TADLEY CALLEVA 2

Vickers 14, Dunham 48

PORTLAND UNITED 2

McKechnie 73, Bessant 87 (Portland win 4-3 on penalties)

PORTLAND staged a thrilling two-goal comeback to beat Tadley Calleva 4-3 on penalties in the Sydenhams League Cup third round.

The Blues had been 2-0 down with 17 minutes to go before strikes from Ryan McKechnie and Shaun Bessant cancelled out goals from Danny Vickers and Brett Dunham.

With no extra-time, Portland then went on to win 4-3 on penalties to progress through to the quarter-finals.

The islanders started slowly with a defensive change made to try and make them more secure.

However the Blues fell behind to Vickers’ early header after 14 minutes, when the Blues failed to deal with a second ball from a free-kick.

The second half saw a brilliant performance from Portland, where they created numerous chances.

However, Dunham fired in three minutes into the second half after a long throw and Portland’s hesitation helped Dunham to finish which left the Blues with a mountain to climb.

The Blues were still creating chances however, but they were let down with poor finishing and bad decision making.

However, McKechnie scored after a corner with 17 minutes to go to give the Blues late hope.

The Blues then levelled with three minutes to go, when a long range strike from Bessant found its way into the net.

Portland then surged forward in search of a winning goal but could not find it as the contest went to penalties.

The visitors then emerged victorious with only Darren Watts missing, with Ross Doidge, Jamie Symes, Jamie Beasley and McKechnie firing in.

Sean Lillington also made two superb saves to hand the Blues the victory on penalties.

First-team coach Stuart Heath said: “We thoroughly deserved to win the game.

“Obviously with 17 minutes to go and 2-0 down you are fearing the worst but we kept going and our character was outstanding.

“I thought overall in the game we were far the better team and we certainly deserved to win.

“We feared the worst when we were 2-0 down with 17 minutes to go but we never stopped believing and we kept creating chances as we did all through the game.

“Our character and that second-half performance even when

we were 2-0 down was outstanding.”

Portland: Lillington, Bessant, Walker, S Buckler, Clarke (Beasley 70), McKechnie, M Buckler (Bastick 60), Doidge, Watts, Godfrey, Symes

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