Visitors Feirense caught Portimonense napping at the beginning of Saturday’s match and came close to scoring on two occasions before finally taking the lead in the fifth minute. It took another quarter-of-an-hour during which keeper Ricardo Ferreira produced several outstanding saves until the home side found its feet and began to threaten the opposition goal. Those efforts paid off when Pires found the back of the net just after the half-hour mark to level the tie, but Platiny put Feirense ahead once more deep into first-half injury time.
After the interval, Portimonense proceeded to dominate events on the pitch and Ricardo Pessoa was thwarted by away keeper Makaridze when failing to convert a 56th-minute spot kick. The Portimonense Captain did not make the same mistake 13 minutes later, on this occasion successfully slotting home a further penalty awarded by referee Vasco Santos.
Portimonense’s forward momentum was halted by a flurry of yellow cards resulting in the 76th-minute dismissal of Mamadu and the game remained drawn at two a piece, a result which was not going to be changed by the stoppage time red card for Feirense’s Porcellis.
Gil Vicente, one point behind the Algarveans in 11th place, were next up on Wednesday (played after the Resident went to press) before Sporting Covilhã come to the municipal stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The busy schedule continues with League and Portuguese FA Cup away trips to Penafiel and non-league Amiense on September 23 and 27 respectively, ahead of the first second division Algarve derby of the new season in the region’s capital on Wednesday, September 30 (all dates are subject to change).
By SKIP BANDELE
Photo: Portimonense Captain Ricardo Pessoa
