Portimonense beat Farense 1-0 on the coldest Saturday afternoon of the year to make it three out of three Algarve derby wins this season to date.
Blustery conditions and a soggy pitch contributed significantly to a scrappy opening half during which Farense’s Osama Rashid managed to collect his second yellow card just before half time.
Undaunted by their now numerical inferiority, the team from the region’s capital dominated large parts of the second period of play, forcing a number of good saves from home keeper Ricardo Ferreira. However, aided by the introduction of young Nigerian debutant Musa Yahaya, Portimonense began to develop some forward momentum which resulted in a well-taken corner from captain Ricardo Pessoa nodded home at the near post by Jadson for the only goal of the match.
“At this stage, what counts are results,” manager José Augusto said afterwards. “We were not as good as on other occasions today.”
Nonetheless, the three points kept Portimonense in touch with the promotion race which could still see any two of seven clubs reach the top tier by the end of next month.
For now Chaves are in pole position, three points ahead of last weekend’s biggest climbers, Famalicão, who share the second promotion place with Feirense, two points in front of Portimonense.
The battle continues this Saturday when Sporting Braga B visit the Algarve before a midweek trip to the Azores and Santa Clara beckons. SKIP BANDELE
