Portimonense’s long unbeaten run finally came to an end when Famalicão emerged the 3-0 winners at the municipal stadium on Sunday morning.
Heavy rain had rendered the pitch almost unplayable and the fact that the match did go ahead can only be put down to the away team’s long journey south as much as the presence of television cameras rather than common sense.
The atrocious conditions turned the encounter into an aquaplaning lottery and Chico’s opening strike in the 20th minute came after an attempted Jadson clearance achieved little more than present the scorer with the sodden ball.
Lady luck again shone down on Famalicão five minutes later when a hopeful Vitor Vinha free kick was deflected by Ewerton into his own net.
As Portimonense’s attempts to pass the ball around fell foul of the conditions, the visitors’ kick-and-chase brand of football paid further dividends just after the interval when Chico scored again to make it three to nothing – the remainder of the game sunk in the mud despite valiant efforts from Zambujo and Fabrício to turn the result around.
The Algarveans travel to Lisbon on Wednesday where Benfica B provide the opposition before going on to welcome struggling Leixões on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese League Cup third phase draw has Portimonense in Group C with Sporting Lisbon (H), Arouca (H) and Paços Ferreira (A). The ties will be played between December 29 and January 28 with the respective group winners going forward to dispute the semi-finals in early February 2016.
By SKIP BANDELE
