PORTESHAM UNITED 8

MARNHULL 0

IN ONLY their second game of 2018, Portesham recorded another empathic victory, with the Possums routing North Dorset side Marnhull 8-0 in Dorset League Division Two in heavy conditions.

The game was lucky to go ahead and the pitch was a quagmire of mud. As a result, both teams struggled early on with the wind gusting down the pitch.

But Paul Aston’s repeated ability to turn defence into attack slowly began to grind Marnhull down after a slow start and, on 20 minutes, Mujeeb Falowo was put clean through on goal only to see Marnhull keeper Nick Elsworth save smartly to keep parity.

Half an hour in and the pressure did finally pay off with a very tidy goal as a Matt Croxson left-foot volley beat Elsworth.

One quickly became two as Jacob Wilcock played in Jack Thompson who crashed a fierce shot on to the underside of the crossbar bouncing down on the line allowing Croxson to pounce and grab his second goal for a 2-0 half-time lead.

The second half started with the Possums looking for a quick third goal to put the game to bed, and just eight minutes in Adam Schofield duly obliged firing through a group of players into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

Marnhull were tiring and, after seeing the entire Portesham bench of Mikey Hoskins, Stephen McDade and Andy Cleeton come on as fresh legs, the floodgates opened as Thompson rifled a shot into the top corner from 20 yards to make it four, before Hoskins saw a shot well-saved by Elsworth only for Thompson to follow up and smash the ball into the roof of the net for five.

McDade then almost made it six, his jinking run from deep seeing him glide past five Marnhull players before drawing a stunning save from Elsworth to deny him his goal.

Not to be outdone, left-back Liam O’Shaughnessy then ran through the heart of the Marnhull defence and calmly slotted home for his first competitive goal for the club.

The seventh goal rivalled Croxson’s first goal of the game and was a historical one as Thompson became the first player of the modern Portesham era to hit back-to-back hat-tricks, his solo run into the box ending with him sitting the ball down and dinking the ball over Elsworth.

After his early missed chance Falowo redeemed himself, adding a well-taken eighth by finishing from a tight angle.