Shaftesbury 4 Portishead Town 2
By Matt Gillett / 29th November
Portishead ultimately left Dorset empty handed after a 4-2 reverse to Shaftesbury in an exciting encounter between two of the division’s form teams.
Shaftesbury, unbeaten in 7 games, came close inside the first minute. Instead, 3 minutes in, Portishead went ahead. Ethan Feltham headed on a throw; Jack Thorne found Mitch Osmond whose perfectly angled pass released Jay Murray. He advanced on the right of the area, firing home. The lead lasted just 4 minutes; Portishead didn’t deal with a long ball and Harvey Bradbury chipped keeper Ryan Thacker to level. In the 13th minute Posset’s Thorne, already looking lively, deftly beat his defender before crossing for Feltham who headed just wide.
Shaftesbury are fast and direct, hitting balls to exploit their speed out wide. They took the lead on 23 minutes, Toby Holmes converting a right wing cross. Portishead responded with a period of possession, Kyle Egan much in evidence collecting the ball from his defenders and probing for openings. In the 36th minute Osmond, left of the box, fired in a shot fielded by keeper Ben Taylor. After 38 minutes Ollie Woodhouse surged forward, Feltham flicked on and Murray’s shot was blocked by Taylor.
Games turn on moments. On 41 minutes Feltham put Thorne in but Taylor got down well to save, Shaftesbury headed straight downfield and Harry Morgan converted. Fine margins indeed, instead of equalising Portishead found themselves 3-1 down.
After the break as Posset got on the ball Shaftesbury sat deep in a good shape, cutting down options. Thorne had a header over and Osmond drew another save; the home team though remained a threat on the counter-attack. Around the hour mark Portishead came close on a couple of corners, Taylor tipping one away from Feltham and Hamish Hurst heading over from the next.
As the game entered the latter stages, Posset pressure builds. In the 84th minute substitute Jaden Neale cut in from the left, his strike deflected out. From the corner it’s pinball in the 6-yard box with successive efforts on goal somehow kept out with Shaftesbury throwing bodies in to block. In the 88thminute Aron Robbins is on the end of Hurst’s long throw to bring it back to 3-2. Roared on by the travelling Posset Army, the visitors threw everything at Shaftesbury, pinning them back. In added time from another ball into the box a Robbins header goes just over.
Going for broke Portishead are vulnerable to the breakaway. In the 49th minute Moss Jackson-Collins raced clear, getting to the ball before the sprinting Thacker, and sealing the win.
Huge effort by Posset but not to be. They remain top of the league and ready to go again.
