Perhaps Portimonense already suspected what was in store for them ahead of last Saturday afternoon’s heavy 5-1 home defeat to Sporting Braga B when Jorge Ferreira was nominated to referee the match.
The official is an old ‘acquaintance’ who has been responsible for showing no less than nine Portimonense players the red card during the last five occasions he has been in charge of games involving the Algarveans, and he promptly added to that tally over the weekend.
To be fair sleepy Portimonense had already suffered the rudest of awakenings at the feet of ultra-speedy 19-year-old Ghanaian winger Oti, who had home keeper Ricardo Ferreira pick the ball out of the back of his net twice before the opening quarter hour was up, when Musa Yahaya received his marching orders for a 21st-minute foul on the same player. Fortes converted from the spot and the handful of away fans must have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief as the scoreline read 3-0 with over an hour remaining on the clock.
Didi and Joca then punished 10-man Portimonense with numbers four and five either side of the interval before Lucas grabbed a late consolation goal two minutes before the final whistle.
The biggest reversal at this level since Naval ran out the 6-1 winners during the 2004/05 season does little to boost the team’s confidence ahead of Wednesday’s difficult trip to the Azores where Santa Clara provides the opposition.
However, a positive result there would put manager José Augusto’s men straight back into the promotion mix ahead of Sunday’s visit from Oriental.
by SKIP BANDELE
