João de Deus on the weekend's defeat to the Ledman LigaPro leaders

Shaken by a heavy loss but motivated for the second half of the Ledman LigaPro campaign. That is how João de Deus approached his post-match interview this weekend, after missing out to the II Liga leaders, Portimonense.

"We knew it would be a very difficult match. The league table shows why Portimonense are in first. They are effectively the best team in the league and are much better than everyone else. We didn't play well in the first-half and Portimonense ended up scoring from the two chances they had. Two situations brought about by individual mistakes from us. The second-half was different. We were playing better and starting to create problems, but we knew they would come at us again. That is exactly what happened and they had two more chances and scored two more goals", explained the Sporting CP B coach at the final whistle, adding: "We need to turn in some wins to turn around this run of negative results. This is my third season with the team and every year this happens. We have spoken about it and we are expecting to have a better second half to the season."

Gelson Dala and Ary Papel make debuts in Ledman LigaPro

Sporting CP B were outgunned by Portimonense (4-0) this weekend, in Ledman LigaPro matchday 22.

Sitting comfortably at the top of the league table, the hosts were always going to be dangerous in attack and after 17 minutes the ball was in the back of the net for the first time, when Jorge Pires flicked on a cross for Paulinho to finish.

Nine minutes later, Jorge Pires made it two with a well taken bicycle kick.

João de Deus' charges tried to rally and did manage to settle the play and go on the attack, but the hosts were proving clinical in defence and kept chances to a minimum. Debutantes Gelson Dala and Ary Papel were unable to make their mark, but will be a pair to watch in the future.

Portimonense weathered the Alvalade efforts to get back into the game and again took control of proceedings, when Amilton made it 3-0 after a defensive lapse. With a few seconds left on the clock, Ewerton had the simple task of tapping in the rebound from a shot from Ricardo Pessoa and made it 4-0.

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 Bento Named for Ledman LigaPro matchday 31

João Bento, 32, from the Santarém Football Association, has been named to take charge of Sporting CP B-Freamunde, on Ledman LigaPro matchday 31.

Nuno Henrique Ferreira and Samuel Dionísio will act as linesmen.

This will be João Bento's second Sporting B match of the season, following the matchday 5 draw against Portimonense.

Sporting CP B-Freamunde will kick off at 15h00 on Sunday the 21st of February, at the Sporting Academy.

Mica Pinto's reaction to Sporting B's loss in the Algarve

Mica Pinto was again handed the captain's armband this weekend, this time for Sporting B's 2-0 loss to Portimonense. Speaking at the final whistle, the left-back proved confident that his side will soon be back to winning form in II Liga.

“We had 45 really good minutes and even when Portimonense still had eleven players we were hitting them on the counter-attack. When they went down to ten, we took a few more risks and it caused problems for us. Their goals came from individual errors and we have to accept them and dix them. This isn't a good period for us, but I have been here four years now and a phase like this always happens during the season. With hard work we will try and turn it around in our next game", said Pinto at the final whistle.

João de Deus on Sporting B's loss in Portimão

João de Deus was understandably disappointed with his side's loss to Portimonense this Saturday, however the Sporting B coach was also keen to point out the positives for a team looking for form.

“What was missing was us scoring when we had chances. We had some good opportunities and we were in front of goal three or for times, but we didn't score and when that happens you end up conceding. It was a hard game for us, because we were comfortable and our opponent only had three chances. The result isn't a reflection of what happened, but that is our fault", opened Deus, adding: "We have to carry on. I saw spirit in the lads today. They were more organised and players coming in during the transfer window is going to help us."

To finish, the Sporting B coach compared his side's current spell to a blip in form last season: "Las season we had a similar phase, but we lifted ourselves us and almost finished the league brilliantly. I believe we will do the same this season as well."

Sporting B sank by two second-half strikes

Sporting B were unable to turn around their recent II Liga form this weekend, with a 2-0 loss to Portimonense seeing João de Deus' side tally their seventh defeat in eight outings.

After a start-stop opening to the encounter, Podence fired off the first shot in 13th minute following a move with Ryan Gauld. The young Scotsman had a chance of his own four minutes later, but his effort lacked the pace to trouble the keeper. Looking particularly dangerous down the right, João de Deus' side were moulding some decent chances going forward and on 29 minutes Betinho could have opened the scoring, but for Ricardo Ferreira's heroics one-on-one.

Ewerton was shown a straight red a minute later, after a tackle on Domingos Duarte and Sporting B were given more breathing room in the build-up, but the team from Alvalade struggled to find the dept to do any damage to the scoreboard.

In the second-half Betinho again had a chance after linking up with a Ryan Gauld and Dramé, but the final product finished the wrong side of the post. Portimonense continued to dominated possession, but it was the introduction of Zambujo to the host's midfield that finally tipped the encounter. The midfielder opened the scoring in the 64th minute with a strike from outside the area, before winning a penalty five minutes from time that Ricardo Pessoa converted on.

The result leaves Sporting B on 36 points in II Liga.

Jorge Jesus on his side's loss in Portimão

Jorge Jesus took a moment to speak with the press at the end of this Tuesday's League Cup loss to Portimonense.

“It was a game that didn't go well for us. Portimonense are a good team with a lot of technical and individual quality, but they also were a bit lucky. there scored from their only shot in the first-half and then from a penalty. We wasted a lot of chances in the second-half, including a penalty as well. Football can be like this and you are leaving yourself open to this sort of thing if you don't score", said the Alvalade boss, adding: "We would have liked to win for all of our fans who live down in the Algarve."

Bruno César on Sporting's 2-0 loss to Portimonense

"We knew it would be a hard game and we made some mistakes, but we still have a game against Arouca and nothing is over yet", said Bruno César at the final whistle on Tuesday.

Reflecting on his side's loss to the II Liga outfit, César added: "We had been warned about Portimonense's quality and it is no coincidence that they are playing well in II Liga, but now we have to puck ourselves up. We should have played better, but we have to look at what went wrong and try to improve."