JUBILANT boss Brad Asagba praised his Blandford United heroes after they had sent shock waves through the Dorset Premier League by downing champions Portland United.

Goals from David Weeden, Luke Crane and Paul Ford earned the Royals a 3-1 victory at Park Road with Ed Bastick’s late effort proving a mere consolation for the Blues, title winners for the past two years.

Weeden, who was making his debut following his midweek move from Merley Cobham, fastened on to a superb through ball from Luke Pidgley and finished with aplomb to open the scoring.

And the Royals were in dreamland when Crane headed home Keiron Mulvey’s pinpoint cross to double the hosts’ lead inside the opening 15 minutes.

A staunch rearguard effort saw Blandford stand firm to repel Portland until two minutes from time when Bastick netted to give the back-to-back title winners a glimmer of hope.

However, as the Blues piled forward in search of a late leveller, Ford administered the knockout blow when he finished a swift counter-attack by rifling home a third.

Asagba told the Daily Echo: “It was all about the 15 players in the squad, they were the protagonists. I am lucky that I have inherited a group that believe in me and, as a result, have faith in what I ask them to do.

“This win was all about them executing the tasks handed to them and, as a collective, their focus and discipline were magnificent. “However, we know the project is in its infancy and the hard work is only just beginning. We have to improve and the only thing this result illustrates is that we have the capacity to do so, nothing more.”

Asagba also had words of praise for opposite number Gary Bailey, describing the Blues as “a fantastic team” and saying their reaction to the surprise defeat was “magnificent”.

Bailey said: “I have never known a game where a team of mine has created so many chances, enjoyed so much possession and come away with nothing.

“Even when Ed scored, I thought we might nick it because they were dead on their feet. They defended resolutely but we ran them ragged with the amount of possession we had.

“Fair play to Blandford, I don’t want to take anything away from them. They scored two good goals early and their goalkeeper and back four were magnificent.

“We had warned our lads about giving them something to hold on to. They defended for their lives and we didn’t have enough quality to break them down.”