ALTON bounced back from a heavy defeat at Portchester to beat Christchurch 3-2 on Tuesday evening.

The Brewers went a goal down to a first-minute penalty at the Hurn Bridge Sports Club, and that’s the way the scoreline remained until half-time.

Oli Graham pounced five minutes after the restart to level things, but on the hour the home side went ahead again.

But the Brewers came roaring back and Matt Graham levelled ten minutes later before Liam Knight found the net for what proved to be the winner.

Alton went down 5-1 at Portchester at the weekend with a penalty conceded after just 50 seconds setting the tone for the match.

It was always going to be tough against a club who have ambitions to move up the football pyramid, so going a goal down so early hardly helped matters.

It was backs against the wall for the next 15 minutes and Alton survived a couple of close shaves, including a fine one- on-one save by keeper Ed Lang.

Just as it looked as though the Brewers were getting a foothold in the game the home side broke away and increased the lead.

Matt Benham broke into the visitors’ half but was stopped in his tracks by a very strong challenge – with everyone expecting a whistle, the referee waved play on and Alton were punished for not reacting properly.

George Bowerman saw an effort fly narrowly over before the interval and the visitors started the second half on the front foot.

Although they dominated the first 15 minutes in terms of possession and territory, they were unable to turn it into a goal that might have given Portchester the jitters – although one effort was blocked close to the line with the keeper beaten.

As so often happens, having ridden the storm the home side extended their lead with a shot from 20 yards.

There was a glimmer of hope for the visitors after 71 minutes when Rob Carr finished well from ten yards, and Alton went close on two occasions soon after – but it wasn’t to be.

With the visitors pushing on, Portchester took advantage and scored two more goals in the last ten minutes.

It was frustrating for Alton but the home side were very good value for the win – although the Brewers will rue conceding so early in the game.