Blues Boss Kyle Critchell said that he was proud of his team’s resilience after they were narrowly defeated in a seven-goal thriller to Hamworthy Recreation FC on Tuesday evening.

Portland United were put under pressure early on, and just after 10 minutes the side found themselves two goals behind- as well as having two men booked.

However, spurred on by the home fans, the Blues drew the game level by 24 minutes in a frantic first half of action thanks to goals from Patrick Jenkins and Greg Borthwick.

A penalty after half time for the visitors looked to have killed the game off. Speaking about the decision, Critchell said: “We were on the wrong end of a lot of difficult decisions last night- for instance their third goal was a dubious penalty and changed the game.”

Despite being 4-2 down after the hour mark, the Blues came back and scored a third deep into added time courtesy of George Stuttle.

After the game, Critchell said: “We were quite apprehensive in the first 10 minutes, there were a few errors and then we were 2-0 down but we showed real resilience to draw the game level before half time.

“Rec were in the ascendency in the second half and we didn’t match that which is disappointing.

“We are a young squad and I feel like we have started games lethargically to see what the other side has got which we need to address, but I have a feeling of pride for the boys.”

Next up for the Blues this weekend is a visit from high-flying promotion contenders AFC Portchester who currently sit in fourth place with nine points.