US Portsmouth avoid Russell Cotes Cup banana skin against nine-man Denmead

They defeated two tiers lower Denmead 2-0 at the Victory Stadium on Tuesday - their first home league and cup success of the season at the ninth attempt.

But Hampshire Premier League club Denmead played for 70 minutes with only 10 men after Ryan Chandler had been sent off.

Chandler was shown a straight red for a foul on US midfielder Kelly Nwahei that home boss Fraser Quirke described as a ‘crude challenge.’

Denmead ended the game with only nine men after goalkeeper Chris Clark was sent off for kicking out at a home player after catching the ball from a corner.

With virtually the last kick of the tie, Brandon Jewell converted the resultant penalty.

‘The scoreline looks comfortable but we had some uncomfortable moments,’ remarked Quirke.

‘It was nice to get a win and a clean sheet, but the performance was a little bit less than we would have hoped for against a Hampshire League side.

‘The penalty looked innocuous from where I was, there was no outrage. But speaking to the lads afterwards, they said it was a definite penalty.’

The Russell Cotes is the only cup USP are left in now after they were kicked out of the Wessex League Cup for fielding an ineligible player.

They played Danny Burroughs for the entire 90 minutes in their 3-2 second round win at Petersfield - after the player had appeared for Moneyfields as a sub in the same competition.

‘We’re bang to rights on that one,’ said Quirke. ‘We checked about Danny for the FA Vase, but we didn’t check for the Wessex League Cup.

‘The fact we got a full game out of Danny and a victory has softened the blow somewhat.

‘Our games are coming thick and fast … I don’t think it’s the end of the world that we’re no longer in the competition.’

USP are without a game this weekend as scheduled opponents Horndean are in the FA Vase. They are next in action in a Wessex Premier fixture at Christchurch on October 29.