BLUES' assistant manager Bren-dan King was full of praise for Dorset Premier League rivals Sturminster after they ran his side close at Grove Corner.

John Lamb and Ross Doidge put the hosts 2-0 up but after Lewis Whyton missed a golden chance to grab a third the visitors fought back and asked a lot of questions of King's men.

Ross Humphrey got one back before Matt White regained Portland's two-goal lead with a penalty. Rob Morley then made it 3-2 with 10 minutes to go but the away side were unable to find a late leveller.

King said: "After we went 2-0 up Lewis went around their keeper and should have scored but somehow he allowed their player enough time to get back and clear his shot off the line. Had that gone in I think it would have been game over.

"They then started to come back into it and got one back.

"In the second half we kept the ball well and made a couple of half chances before they broke and had a shot that hit Andy Perkins on the hand. From where we were it looked like a penalty but the referee did not give it.

"We then went almost immediately up the other end and won one ourselves when Matt White was brought down in the box. Matt got up and scored to make it 3-1 but they still kept going and got a bit of a fluky one to put us under a bit of pressure again.

"Lewis had another chance and Adam Linaker and Ross both went close and in the end we held on but they deserve a lot of credit.

"We should have dominated after going 2-0 up but they came back at us and gave us a few problems particularly their two lads up front."

John Litherland and Whyton combined to set up Lamb and that was added to shortly after when White found Ross Doidge, who shot home from 10 yards.

Whyton then had an effort cleared off the line before Humphrey got the visitors back into the game with a fine volley from 18 yards.

Both teams had efforts on goal at the start of the second half but it was United who scored next after White had beaten a couple men before being felled in the box. The powerful forward made Stur pay by blasting home the spot-kick.

Morley cut the deficit again to just one with a shot that looped over Paul Gadsby but Portland finished strong and held on.

King said: "The one negative from the game was that Lloyd Cranny had to come off with an ankle injury. We expect him to be out for ten days to two weeks but we can't say for sure until the swelling goes down and it can be assessed properly."

Blues: Gadsby, Cranny (Middleton 35mins), Perkins, Ansty, Thoday, Lamb (Reader 70mins), Mutch, Litherland, Doidge, Whyton, White (Linaker 70mins).