Portchester Rovers on track to achieve pre-season Mid-Solent League target

Bobby Read, right, was on target as Portchester Rovers won 2-0 against Mob Albion. Picture: Chris Moorhouse

Rovers boss Chris Yoxall described his side's 2-0 Mid Solent League Division 1 win against Mob Albion at Westleigh Park as the best they've produced this term.

The victory left them fourth, just two points behind third-placed Mob and second-placed Strawberry having played one game and three matches fewer respectively.

Yoxall conceded catching leaders Meon Milton, who they face in a double banker to end the season on May 22, is virtually impossible.

Milton are 11 points clear of Rovers, having played a game more, but Yoxall remains determined to end the season in the top three.

He explained: 'We’re not set up like a Meon Milton or a Harvest Home last year, who ran away with the league. All those teams are pushing to be Hampshire League clubs.

‘We set out at the beginning of the season wanting to get in the top three.

‘We’re kind of the best of the rest and this season we just wanted to break into the top three.

'To be where we are now is where we wanted to be.

‘We’re doing alright - obviously we can’t win it - and we’re going to do our best to go out and win our remaining games.'

Second half strikes from Connor Lyons and Bobby Read - whose exquisite chip was his 17th goal of the season - gave Rovers victory on the Hawks’ 3G surface.

Mob certainly missed top scorer Harry Potter, who had struck hat-tricks on the two previous Saturdays at Westleigh Park against Strawberry and Meon Milton.

Yoxall had been critical of the way his team had performed since the campaign restarted after lockdown restrictions were eased, but was delighted with his side's latest showing.

He added: 'From our perspective, it was the best performance of the season, definitely. We really took it to Mob.

'We haven’t started that well since we got back from Covid, we didn’t play particularly well against Strawberry or Stubbington - in fact we were awful against Stubbington.

‘I said to the boys last week that if we played like that against Mob they’d absolutely batter us but, sure enough, we were different class.

‘It was a really good performance.'

Rovers face Mob again this weekend.