Sargeant praised for doing the ‘ugly stuff’ well during US Portsmouth’s Wessex League romp against Downton

The industrious midfielder wasn’t among the scorers in his side’s 5-1 Wessex League Division 1 success, but boss Glenn Turnbull enthused: ‘He was excellent.

‘He does all the dirty work that some people don’t appreciate.

‘He does all the ugly stuff and makes other players look good, and he’s been great all season.

‘He’s rarely a nine or a ten out of ten, but he’s always a seven or eight, he does his job very well.’

Turnbull said US’ performance overall was only ‘a six or seven out of 10’ display against a Downton side still looking for their opening point.

There were also lessons to be learned, as Downton’s consolation came when the visitors were down to 10 men due to a sin-binning.

‘That’s the second time that’s happened this season,’ said the boss.

‘Instead of pressing them, we dropped off as we thought it was going to be easy.

‘On occasions like that we’ve got to press our foot to the floor, rather than backing off.

‘But in the end it was three points and plus four in the goal difference and that could be important in the end.’

Turnbull was also boosted by defender Tom Cain coming through 90 minutes in the reserves’ 2-2 draw at Salisbury.

Not known for his goalscoring, Cain scored both US goals, including a penalty.