Image: Michelle Carr.

match Report: Dave Ring.

Bournemouth Poppies 0–3 Portland United
Velocity Wessex Premier League – Saturday 29th November, 3:00pm
Victoria Park, Bournemouth.

PORTLAND United tightened their grip on the playoff chase with a dominant 3–0 victory away at Bournemouth Poppies, pulling themselves to within a single point of the top five.

The Blues struck almost immediately. With barely three minutes played, Greg Borthwick pounced to open the scoring and set the tone for the afternoon. Portland controlled the game from there, and their pressure paid off again just after the interval when Jacob Coombes buried a close-range header from a superb Josh Camp free-kick.

Borthwick then wrapped things up on 56 minutes, drilling home his 15th of a prolific season to secure Portland’s ninth league win. The result stretches their unbeaten league run to eight matches, seven wins and a draw, and keeps them firmly in the mix with games in hand on every side above them.

There was also a proud moment late on, with Under-18s prospect Ellis Moles making his first-team debut in the 88th minute, replacing Archie Woolford. Reserve team player Callum Norman also featured, coming on for George Stuttle on 80 minutes, while Hayden Scott replaced Borthwick in the 70th.

Next up is a tough trip to Hamble Club on Saturday 6th December, and a win there would put Portland in a serious position to launch a full-on playoff push.

Portland United: Smalley, Stuttle, Coombs, Gadsby, Cleaver, Symes, Woolford, Williams, Borthwick, Jenkins, Camp,
Substitutes: Scott, Norman, Nixon, Moles.

Bournemouth Poppies: Plunkett, Morgan, Ohameje, Spink, Carkeet, Rose, Zorava, Cheshire, Taylor, Cope, Roberts
Substitutes: Claydon, Simpson, Tallal, Evans, Adams.