Port display character to bounce back against Wallingford & Crowmarsh
On an evening which saw several local rivals fall by the wayside, Holyport marched through to the next round of the Cherry Red Records Premier Challenge Cup with a 2-0 away win at Wallingford and Crowmarsh.
Just a couple of days on from their heart-breaking, and some may say illdeserved, 1-0 defeat to Binfield in the FA Cup first qualifying round, Sam Lock’s side were back in cup action again against Wallingford, who currently sit bottom of the Combined Counties Premier Division North having picked up just one point from their first six matches.
Port are undefeated in the league this season with three draws, and they kept up their form in the cup competitions this season thanks to first half goals from Sam Jones and Dimitrijevic. Jones smashed home the first from 20 yards in the 26th minute before Dimitrijevic slotted home well in the 38th minute.
In an interview with Holyport’s ‘social media and stat man’, Jay Harvey, 13, manager Lock said: “It wasn’t about performances or quality tonight, it was about getting the result. We had less than 48 hours turnaround and the boys turned up today and they ran through pain barriers. They were tired and they were sore, but they were brilliant. The game was played in horrendous, awful conditions but we roughed it out and got the result we deserved. We told them to be brave, to trust themselves. Week in and week out this season the only team I care about is the one I stare at when I’m doing my team talks and that’s our team. We’re also unbeaten in my luck hat, so as long as I where my lucky hat, we’re alright. I’m delighted with the boys, we've bounced back.
“Winning is a mentality. They didn’t deserve what happened to them on Sunday, but that’s football. That wasn’t pretty at all tonight, but they’ve got the result and we’re in the hat for the next round. We want to play against the top teams, the boys want to test themselves against the top players and it's important that we do that.”