Indispensable team to starboard (5-4,4)

I believe the answer is:

right-hand side

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'indispensable team to starboard' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'indispensable team to starboard' is the wordplay.
'indispensable' becomes 'hand' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'starboard' becomes 'right' (synonyms).
'hand'+'side'='handside'
'handside' after 'right' is 'RIGHT HAND SIDE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.

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