It was two points dropped for the champions but in truth they should have been beaten as Portuguese squandered some excellent goal-scoring opportunities in the second half.Trinity rode their luck as a result of some poor Portuguese finishing and they snatched their point with a second goal six minutes into time added on for stoppages.Portuguese complained bitterly about all the stoppage time played after the final whistle, but, to be fair, they brought some of it on themselves as substitute José da Costa, who was cautioned for his action, wasted a couple of minutes rolling over several times after he held his face after making contact with an opponent.Time was also added on for several cautions and substitutions in the second half.Trinity’s draw moves them alongside Jersey Scottish but they trail the Scots on goal-difference from a game played more.Jimmy Reilly pounced to give the champions the lead on 30 minutes before Portuguese upped their pace after the break to run their opponents ragged at times.Portuguese squandered three chances before Vitor Santos equalised with a sweet left-foot shot that he curled inside a post from 25 yards in the 65th minute.The goal came after an excellent Portuguese break, with one and two-touch football, and while substitute Darren Swanson dragged Trinity’s only chance of the second period agonisingly wide of a post, Santos stuck again in the 82nd minute with a forceful low drive inside the same upright from 16 yards.Trinity lost their concentration complaining about a free kick on the half-way line and when Helio Freitas took it quickly Santos raced towards goal to score for the second time.Trinity looked down and out but Ray Grant, who had a solid game in the heart of their defence, rescued them when he nodded home a last-gasp equaliser from Jon Fitzmaurice’s cross.Trinity joint-manager Joe Morley said: ‘We controlled the first half but in the second we were shocking.
We looked very tired and the players sat back and tried to hold onto their lead.’Portuguese gave us a really tough game and they should have won.
We went out for three points and fortunately we got one.
It’s a set back but we’ll crack on.
We won’t become a bad team because of this result, the players are on a brilliant 31-match unbeaten run and I’m sure they’ll all being looking to bounce back on Saturday when we play the Portuguese again in the Wheway Cup.’Portuguese player-manager José-Manuel Vieira said: ‘We had the game in our hands and we lost it – I’m really disappointed.
We had some excellent chances to have finished them off but we didn’t take them.’Trinity are a good side and like all the other teams we respect them.
We played on the counter-attack in the second half and it worked well for us.
I want us to finish in the top five and we’re on target as the point we took moves us up to fourth.’We are still in two cup competitions and it would be a great result for the club if we could win a trophy this season.’Portuguese: Paulo Campos; Helio Freitas, Antonio Costa, Artur Calaca, Pedro Lopes; Joao Gouveia, Nelson Mwakazi, Marco Varela, Carlos Carolo; José-Manuel Vieira, Vitor Santos.
Subs used: José da Costa, Duarte Ferreira, Armando Fontes.
Cautioned: da Costa.Trinity: Sean McDonald; Allan Brown, Ray Grant, Peter Smith, Jon Fitzmaurice; Paul Beckett, Paddy O’Toole, Gerard Meadows; Stephen Holt, Jimmy Reilly, Dave Le Roux.
Subs used: Darren Swanson, Paul Crompton.
Cautioned: Reilly, Meadows.
