Captain Steve Ramsey reaches fine personal club milestone as five-star AFC Portchester put high-flying Shaftesbury to the sword

AFC Portchester boss Dave Carter says his players showed just how good they can be as they stunned third-placed high-flying Shaftesbury with an emphatic 5-1 success in the Wessex League Premier.
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And Carter rated it as the best showing his squad have served up 'footballing-wise' so far this season on Non-League Day.

Portchester had five different scorers with centre-back Sam Pearce, Lee Wort, Felipe Barcelos, George Barker and young gun Archie Greenough all getting on the scoresheet in the resounding victory on a day when captain Steve Ramsey reached 250 appearances for the club he joined from Gosport Borough some seven years ago.

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For the Royals, it ensured they moved up a place above Baffins Milton Rovers into seventh in the Wessex Premier standings - and saw them inflict just a second defeat on promotion-chasing Shaftesbury in their previous 26 league fixtures.

Carter beamed: ‘We've always got it in us to play that well. I just said to the lads, it was a lovely day out there, fantastic pitch, go and play football. They did exactly that.

‘We absolutely played superb, it was probably the best performance of the season footballing-wise. They couldn't have grumbled if it was eight.

‘There were a couple of (other) chances – where you're that far in front you take a couple of extra touches and things like that.

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‘The boys were hungry, they moved the ball well, the formation worked for us on the day. It's a massive pitch down there at Shaftesbury, we played well against Farnborough on a good surface, we've got the players to play well on a good pitch and that makes a real difference. I was really pleased with it.’

Captain Steve Ramsey reached 250 AFC Portchester appearances in the win at Shaftesbury Picture: Daniel HaswellCaptain Steve Ramsey reached 250 AFC Portchester appearances in the win at Shaftesbury Picture: Daniel Haswell
Captain Steve Ramsey reached 250 AFC Portchester appearances in the win at Shaftesbury Picture: Daniel Haswell

Defender Pearce curled home a free-kick after just six minutes to set the Royals on their way to victory.

Striker Felipe Barcelos then bagged his third goal in six outings since joining the club last month seven minutes later.

Talisman Lee Wort then capped a crazy opening 21-minute spell, notching his 38th goal of the campaign to make it 3-0.

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George Barker added a fourth with a low drive four minutes after the restart before substitute Archie Grenough made it 5-0 on 86 minutes.

Talisman Lee Wort struck in AFC Portchester's victory at Shaftesbury Picture: Daniel HaswellTalisman Lee Wort struck in AFC Portchester's victory at Shaftesbury Picture: Daniel Haswell
Talisman Lee Wort struck in AFC Portchester's victory at Shaftesbury Picture: Daniel Haswell

There was a slight blot on what was a superb victory as Aidan Shepherd slammed home a penalty with virtually the last kick of the game for the frustrated hosts after Tyler Giddings had committed a foul in the area.

Carter also saluted skipper Ramsey after he reached 250 appearances for Portchester in the victory. The Royals boss said: ‘It's 250 games, he's (Steve) been at the club seven years, he's a fantastic captain and a leader. It was pleasing for him.’

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