Portishead Town 4 Malvern Town 0
Match Report by Matt Gillett / 18th April
Southern League Division One South
Portishead Town pulled out all the stops to beat Malvern Town 4-0 and leapfrog them into 2nd place in the table with just one game to go. Portishead showed their abundance of qualities both with and without the ball in a richly deserved victory.
Malvern, fourteen games unbeaten, went direct. In the 3rd minute Mitch Osmond hooked the ball away from Posset’s goal-line with keeper Jakob Glover needed to deal with early high balls into the box.
Ollie Woodhouse’s 8th minute precision pass released Jack Thorne beyond the Malvern defence, he found Jay Murray who fired over. On 13 minutes Jamie Adams found Kyle Egan, he freed Murray on the right who returned the ball for Egan to make it 1-0. Time and again Portishead exploited Malvern’s high defensive line. In the 20th minute Adams beat the offside trap from halfway and squared to Murray but Malvern keeper Josh Bishop somehow saved low. Two minutes later Bishop denied Thorne after Egan’s impeccable through ball.
After Posset won a 26th minute midfield skirmish, Thorne dashed down the left and set Owen Humphries to bring another great stop from Bishop. Osmond, tackling like a demon all afternoon, sent Thorne away again in the 32nd minute drawing yet another intervention from Bishop. But on 43 minutes Adams put Thorne in again and his classy, curled finish made it 2-0. Two minutes later Egan received a red card and the half ended, deep into added time, with Malvern rattling the Posset post from an indirect free-kick.
With Portishead down to ten-men it was no surprise Malvern enjoyed plenty of possession at the start of the second period. Posset, resolute and organised, kept a great shape. Battling and blocking, the determination etched on their faces, Posset restricted Malvern’s opportunities to a minimum.
When the visitors managed a 59th minute effort on goal Glover produced a great save. From the corner Thorne blocked in his own box, Humphries made a lung bursting surge down the field before shooting, Bishop parried but Murray netted the rebound.
Portishead safeguarded an eighth clean sheet in nine games. Woodhouse and Hurst repeatedly won aerial challenges as Mason Winter and Aron Robbins cleared their lines from full-back. In front of them Adams and Osmond covered acres of ground. The returning Callum Eastwood, on for Humphries, added his energy to midfield.
Thorne, superb all afternoon leading the line, was thwarted by Bishop on 68 minutes. But in the 76th minute Posset won possession again. Thorne bore down on goal and rolled the ball to Murray for another cool finish, 4-0. Soon after Murray made way for Jaden Neale, his lightning pace kept Malvern’s defence on their toes as the game closed out.
Magnificent, just magnificent…
