‘It was a massive, massive disappointment’ – US Portsmouth’s hopes of another famous FA Vase run shattered by six-goal thrashing

They were hammered 6-1 by fellow Wessex League Premier Division side AFC Stoneham in a tie played at the Hampshire FA’s Winklebury ground in Basingstoke.

US were the talk of Hampshire non-league football in late April and early May 2021 after reaching the Vase semi-finals.

They were nine minutes away from a dream Wembley appearance before eventually losing to Binfield on penalties.

But those heady days seemed a lifetime ago as US conceded twice early on against Stoneham, were 4-0 down at the interval, and ended up on the receiving end of the club’s second heaviest ever Vase defeat.

Their record loss in the competition remains a 6-0 home thumping by Sholing in 2015/16.

Due to their semi-final heroics, US were given a bye through to the second round proper last season, where they lost 5-1 at Frimley Green.

Another heavy loss to Stoneham means they haven’t even reached the first round proper stage this term.

‘The first half was a massive, massive disappointment,’ reflected Quirke. ‘We just never got going.

‘We conceded early direct from a corner and that put us immediately on the back foot. We never got going from that moment on if I’m being honest.

‘It wasn’t a rant and rave team talk at half-time - there’s no point shouting at the players if you’re 4-0 down.

‘It was just a case of going down and seeing if we could win the second half.

‘We were significantly better in the second half but we still conceded two pretty ordinary goals.’

Luke Richards made it 4-1 before Duarte Martins struck twice to complete the Purples’ half-dozen haul.

The second qualifying round tie was switched to Winklebury due to sickness at Stoneham’s facilities.

‘It was a bit inconvenient,’ said Quirke, ‘but that’s not the reason we lost 6-1. It had a bit of a negative impact on the tie, though, as there were hardly any spectators there.’

US entered the tie having lost successive home league games to Hamble and Cowes Sports.

They now bid to avoid a hat-trick of successive home Wessex losses next weekend … against Stoneham!

But before that they host Fareham Town in the Portsmouth Senior Cup on Tuesday.

Connor Grant and Shawn Benjamin are unavailable, while defender Ash Thompson could still be out after suffering a facial injury falling off a bike that ruled him out of contention to face Stoneham.