Portimonense beat Olhanense much more comfortably on Saturday afternoon than the scant 1-0 score line might suggest, to make it four wins from as many games against Algarve opposition this season.
Manager José Augusto’s men dominated throughout as the hosts struggled to find their rhythm and could have been two up by the time captain Ricardo Pessoa converted a 26th minute penalty for the only goal of the match.
Olhanense did briefly threaten after the interval but a straight red card for Tiago Duque in the 76th minute effectively ended any hopes of a local fight back and Portimonense could easily have added to their tally but for some excellent work from opposition keeper Moreira.
Those three points added to the one gained from an excellent goalless midweek draw with top-of-the-table competition Freamunde allowed the Algarveans to lay claim to the second promotion spot behind four-point leaders Chaves before the remainder of last weekend’s fixtures were played out on Sunday.
That placing was retained ahead of this Wednesday’s home encounter with Vitória de Guimarães B (played after the Resident went to press) by virtue of a favourable set of results from the Premier League hopefuls’ point of view – closest rivals Famalicão were beaten by Benfica B while Freamunde and Feirense could only draw their respective games.
This Sunday afternoon, Portimonense are on the road to Lisbon again with mid-table Atlético providing the opposition.
By SKIP BANDELE
