PORTHLEVEN were well and truly put to the sword on Saturday as a poor performance laid the foundation for Vospers Oak Villa to win 4-1.
Lewis Young and Elliot Cunningham both grabbed braces at Gala Parc, while Ben Allen-Bassett scored his first goal in Fishermen colours with his 78th minute consolation.
Port’s manager Dennis Annear felt his side were forced into several mistakes which cost them against a hard working Villa team.
A couple of these came from home goalkeeper Benji Bryant, but Annear said the young stopper must keep his head high and not worry.
Annear said: “There will be critics but he is only 18 and like a lot of guys in the team, including myself, he is going through a learning curve at the moment.
“I know how difficult it can be as a goalkeeper to make a costly mistake and Benji was disheartened after the game.
“But I’ve said to him to keep going, put your gloves back on and head into the next game and not think about the mistakes.”
A couple of early chances fell Port’s way inside the first ten minutes with Rhys Allen and Dan Greet shooting wide, but Villa went in front when a loose pass in midfield was latched onto by Cunningham, who ran into the box and scored.
Allen-Bassett, pictured above, came close to getting an equaliser when he spun and shot towards goal, forcing a save from Ian Evans who tipped the ball over.
He was called into action again not long after when he was forced to push away a shot by Greet.
In the opposite goal, Bryant nearly made a costly error when after racing out to the ball he missed it, only for the offside flag to save his blushes.
But on the stroke of half time, Villa doubled their lead Young banged the ball home and it had rebounded off Aaron Orchard.
Proceedings got worse for the hosts inside the opening minute of the second half when Bryant’s kick out only found Young, who hit a shot in from 20 yards.
Villa went 4-0 up on the hour mark when Cunningham curled a free kick on the edge of the penalty area past Bryant.
Port switched to long ball tactics, something they usually do not opt for, as they looked to cut the deficit.
Their efforts would work out as Tom Annear’s long pass found Allen-Bassett who then ran ahead and saw his shot go past Evans and into the net.
A trip to Dobwalls awaits Port next and despite them being lower in the table than Villa, Annear expects it to be just as tough.
“They don’t have the easiest pitch to play on and they play a similar style of football to Villa,” he said.
“But we’ll have to adapt to the conditions and style and hopefully we can bounce back with a win.”
Referee Kevin Knowles makes a decision which angers the home players. Picture: PHIL RUBERRY.
PORTHLEVEN: Bryant, Wormington, Hunter, Allen, Tarrant, D Greet, Best, Allen-Bassett, T Annear, J Annear, Orchard (Hall 55).
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