Portland United laid their Carlsberg FA Vase ghosts to rest at Folland Park last night.

After Saturday's heartbreaking extra-time defeat at the hands of Moneyfields, the Blues came bouncing back with a solid display against Jewson Wessex League strugglers Hamble.

And the three points gained came despite having striker James Reeve red-carded late in the first-half after launching a needless verbal attack on the referee following an offside decision.

The visitors began the contest strongly and went ahead following a corner on 15 minutes. Dave Whalley floated the ball in from the left and in raced Mark Carter to crack home from the edge of the area.

Two minutes later and the Dorset side went further ahead, this time following Carter's long throw from just inside their opponents' territory.

Skipper Darren Whyton helped it on with his head and it was youngster Adam Skelton who made no mistake at the far post.

With Blues' number one Paul Myers a mere spectator, there was only going to be one winner, but the margin of victory was certainly restricted by Reeves' pointless dismissal.

Portland continued to dominate after the break, but they could only manage to add to their tally when awarded a penalty, 13 minutes from the end.

Whyton was uprooted as he threatened to go through on goal and up stepped Whalley to secure the Blues' sixth league success of the season.

"We'll play a lot better than that and lose," admitted manager Nick Preston. "We were never in trouble against a very poor side and we ended up being dragged down to their level which meant we ended up just doing enough.

"Revo's sending off admittedly didn't help and I was absolutely furious with him. We've waited all this time to get him back from injury and now we're going to be without him through suspension for a month all because of some needless bad language to the referee when we were 2-0 up and cruising.

"But it underlines the fact that we've got to brush up on our discipline. Scott Dennis and Mark Carter are both facing bans for being sent off recently and it's simply not acceptable."

He added: "But that aside, I was delighted to pick up all three points on offer. We were in real danger of being dragged into the relegation shake-up and it now gives us a little breathing space. On top of that it was the perfect way to put that Vase defeat behind us and get our confidence going again."

Blues: Myers, Perkins, Rodgers, Denis (Greeno 69 min), Kenway (Wallis 65 min), A Skelton (Fitch 69 min), Whalley, Evans, Carter, Reeves, Whyton.