Mama Baldé on Sporting B's Ledman LigaPro opener

Mama Baldé was with the press after the Ledman LigaPro opener this weekend, which saw Sporting B let the three points slip after leading at half-time.

“The result didn't go well for us. It was a shame that we couldn't hold on to our lead", said the Sporting B defender in an interview with Sporting TV, finishing: "We still have a lot to improve. We are looking at what went wrong in defence and we will carry on putting the work in."

Sporting B slip to narrow defeat on Ledman LigaPro matchday 1

The Sporting Academy hosted Ledman LigaPro matchday 1 this weekend, with Sporting B taking on promotion contenders Portimonense. Despite the visitors' intimidating credentials, it was a well balanced game in which Sporting dominated in the first 45 minutes.

The encounter got underway with Portimonense searching for an early goal, but with Sporting B holding down well in defence. The team from Alvalade's attacking efforts game mainly from some direct football, with the Sporting B midfield cutting open the visiting defence with some incisive passing. David Sualehe and Mama Baldé were looking particularly dangerous out wide.

The opener finally came in the 18th minute, when Sualehe picked out Bilel with an inch-perfect pass to Bilel. The Sporting winger did well to win a yard of space in in the 18-yard box, only to be brought down for a penalty. Bilel himself stepped up for the spot kick, beating Ferreira with a cool finish to give Sporting the lead.

Sporting B began to show some tired legs in the second-half, particularly after Pires leveled for the visitors in the 66th minute. The visitors made the most of the extra breathing room to push up and a winner looked inevitable. It was again Pries who did the damage in the 78th minute, reaffirming his credentials as the Ledman LigaPro top scorer.

João de Deus' side to open official campaign against Portimonense

Sporting B will face Nacional in a pre-season friendly this Thursday, in a 18h00 kick-off in Rio Maior.

Yesterday João de Deus's side were in the Algarve for a friendly against Portimonense, with a strike from Ronaldo Tavares securing a 1-0 win.

Sporting B will actually open the 2016/17 Ledman LigaPro campaign against Portimonense, in an encounter set for 16h00 on the 6th of August.

Betinho gola splits the points and sees Sporting B finish in 10th

Sporting B closed the Ledman LigaPro season with a 1-1 draw against Sp. Braga B this Saturday. Both goals came in the early stages, with Ogana striking for the hosts after just two minutes and Betinho levelling eight minutes later.

"We had a good first-half, despite the slip in concentration and letting in a really early goal. We were the better side, although our performance slipped a bit in the second-half because we knew that the result wouldn't make a difference in the league", said coach João de Deus at the final whistle, going on to reflect on the season as a whole: "We finished in a reasonable 10th place. We were a bit spent in terms of quality this year, but with a lot of work we did well collectively."

V. Guimarães steal the points in the second to last game of the season

Sporting slipped to a 4-2 defeat on Ledman LigaPro matchday 45 this weekend, at the hand of V. Guimarães B.

João de Deus rang the changes for the starting whistle, bringing in Jorge Silva at right back and Tomas Ruka along side Domingos Duarte in the heart of defence. Guimarães, in the fight to avoid the drop, come out winging in the early stages, taking charge against a Sporting B team that looked content to manage the space while Guimarães moved the ball around. Stojkovic came off his line in the 5th minute in an attempt to collect possession, but Domingos Duarte was on hand to intercept Areias' shot. The instability at the back took its toll shortly after, when a free-kick from the right actually saw Stojkovic made an unbelievable stop from te first attempt, but the Sporting defence was unable to clear away the loose ball and Denis took the opportunity to put his side ahead. The goal was just the shake up Sporting needed and João de Deus' side went about constructing their best spell of the half. After a decent effort from range from Daniel Podence, Fábio Martins come just inches from levelling (34’). V. Guimarães' second goal was completely against the run of play, as a series of stray passes saw Vítor Campelos break away and double their lead through Tyler just three minutes before the break.

Sporting CP come out fighting after the break, but a harsh deflection off Domingos Duarte following an Elinho shot ended up with the ball sneaking past Stojkovic to practically sentence the final result. Although doing a better job of stringing passes together in the second-half, some positional errors punished Sporting B's efforts to get back into the game. Tyler set up Rafael Barbosa for a fine finish from a tight angle, but the reaction looked to have come just a little to late. However, the introduction of Betinho flipped the action on its head once again and a good bit of play between the forward and Cristian Ponde saw the latter make it 3-2 with ten minutes to play. Sporting B's mammoth effort was however dashed in the final stages, with another Guimarães goal closing the scoring.

João de Deus after his side's loss in Vila das Aves, after an unbeaten run of six matches

Six matches later, Sporting B's run in Ledman LigPro was finally brought to an end, courtesy of a 3-0 defeat by Desportivo das Aves.

“We are frustrated. It was a heavy defeat. We were the better sid at the start, but after that some things conditioned the game and our opponent was better than us. We have to carry on working to turn around for our next match", said João de Deus in a post-match conference, adding a word on the two red cards brandished to his side: "I can't say much. I have learnt from the 30 day suspension that I took that we can't say anything. The two penalties look fair, I doubt doubt that. I do wonder why a player can't come back onto the pitch while another is being seen to by the doctor, but that is up to the referee to decide as he sees best."

Skipeer Domingos Duarte on Sporting B's loss to Desp. Aves

Sporting B conceded a heavy defeat on Ledman LigaPro matchday 43 this Saturday, in a match which saw the team from Alvalade reduced to nine men.

Domingos Duarte was on hand to reflect at the final whistle, but the Sporting youngster preferred to avoid comment on the afternoon's refereeing: “The first goal was a lapse in concentration from us, which can happen sometimes.We started well and we had a good first-half, but after the break we let a second goal in and it was impossible to come back with two players being sent off. It isn't up to us to speak about referees."

Sporting B defeated after two penalties and two red cards

Sporting B suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Desp. Aves this Saturday. Tarcisio, Nelson Pedroso and Fernando Silva were on target for the visitors, in an afternoon which saw Tomas Rukas and Ivanildo Fernandes sent off. Aves' last two goals were scored from the penalty spot.

João de Deus on his side's win against Benfica B

The Sporting B coach was understandably pleased with his side's dominating showing against Benfica B this Sunday.

“It was above all else a great exhibition with a full crowd. People who have been watching us for a while have seen us go through a tough spell, but today we were brilliant. The only thing missing was more goals, because we could have scored three or four with the way we played. It is a real pleasure to manage these players", affirmed João de Deus at the final whistle, adding: "Our strategy was basically to force Benfica to play wide, because that is exactly where they do not feel comfortable. We played an almost perfect game, with the exception of the penalty that Stojkovic saved."

Matheus Pereira strikes twice to beat Benfica in B derby

João de Deus' side put in a dominating performance against Benfica B this Sunday, keeping Sporting's Lisbon rivals in the relegation zone in the process. Matheus Pereira stole the show with two strikes, however Daniel Podence was also key to unlocking the Benfica B defence with the crucial pass for both goals.

The first-half got off to a slow start, with Benfica attempting to build from the back against a Sporting side that did a fine job of pestering the visitors with some high pressure defending. With the ball at their feet, Sporting B looked extremely dangerous and it wasn't long before chances on goal followed. The first came from a bursting run down the left flank by Podence, but Gauld should have done better when connecting with the resulting cross.

A couple of minutes later, it was the same formula out wide that drew a penalty and the first goal of the afternoon, when a Benfica defender cut out Podence's cross with his arm. Matheus Pereira stepped up for the conversion and the senior team regular smartly tucked away the chance. Benfica responded with one of their sparing chances of the afternoon, in fact with a penalty of their own, but Diogo Gonçalves was denied Stojkovic from the 12-yard spot.

Sporting dominated the result of the half with some strategic play and chances again began to creep in. Podence came up just inches short of a spectacular goal after some good link up play with Matheus, but the narrow lead maintained as the interval whistle sounded.

The second-half brought total dominance for João de Deus' charges, but the first chance actually fell to Benfica, when a well rehearsed corner called Stojkovic into action for possibly the best save of the encounter. The opportunity saw the visitors open up and Sporting wasted little time in exploiting the extra space, with Matheus' pace punishing Benfica with the skillful winger's second goal of the afternoon.

Although holding a 2-0 lead, Sporting continued to press, particularly after Ruben Dias was given his marching orders for a foul on Mama Baldé. Matheus Pereira and Daniel Podence again linked up late on for one final opportunity, but the Benfica keeper parried away for a corner.