Down to earth with a bump

Wells Reserves travelled to Portishead Reserves full of confidence on the back of 10 games unbeaten and were brought down to earth with a bump.
In perfect conditions Wells began the game nervously and didn’t really get out of first gear. The chances were few and far between. Darren Maynard and Scott Hurley upfront found it difficult to break down an organised Portishead defence. On 20 minutes Wells went a goal down when a rash challenge in the box by Pete Vowles gifted the home team a penalty, which was duly despatched, although Mike Roper did get a hand to it. This still didn’t spark Wells into life and 10 minutes later Portishead got their second. A low drive to Roper’s right seen the keeper make a great save but could only parry into the path of the oncoming striker, and with the defence on their heels the ball was tapped in to make it 2-0. Wells then had a short period of pressure but were still unable to get that all important goal. With 1 minute of the half remaining Wells were dealt a sucker punch when Fabio Ramos failed to get the ball under control on the half way line and the home side counter attacked, Ramos made amends and won the ball back on the edge of his own box only to again get caught in possession and lose the ball. The Portishead striker coolly finished past the advancing Roper to make it 3-0 at half time.
The second half was a complete stale mate with neither keeper having to make a noteworthy save. Wells got a consolation goal on 88 minutes when a goalmouth scramble was poked home by Charlie Crook.
After the game manager Mark Phipps commented “This was a disappointing way to lose our unbeaten run, too many players didn’t perform on the day. If we are serious about promotion we have to win games like this. We have to put this defeat behind us and move onto the next league game.