"Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed to have lost but Haydn is a good friend so it always makes it a bit easier," said Slattery, whose wife Faye is more than a week overdue with their second child.

"I putted well the first few days and today it just let me down a little bit. I missed a few short ones and that was the only difference.

"There's been a lot going on at home with the baby and moving house, so to have four weeks off and come into this week and finish runner-up is a great achievement.

"To shoot 73 in the last round and lose by two is going to be tough to take, but I've been in this position before and won twice so everything balances itself out so they say.

"Hopefully there will be some really good news when I get home so I look forward to getting home."

Slattery's overnight lead was quickly wiped as Porteous birdied the first two holes and after dropping a shot on the fourth, the 23-year-old from Johannesburg also birdied the seventh and ninth to move back in front.

Both men bogeyed the par-five 10th and Porteous also dropped another shot on the 11th, allowing Slattery to regain the lead with just his second birdie of the day on the 13th.

However, Porteous immediately hit back to birdie the next and produced a moment of real quality when it mattered the most, firing a superb tee shot to within two feet of the pin on the dangerous 16th.

Slattery felt the turning point had come a hole earlier when his drive on the 15th found a fairway bunker and Porteous was fortunate to draw a good lie in heavy rough, but also birdied the 16th to keep up the pressure before making a bogey on the last after pulling his approach left of the green.

Porteous won the Joburg Open in January 2016, but a missed cut in last year's Czech Masters was the first of 14 early exits in 16 events, prompting a return to his former coach.

"It's been a really torrid time through the last eight, nine months," Porteous told Sky Sports after a closing 69.

"I've really started doing the right things and slowly but surely the golf's got a little bit better and to get my second European Tour win under the belt feels amazing.

"When you start playing on the European Tour you start to lose yourself, you lose how you got out here in the first place. To then find yourself again is key and I can't thank my sponsors enough for helping me through thick and thin.

"I'm sure this evening's not going to be the most professional moment of my life, but there's nothing wrong with having a bit of a celebration!"

Slattery's second place means the 39-year-old from Southport is top of the Ryder Cup standings after the first qualifying event, with compatriot Tom Lewis and Sweden's Pontus Widegren in joint second after their share of third place in Prague.