Portland United 2-1 Hamble Club: Brin Doyle nets brace

HAMBLE CLUB 1

PORTLAND United earned their first victory under new boss Kyle Critchell with a 2-1 success over Hamble Club at the Camp & Satherley Stadium.

Critchell’s maiden win comes in his third game and the Blues now boast a record of 13 points from a possible 15 in their past five meetings with the Monks.

Brin Doyle gave Portland the ideal start with a goal in the tenth minute, slamming home into the roof of the net an emphatic finish from Troy Walbridge’s cross.

Portland pushed for a second and Toby Diaz was unlucky to see an effort hacked off the line but Hamble gave the Blues a fright when they hit the post on the cusp of half-time.

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And the visitors went one better in the 48th minute when Jack Barnes reacted quickest to Mike Edgar’s save for 1-1.

Seven minutes later, Hamble then thought they had taken the lead only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

Fortune smiled on Portland again midway through the half as Doyle netted his and the Blues’ second, a fortuitous deflection taking the ball past Hamble keeper Henry Newman.

Portland celebrate retaking the lead (Image: IDRIS MARTIN)

Despite a red card for Hamble’s Leo Taylor, the Monks came forward in numbers late on with a point at stake.

Edgar had to make four imperative saves deep into stoppage-time, three coming in the same phase, as the Blues held firm over eight minutes of added time to claim their fifth victory of the Wessex League season.

Speaking to Echosport, Critchell said: “It’s a reaction from all of the players trusted in the process and what we’re trying to achieve.

“There’s still so much that we need to do better but you can’t criticise the effort and resilience that they’ve shown to pick up three points.

Portland United manager Kyle Critchell earned his first win as boss (Image: IDRIS MARTIN)

“At spells, we were under pressure but they took instructions on and were incredibly hard to beat, which is fantastic.

“When you’re down the bottom, you’ve got to have that level of enthusiasm.

“At this level it’s incredibly important that you’re resolute and understand the roles and responsibilities you have within the team.

“You can build on that. We’re at the start of that journey and the lads are learning every week.

“The more time in training and the more games we have they’ll get better. We’ve still got so much to improve upon.

“Hopefully we’ll go into Saturday and have another performance.”

On his first win as boss, Critchell added: “Relief is probably the overall feeling.

“I’m just incredibly proud of every person we’ve got that’s associated with the club. It was well deserved.”

Blues: Edgar, Thomas, Stuttle, Williams, Callow, Bessant, Diaz (M Smith 68), McKechnie (Will 68), Walbridge (Harvey 86), Symes (Hewitt 59), Doyle. Sub not used: Pritchard.

Attendance: 131

Match, man of the match and match ball sponsor: Weymouth Precision Engineers

Programme sponsor: Café Oasis