BASHLEY were left to count the cost of a controversial refereeing decision and some poor defending as they went down 3-1 at Premier Division high-fliers Portland.

The visitors were convinced Alex Halloran’s first-half opener at the Weyline Stadium should have been chalked off for a foul on goalkeeper Joe Prodomo.

Slack marking allowed Alex Godrey to double Portland’s lead early in the second half before Hugh Dathan threw Bash a lifeline when he halved the deficit with six minutes remaining.

However, Jamie Beasley completed the scoring for the hosts late on as they extended to 14 games their unbeaten league run.

Sam House's double condemned Hamworthy United to a 3-0 defeat by Lymington at the Sports Ground.

Lymington, 5-1 winners at the County Ground in October, forged 2-0 in front thanks to goals from House after 17 and 48 minutes before Charlie Willet put the finishing touches to the victory.

Sami Makhloufi netted for Poppies but their relegation fears intensified when they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Fareham with Bradey Norton scoring twice.

Goals from Ben Harris and Matt Steer failed to save Ringwood from going down 4-2 to Wessex One leaders Hamble Club.

  • All other fixtures involving local teams were postponed.