Portchester boss Wallace rues ‘harsh’ first half red card in home thrashing by Wessex Leaguers Hamworthy

The Royals had the defender shown a straight red card for a foul on Lee Francis in the penalty area when trailing by a solitary goal just past the half-hour mark.

Although Brad Snelling saved Eddie Hodge's resulting spot-kick, Portchester were left to play for more than an hour with 10 men.

Wallace, who tasted defeat for the first time in temporary charge of the Royals, felt that was a big moment.

‘It came at a pivotal time and I thought it was a harsh sending off,' he said.

‘It was really harsh because it was accidental contact.

‘Whilst he’s made a genuine attempt to play the ball, he’s made no attempt to make contact with the striker.

‘I thought the double jeopardy of a yellow card and a penalty was enough.

'There were real small margins and we worked so hard to get back into the game, it was just disappointing we couldn’t really create anything in the final third.

‘I thought if we got a goal back it would have been a real test for them.

‘Against any team with 10 men it’s tough, against a team that’s at the top and playing with confidence it’s going to be even tougher.

'But Brad pulled off a really good save and, again, fine margins in the game.

‘The effort and commitment from the lads again, with a few youngsters in there as well, we take positives where we can and dust ourselves down.'

Wallace, whose side host Baffins Milton Rovers on Tuesday in the league, added: 'Obviously I’m disappointed with the result and I can’t be waxing lyrical about the performance.

'But the attitude and application was never in question.

‘The guys will be hurting but I’m sure we’ll turn ourselves around.'