‘Christmas break came at wrong time for us’ – US Portsmouth boss Quirke after midweek Wessex League derby caning by Moneyfields

USP rattled off a fourth win in five Wessex Premier games when they caned Laverstock 4-0 at HMS Temeraire on December 17 - their best step 5 run ever.

But they were then without a fixture for 17 days, and had only trained once during that barren spell.

Possibly unsurprisingly, USP delivered a below-par display on their return, crashing 4-0 against Portsea Island rivals Moneyfields at a blustery, rainswept Westleigh Park on Tuesday.

‘It was wet, it was miserable in more than one sense,’ Quirke told The News. ‘It was a pretty miserable performance from us if I’m being honest.

‘I could offer up a whole lot of excuses - Christmas came at the wrong time for us, we would like to have carried on through

‘We were half a yard short all over the pitch. It was just a generally bad day at the office.

‘Hopefully it was a blip, we’ve got it out of our system, now we can move forward.’

Moving forward involves the longest Wessex trip of the season this weekend, when USP go to Portland.

Further away trips to Bemerton and a midweek PO postcode derby at Baffins Milton Rovers follow.

Winger Dan Sibley misses the trek to Portland as he has a ticket to watch Pompey’s FA Cup tie at Tottenham.

Manager’s son Cameron Quirke is also unavailable - he has Navy commitments for the next few weeks - but midfielder Reece Frost comes back into contention.

‘Moneyfields were sixth in the table, but now there’s no excuses,’ said Fraser Quirke. ‘We are above Portland in the league for a reason - we’ve scored more goals and won more points.

‘It’s a chance to get back on the horse, but they will also be looking at the game as a chance to get three points.’

Elsewhere in the Wessex Premier, leaders Portchester travel to Hythe & Dibden, while third-placed Horndean host Bournemouth.

Baffins Milton host Bemerton and Fareham Town travel to Laverstock & Ford.

Horndean haven’t played since December 16, when they won 2-1 against Moneyfields at Westleigh Park, while Baffins’ last fixture was the following day, a 4-1 home win over Bournemouth.