOWN 2

PORTLAND United fought back from 2-0 down against Fareham Town at the Camp & Satherley Stadium, extending their unbeaten run to five games.

On the two-year anniversary of joint-bosses Franklyn Clarke and Sam Poole taking the Portland hotseat, their young Blues side illustrated its improvement in those 24 months.

Their reign started with a 1-0 victory over Amesbury before an 8-1 thrashing at Cowes gave the duo a reminder of how difficult their job would be.

However, the work they have done at Portland was shown in fitting style following a poor start to this game.

READ MORE: Cowes Sports 0-0 Portland United - match report

Fareham had already beaten Portland 3-0 away in the Wessex League Cup and opened a 2-0 lead after 32 minutes, threatening to repeat the victory.

Fareham captain Garry Moody headed home a corner before Jordan Benfield tapped home from close range.

Portland halved the deficit three minutes later as Marcus Smith transferred his fine scoring form for Dorchester Under-23s into senior football, reacting quickest to a parry from Luke Deacon to score.

Smith missed a massive chance for 2-2 before the break but Portland would level midway through the second half as Deacon spilled a George Stuttle cross into Liam Sayers’ path.

As both sides chased a winner late on, Clarke came closest to bagging all three points only for his shot to fizz past the post.

Portland had only previously gone three games unbeaten under Clarke and Poole but the Blues notched another point here to break that record by two matches and counting, reward for a spirited display.

Speaking to Echosport, Clarke highlighted the growth within Portland’s squad.

He said: “It feels good. We were 2-0 down after half an hour and 12 months I thought we would’ve gone a third down and the game would be done.

“It’s just a completely different mentality now. The lads have grown, they understand how to manage games a lot better now.

“We’ve come away disappointed not to win but Fareham are a top team and are fifth in the league, so we’ll take another point and another game unbeaten.

“It was two years ago this weekend that me and Sam took over and within those two years the progress is crazy.

“The players have grown on the pitch and myself and Sam have grown as managers, learned and understood more. I can only see us going from strength to strength from here.”

Portland, still in 14th, host winless Blackfield & Langley on Tuesday (7.45pm).

Blues: Edgar, Thomas, Stuttle, Poole, Harvey, Williams, F Clarke, M Smith, Sayers (Walbridge 85), Wilson (Borthwick 60), Morris. Sub not used: Diaz, Lowes.

Match sponsor: Tony Pidgely

Match ball sponsor: Nigel Hayes

Programme sponsor: Peter Warren

Mascots: Billy Canham and William Gould

Attendance: 216