Defeat but no disgrace for plucky Yachtsmen

Portland United 3 Cowes Sports 1

Cowes Sports’ trip to Portland failed to yield any points for the Island outfit, but there were plenty of positives from the game for manager Vic Sanders and his players.

The Yachtsmen refused to be overawed by the opposition, who are currently in second place in the Wessex League, Premier Division, and have lost only two of 18 games so far this campaign.

Sanders reckoned: “Despite the defeat I felt it was probably one of our best performances of season, and I was very proud of the way the lads played. Unfortunately, it was another of those occasions where we had plenty of chances to have won the game, but didn’t take them. Portland had four shots and scored three goals, while we had about 10 shots and scored only one.”

Even the Portland chairman admitted to Sanders afterwards that the Yachtsmen were the better footballing side on the day, and the scoreline was not a true reflection in the game.

Despite dominating much of the first half, and having a strong penalty claim turned down, the Islanders found themselves two goals down at the break, and Portland increased their advantage in the second period before substitute Callum Watkins scored a consolation goal near the end.

Luck was also against the Yachtsmen earlier on when Dominic Sexton had the ball in the net, only to have it ruled out by a late offside flag.

Cowes face another difficult game tomorrow when they host Bournemouth, a side currently fourth in the table. Sanders said: “We know it is going to be another tough one, but then hopefully we have a run of games coming up where we can start improving our league position. We know we have to start picking up points but we have 15 games remaining to hit the target we want to reach.”