Portsmouth side's Fury at humbling by Royals

Fury had defeated The Phoenix earlier in the week but were grounded by a much bigger Royals side.

Goodale said: ‘Even though we lost by 22 points we played really well.

‘We just didn’t have enough big men to throw at Winchester, which is where we have always had success in the past against them.’

The Royals scored the opening seven points of the contest before Fury clawed back and remained level through the first quarter.

A relentless defensive effort from the home side was too much for the travelling Portsmouth team as they fell into a double-digit deficit heading into half-time.

Winchester then pulled further clear in the third quarter, leaving Fury with too much to do as the game wore on.

Goodale added: ‘Antonio (Santoro) was the best player for us offensively but Aarom Ribera came in and did a great job defensively.’

Fury were missing three players from the team that defeated The Phoenix – with others still recovering from injury, including star center George Milis.

Goodale added: ‘It was as we expected it to be, a very physical game.

‘I think we would have had a much closer game if we had more of our team available.

‘WIth a full squad we would have beaten them easily like we did last season.

‘Hopefully George will be back sooner rather than later but there is a chance he won’t play again this season.’

One of the key components of last season’s success, Tom Kovas, suffered knee ligament damage at the start of the season.

He confirmed this week he will not be returning to competitive basketball.

The defeat left Fury fourth in the Solent Area Basketball Assocation League division one east standings.

Elsewhere, Portsmouth Royal Navy Smugglers entertain The Phoenix on Thursday – looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season.