Forward Madison FC came away from Portland with a 1–2 victory on Saturday, with goals from Bibi Karamoko and Ryan Carmichael enough to hold off a late Hearts of Pine response through Diego Gonzalez in the 86th minute.

The match turned feisty early. Portland's Ollie Wright was booked inside four minutes, and teammate Matteo Kidd followed him into the referee's notebook by the 10th minute. Forward Madison capitalized on that edgy start, breaking the deadlock in the 21st minute when Karamoko finished from a Joshua Bolma delivery to give the visitors the lead.

Portland struggled to find a foothold. Forward Madison carried their advantage into the second half and doubled it on 57 minutes through Carmichael, who needed no assistance to make it 2–0.

From there, the hosts grew increasingly desperate. Felipe Rodriguez-Gentile picked up a yellow in the 71st minute, and Jay Tee Kamara was cautioned 10 minutes later — Portland's fourth booking of the afternoon. But it was Wright, the first man in the book, who played a part in Portland's fightback. His pass set up Gonzalez to pull one back in the 86th minute, briefly giving the home side hope of a dramatic equalizer.

It never came. Forward Madison saw out the final minutes comfortably enough, despite Stephen Annor picking up a late booking of his own.

The result gives Forward Madison a valuable three points on the road and leaves Portland, who collected four yellow cards and zero points, with questions to answer about their discipline heading into the final stretch of the USL League One season.