Wincanton Town v Portland United: Greg Borthwick hits treble

PORTLAND UNITED 4

GREG Borthwick blasted a hat-trick as Portland United progressed to the Isuzu FA Vase first round with a 4-2 win at lower league Wincanton Town.

Victory means Portland will go into the hat for Monday’s draw after beating a Wasps side who have won eight of 13 league games in the Western League Division One this season.

Although their Somerset hosts play at Step 6 level as opposed to Portland’s Step 5 in the Wessex Premier, there was no complacency from the Dorset team.

And they were correct to be cautious as Wincanton set about living up to their aspirations of reaching the main draw, twice taking the lead in the first half.

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Winky went 1-0 up in the third minute when Charlie Berrington buried a volley from 18 yards, via a misjudgement from Blues’ keeper Harrison Bruton, after good work on the approach by Louis Irwin.

Portland rallied after going behind and needed only seven further minutes to equalise when Ryan McKechnie planted a firm header into the far corner.

Wincanton felt aggrieved on 14 minutes when Matt Garner rose highest from a corner and headed home, only to see his goal ruled out for an infringement.

In a frantic first half, Borthwick lashed against the post before Wincanton retook the lead, Irwin again at the heart of the Wasps’ attack by setting up Garner who volleyed past Bruton.

However, Borthwick stunned the hosts with two goals in six minutes.

His first came from the spot, lashing low down the middle, and he then made it 3-2 when George Stuttle showed excellent vision to ping a long ball over the top for the striker to slam home.

Early in the second half, Winky needed a sublime save from promising young keeper Rob Hollard to tip a Borthwick shot onto the post.

Wincanton then managed to switch the momentum and first had a goal chalked out before Berrington won a penalty, Bruton guessing correctly to save with his feet.

Portland weathered heavy late pressure from the hosts and got their reward when Borthwick wrapped up the victory in style with a nerveless one-on-one finish after good work from Ben Morris.

With manager Kyle Critchell away and assistant Jamie Symes on the field, it was left to first-team coach Josh Hickman to take the reins.

Portland United first-team coach Josh Hickman (Image: IDRIS MARTIN)

He told Echosport: “We knew we were coming up against a top Western side, they were a lot more physical and direct and we struggled to deal with that in the early stages of the first half.

“We adapted and I thought we were really good at times. We got our goals and in the second half we were superb, it was bodies on the line stuff.”

On Borthwick, he added: “He definitely deserves it. Every week he’s predictable. He’ll put everything he can into the game.

“He’s a great lad on and off the pitch, it’s superb we’ve got him back firing goals in for us, it’s what we need.

“Greg’s a big focal point but it’s not just Greg. At the start of the season we were struggling and trying to advance.

“But we stripped it back to our basics, we’ve gone back to our core values and it’s working. We’ve got two wins on the bounce now and we’re looking to build momentum.”

Elsewhere, Portland United Reserves hammered Hamworthy United Reserves 7-1 in the Dorset Premier League, with Tom Butcher bagging a quadruple.

Portland’s first team are next in action on Saturday at home to Bournemouth Poppies in league action (3pm).

Blues: Bruton, Harvey, Stuttle, Williams, Bessant, Symes, Rowe (Sheehy 64), McKechnie (Delves 90+3), Borthwick, Morris, Doyle (Scott 80). Subs not used: Gadsby, Callow, Woolford, Lucas.