AFC Portchester’s London away day jinx continued when they were well beaten at high-flying Raynes Park Vale.
The good news is they are not due another trip to the capital until mid-November so there will be time to look at why they are not doing well when they head up the A3 and M3 and make the appropriate adjustments to put a stop to this continued capital punishment.
The bad news is this was the Royals’ fourth straight away defeat at the hands of a London-based team and in truth they did not look like they were going to break their losing streak in the suburbs on this occasion.
The game got off to a frenetic start and the Portchester defence initially repelled the home side’s quick passing and movement through midfield, not letting them have any real chances of note.
On ten minutes the Royals created the first half chance of the afternoon when a long ball forward found Josh Clack just outside the penalty area and he played a pass inside to Alfie Stanley who blazed his shot well over the target.
Two minutes later at the other end a ball played up into the box found Calvin Ekpiteta and after turning quickly he fired off a low shot from 12 yards out that was easily smothered by keeper Steven Mowthorpe.
On 15 minutes the home side won possession on the byline as the visitors were caught trying to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. After heading towards goal the home player set the ball back to Tyler Cox but his low shot was saved by Mowthorpe.
Raynes Park did get the breakthrough on 18 minutes. After some patient build up play in front of the visiting defence, the ball eventually found its way to Ibrahim Bangura and after playing a quick one-two with a team mate he hit a low shot which beat Mowthorpe and found its way into the net.
The home side threatened to extend their lead further before the half time interval. On 39 minutes quick passing through midfield put Ekpiteta in space inside the box and his shot had to be deflected behind for a corner by Jack Lee.
A minute later a cross from the right found Kareem Akinnibi at the near post but he headed over and after Ekpiteta got away from his marker on the right he played the ball low into the box to Omarr Lawson but he blasted his shot well over.
Portchester rallied a little at the start of the second half and started to see their confidence rise as they created some half chances. On 47 minutes Marley Ridge screwed his shot wide and five minutes later Tommy Scutt tried his luck from outside the box but his shot went over.
The Royals’ best chance fell to James Cowan on 53 minutes when some quick passing set him up with the chance to shoot from just inside the box but his shot went agonisingly wide of the post.
However, Portchester’s bright start to the second half evaporated when the home side doubled their lead two minutes later. Ekpiteta crossed from the right hand side of the penalty area and Akinnibi met the ball at the far post and his first time shot beat Mowthorpe at his near post.
Royals boss Gav Spurway made a number of substitutions to try and give his side some fresh attacking impetus but they fell further behind on 70 minutes. Quick passing down the right found Ekpiteta again and his low ball across the goal picked out Cox’s run at the far post and he fired his low shot into the net.
The closing stages saw the home side go close on a number of occasions to making the final scoreline even more emphatic. On 83 minutes Jordan Bilongo’s shot was deflected wide by a defender and a minute later Ekpiteta raced clear but Mowthorpe made a good save to keep out his powerful shot.
In injury time Ekpiteta had another opportunity when he fired off a shot from the edge of the box but Mowthorpe managed to push his shot away from goal.
