Sporting B continue Ledman LigaPro revival

Sporting B continued their recent revival of form with a 2-1 win over Santa Clara this weekend, courtesy of strikes from Cristian Ponde (5') and Daniel Podence (29').

It really was a game of two halves at the Sporting Academy. João de Deus' side, although the Sporting B coach watched from the stands after being sent off midweek, made a dominating start, moving possession around well and thoroughly deserving an early goal. Mama Baldé put in another sterling performance at left-back, this time building Cristian Ponde's 5th minute goal with a pass into the middle of the 18-yard box. Secured by the early strike, Santa Clara fought back into the encounter and on 13 minutes the visitors came close to leveling through Hamdou, but Stojkovic pulled off a stop on his line to keep Sporting B ahead.

The team from Alvalade were soon back in control and a minute before the half-hour mark Podence doubled his side's lead after Mama Baldé battled back possession an released Matheus Pereira for the eventual pass that was converted by Daniel Podence. Six minutes before the break, Rúben Ribeiro could have made it three, but his header was finally cleared away after defecting off the crossbar.

The visitors from the Azores looked more determined to make a game of it in the second-half and after just a minute of play they were threatening goal, after Stojkovic failed to smother that ended up at the feet of Clemente. The Sporting B keeper tried to deny the resulting opportunity, but was only able to bring down the Santa Clara front man for a penalty and a red card. Guilherme Oliveira was called on off the bench and the young goalkeeper repaid the confidence with a save from 12 yards. Not to be dissuaded, Santa Clara continued to press, but Sporting B stood firm despite being a man down and managed to hold off the visitors' late rally.