Portsmouth overcome slow start and bad weather to gain first win

Report by Gordon Dedman

The Portsmouth Dreadnoughts enjoy their first win

Two winless teams went head to head last weekend in Hastings and although the weather was gloomy and windy, the game was an entertaining display of football confirming the progress both rookie teams have made.

As a new team, Portsmouth has challenges with their execution and they did little in the opening minutes to change that portrayal. The Dreadnoughts fell behind early after giving up a safety and then a touchdown that Hastings ran in from a short punt.

The Portsmouth players must have felt disappointment that they had let themselves down with a bad snap followed by a poor kick and conceding eight points. Having yielded 126 points in their three previous games, the prospects for improving on their winless record were not good.

Fortunately, heads did not drop and on the ensuing kickoff, George Slade turned adversity into opportunity. He was the spark that ignited the Dreadnoughts revival after mishandling the ball in the windy conditions. While he struggled to secure the live ball with the Conquerors special team descending upon him at a rapid pace, he then made a heads up play.

With the ball secured, Slade skirted along the sideline, outrunning his opponents and winning the race to the end zone. With the touchdown reducing the Dreadnoughts deficit, his teammates now began to believe that the dream of a win was a reality.

As the game went into the second quarter and with the wind behind them, Portsmouth took on a different appearance. The mistakes disappeared while their execution improved and three more touchdowns were added for a 28-8 halftime lead.

The third quarter was marred by an injury to Portsmouth’s Joe Clulow, but I understand he has recovered OK. Portsmouth went on to score three more touchdowns while the Conquerors scored one in the final period as Portsmouth put all their woes behind them with a well-deserved 48-15 victory.

Hastings can take heart that they never gave up and their first win should not be far away.

The Portsmouth sideline was a sea of smiles and Offensive Coordinator Dave Gibbs confirmed, “The team is delighted to have won our first game in the BAFA National League. After what was a tough opening campaign that didn't end the way we would have wanted it too, getting this first win is a huge step towards shaking some of the negative stigma around the team from the events of last season.

While the performance was certainly much better across all three phases, there is still plenty of room for us to improve and grow. We look forward to our remaining fixtures as we look to build on our first entry in the win column.”