AFC Portchester produced another five-star performance to record a resounding 5-0 victory over Hartley Wintney.
Hot on the heels of their brilliant display when they knocked Step 3 high-flyers Taunton Town out of FA Trophy, it was a return to the bread and butter of the league for this midweek encounter and Gav Spurway’s side were nothing short of excellent once again.
It was another towering display defensively and the visitors struggled to live with the high quality passing and movement of the Portchester front line, which saw all four strikers getting amongst the goals on the night.
The visitors almost snatched the lead though after two minutes of the game. A quick break forward saw the ball played to Kanye Moyo down the right hand side of the penalty area.
He hit a low shot which keeper Steven Mowthorpe managed to block and then the Hartley player quickly fired the re-bound back towards goal from close range but the Royals’ keeper managed to block that effort as well.
Portchester then took the lead five minutes later in a move which started with a deep cross from the right to the far post. Brett Pitman managed to hook the ball back across goal at full stretch towards Lee Wort, who had anticipated the ball coming across the six yard box and he ran on to it before guiding his low shot past keeper Nick Jupp and into the net.
Pitman went close to getting on the scoresheet on 20 minutes when he jumped highest to meet a cross into the box but his header dropped on to the roof of the net.
Three minutes later at the other end George Wallace got forward down the left before cutting inside and firing a low shot towards goal. Mowthorpe blocked the shot but spilled the ball before gathering safely at the second attempt.
Marley Ridge prevented an almost certain goal at one end before nearly doubling Portchester’s lead at the other in the space of two minutes around the half hour mark.
Connor Holland got clear of the home defence and looked to finish off the move by firing the ball into the net but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Ridge produced a perfectly timed tackle to slide in and take the ball off his foot.
In the next attack at the opposite end of the pitch Ridge latched on to a cross from the right but he put his shot over the target.
The home side did double their lead two minutes before half time when they were awarded a penalty after a defender was judged to have handled the ball inside the box. Jupp got a strong hand to Pitman’s penalty but the spot kick had enough power on it to find its way into the corner of the net.
Portchester’s third goal arrived on 63 minutes after Wort had received the ball on the right hand side of the penalty area and played the ball out to Charlie Williamson on the right. He lofted his cross to the far post where Pitman outjumped his marker to head the ball back across the six yard box and Wort ran on to it and smashed his shot into the net.
Mowthorpe had to be alert to block a free kick from 25 yards out on 74 minutes before the home side made it 4-0 a minute later.
Williamson received the ball in midfield and spun past his marker before crossing the ball into the box from the right. It eventually found it’s way to substitute Alfie Stanley and he dispatched a swerving shot from 15 yards out into the net for his seventh goal of the season.
The scoring was completed on 79 minutes when a long clearance out of defence went in behind a Hartley defender and after he fell over, Connor Duffin raced past him to get to the ball and he then dinked his shot past Jupp and into the net.
Hartley Wintney’s miserable night was completed on 84 minutes when Alex Body’s shot on goal beat everyone in a Portchester shirt only to come back off the post.
