BLUES’ chief Gary Bailey has urged his team to learn from last weekend’s second-half debacle, as they bid to bounce back at Romsey Town in the first round of the FA Vase tomorrow (2pm).

Portland fell to a 3-2 defeat last time out against 10-man Newport (IoW) having been 2-0 up at half-time at Grove Corner but the island boss is keen to draw a line under that defeat.

He told Echosport: “We had a chat about it at training and we know it was a bad second half but we have to put it in context to where we have been over the last four of five games.

“It was disappointing and we didn’t see it coming but hopefully we will learn from it. We have to make sure we see games out, no matter how comfortable we feel in them.

“We have put that to bed now, we will move on and look forward to this weekend.”

The Blues face a Romsey outfit who were the first team to beat them on their return to the Wessex League structure last season.

And, despite now being a league above their hosts having secured promotion from Wessex One last term, Bailey will not be taking their Vase opposition lightly.

“There certainly won’t be any complacency on our part,” he added.

“Form and league status goes out the window. It’s a case of who turns up, wants it that little bit more on the day and finds that bit of quality. Hopefully it will be us.”

Bailey is hopeful Chris Clarke (knee) and Ed Bastick (groin) will recover in time for the clash.