Mixed emotions as 10-man Royals claim away point
AFC Portchester boss Dave Carter came away with mixed emotions after watching his 10-man side make it 10 matches unbeaten in all competitions with a Wessex Premier draw at high-flying AFC Stoneham.
The Royals battled back to claim a 2-2 draw through George Barker's late strike after the visitors' full-back Tyler Giddings was shown a straight red card - harshly in Carter's eyes - right on the stroke of half-time.
Portchester had earlier taken the lead through Marley Ridge, only for Stoneham to turn things around thanks to goals from substitute and former Royals striker Callum Laycock and Scott Hills.
But Carter's men showed great fight, levelling through Barker 11 minutes from time, to make it 10 matches unbeaten.
The Royals boss reflected: ‘We dominated the first-half, obviously scored a good goal, looked in command right up until the 45th minute.
‘It was a poor decision by the referee to send Tyler off.
‘Pleased with that on the afterthought (picking up a point with 10 men), but I felt we were good enough to win the game.
‘I’m happy at the final result literally the last kick of the game
Lee Wort hit the outside of the post - we finished a lot stronger side.
‘Don’t get me wrong, they had a lot of possession, but the boys work tirelessly.
‘There was a good save from Steve Mowthorpe second half, Sam Pearce cleared one off the line.
‘It takes our unbeaten run to 10 but overall it’s disappointing because I felt we should have got all three points - but it just proves how far we’ve come.’
Ridge's pinpoint header handed the visitors the lead on 12 minutes and they remained largely in the ascendancy up until Giddings' dismissal seconds before the break. The full-back was shown a straight red card for his lunging tackle on the halfway line.
Former Portchester striker Laycock, introduced as a half-time substitute, came back to haunt his old side by volleying Stoneham level on 54 minutes.
It looked a long way back when Hills lobbed over Mowthorpe to fire the hosts ahead on 68 minutes.
But Barker levelled things up once more 11 minutes from time and Wort so nearly snatched all three points for Portchester deep in stoppage-time - yet his shot struck the outside of the post and went wide.
Portchester are back in league action tomorrow at an Amesbury side who now prop up the Premier Division table.