AFC Portchester fail to close the gap on Wessex Premier League leaders Alresford

A first half goal from the division’s leading goalscorer, Craig Harding, enabled the Magpies to soar six points clear at the top following a 1-0 win at The Crest Finance Stadium.

Harding was on hand to fire home his 20th goal of the campaign after the Royals defence had allowed a Mike Gosney cross to reach the back post.

The previous week Portchester had conceded first at home to Horndean, but hit back to win - their fifth successive league triumph.

Not this time.

A 12th success in 15 league matches for the hosts would have seen them scissor the gap on Alresford to just a point with two games in hand.

Now, after losing to them for the second time this season, they trail by seven points.

Alresford were reasonable value for their 14th win in 20 league matches.

A healthy crowd were treated to a match that, while never hugely entertaining in terms of nice passing football and/or a flurry of chances, was always competitive.

Royals keeper Brad Snelling was the busier of the two keepers in the first half, while Portchester only tested visiting shot-stopper Matt Fredericks on a couple of occasions going down the slope in the second period.

Duarte Martins and Harding were a handful for the home defence, and Gosney is still a class act at Wessex level 12 years after helping AFC Totton reach the FA Vase final.

‘I’m obviously disappointed to lose,’ said Royals boss Mick Catlin, ‘but I’m not disappointed with the players’ effort.

‘We created a few chances in the second half and their keeper pulled off two excellent saves.

‘We were confident at half-time that we could get a goal, but it didn’t happen.

‘Alresford are top for a reason - they are a big, physical side with a lot of experience and they would probably hold their own in the Southern League if they went up.

‘There wasn’t much between the two teams, but they put the ball in the right areas a bit better.

‘We can’t feel sorry for ourselves - we have to pick ourselves up and go again.’

Catlin fielded a front three of 15-goal top scorer Dan Wooden, Jason Parish and Alex Badlacchino that would be the envy of most Wessex sides.

The latter, though, was forced off with a hamstring injury just before the break.

‘That was a big loss,’ rued Catlin. ‘I’m sure he would have taken one if some of our second half chances had fallen to him.

‘Hopefully it’s only a hamstring tweak. Alex has only just come back after a long time out and we took him off as we don’t want to take any chances.’

Wooden was never allowed a clear sight of goal by Alresford centre halves Luke Dempsey and Darryl Wollers, while Parish had his side’s best two chances.

In the 69th minute, he broke free on the right hand side but saw a powerful shot turned away by Fredericks for a corner.

A few minutes later, Parish, on the left hand side of the penalty area, curled in an effort that the diving Fredericks - playing only his second game since signing from Stoneham - again tipped behind.

Nathan Paxton twice fired wide before the Royals played out the last few minutes with only 10 men after defender Ellis Martin had been sin-binned for dissent.

Though the pitch was certainly playable, Catlin admitted it was soft in the middle - a possible reason why both sides fired a lot of long balls to the strikers rather than trying to play through their opponents.

‘I’m sure the title race will go down to the wire,’ Catlin added. ‘That would be good for the league.

‘We’ve had two good crowds recently and hopefully most of them will keep coming back.’