Pompey stadig ubesejret.

Det holdet hårdt mod ambitiøse Oxford, men Pompey fik 1-1 med hjem til sydkysten. Oxford havde deres bedste spiller, midtbanespilleren og topscorer Roofe med igen, men ham holdt Pompey væk i starten.

Men de mange Pompey (25% af alle den dag) fans der var taget op til Kassem stadium, kunne se Pompey have bolden mest og køre den rundt.

Dog uden at hverken Pompey eller Oxford fik skabt alverdens chancer.

To nye

Pompey havde to ændringer, Murphy og Gary Roberts, det betød at Jones fik pladsen mellem stængerne samt Gareth Evans fik chancen.

Sidste sæsons topscorer Matt Tubbs måtte igen se på fra bænken, det var 4.kamp i streg.

Efter Pompeys gode åbning, altså i forhold til at holde på bolden, så tippede kampen, og Pompey lavede nogle dumme boldtab, og specielt Atangana fik ikke meget ros.

Oxford begyndte at kredse om Jones i målet, samtidig med at Chaplin måtte udgå midt i halvlegen og ind kom Tubbs.

Bagud

Oxford kom fortjent foran, Pompey fik ikke clearet en bold ordentligt, og så dumpede den ned uden for feltet, og den blev sat godt ind til føring til hjemmeholdet.

Efter pausen ændrede Pompey manager Paul Cook en smule, Atangana blev i omklædningsrummet og ind kom Adam Banton.

Barton gjorde forskel

Pompey var med fremme langt mere og havde tilløb til flere gode forsøg, dog uden at skabe den store mulighed.

Men McGurk viste klasse da han modtog bolden 25-30 meter fra mål, vendte rundt og efter et træk, tørt trykkede af og satte den fladt ved den ene stolpe.

Godt mål eller keeperfejl? Ser man målet i slowmotion, så rammer han den godt, så godt gået af McGurk, der efter kampen påpegede han hellere ville lave sikre mål hvor han blot skal sætte indersiden på, mere end lave flotte mål fra distancen.

Kampen var nu ganske intens, med Pompey pludselig som holdet in the driven seat, og begge hold havde deres muligheder.

Det ændrede sig da Doyle fik sit andet gule kort, da han stoppede et kontraangreb, det gav 10 meget nervøse min for fansene, samt 5 min lagt til.

Pompey holdt ud og red stormen af, en storm der faktisk aldrig rigtig kom.

1 point ude, må vi være ganske godt tilfredse med. Holdet er stadig uden nederlag, og har haft 4 kampe mod topholdene, med 1 sejr og 3 uafgjorte. Godkendt

Kommentarer fra The News

A bright spot in a fairly dour performance….? He certainly moved the ball forward quickly and looked very comfortable on the ball – a few misplaced passes but overall a very impressive second half baptism for Barton. A point away from home is something I would have settled for before the game. PUP!!

An excellent away point but a worrying statistic which Paul Cook is clearly aware of. Oxford had 49% possession Pompey had 51%. Oxford had 13 shots with 6 on target. Pompey had 4 shots with only 1 on target. To state the obvious you aren’t going to bring home many points if that statistic occurred too often. Pompey have to find a way of turning their possession into goals. Easy really, but these draws could be wins if they can find the answer. As I said still a great point.

Agree that it was a good point away and a draw was a fair result but Cook needs to freshen things up? Teams seem to have worked out how to play against our formation so we need to look at plan B. I think the 3-5-2 suits our players with Webster coming in and I feel Tubbs playing off McGurk is the best combination up front? If Cook sticks to the current formation then please sort out the midfield? Haven’t been impressed with Evans and Bennett needs to learn that he can’t take on the whole team. Webster, Holland’s and Close have all looked good when they’ve played this season so deserve a start next week?

Just back from Oxford…..poor game from our point of view; great goal though; one shot on target is a very worrying statistic.

Overall, we deserved a point – but against better opposition we would have been made to pay. McGurk ran himself into the ground. Barton dominated the middle of the park in the second half.

Gave the ball away too often?

Unbeaten GREAT ,just what we want

Now for the thumbs down, Its becoming a recurring comment about shots on goal, which is worrying from a team made up in the majority of L1 players. Said it a few times that Chesterfield supporters said they enjoyed great football but they to made reference to PC team trying to play/walk ball into the net starting to become a team that comes from behind, need to get on front foot QUICKLY

took a quick look at the table. all the clubs that we have drawn against are now in the play off positions, so those «none-wins» are looking like half decent results. Rovers are tricky at home but are not a great size, Exeter and Yeovil are both fairly weak. Could well have a good run for the next week or three and see the value of not getting beaten on days such as today.

We are beginning to see quite a few changes come in to the side now and it is a credit to the squad that they are maintaining our forward momentum. Adam Barton is a bit of quality in the middle of the park where we need it and I can see him coming in for Doyle against Rovers. Fingers crossed over Chaplin’s injury.

Pompey manager Paul Cook:

‘We were giving away possession cheaply and weren’t dominating the ball.

‘We didn’t have enough attempts on goal and couldn’t get going.

‘But Adam came on and gave us a calmness on the ball.

‘Was a draw a fair result? It probably was.’

Oxford player George Baldoc:

“I think it’s the two best sets of fans in the division,” he said.

“They were going toe-to-toe and the teams were too so I think it was a pleasing one to watch from all aspects.

“It’s just so frustrating that we couldn’t make it count because I feel we deserved the win.”

Player ratings fra The News

Paul Jones – Two crucial first-half saves – 8

Ben Davies – Another tigerish display – 8

Christian Burgess – Immense again – 8

Matt Clarke – Troubled by Hylton – 6

Enda Stevens – Off-day – 6

Nigel Atangana** – Awful first half – 4

Michael Doyle – Pick of midfield before sendings off – 7

Kyle Bennett*** – Struggling for form – 6

Conor Chaplin* – Suffered shin injury early on – 5

Gareth Evans – Worked hard – 6

Adam McGurk – Stunning equaliser – 8

Substitutes:

Matt Tubbs* (29 mins) – Put everything in – 7

Adam Barton** (46 mins) – Very encouraging – 7

Danny Hollands*** (82 mins)

League Two, Kassam Stadium, 19/9-15

Oxford-Pompey 1-1 (1-0)

33 min 1-0 Sercombe

61 min 1-1 McGurk

Pompey (4-2-3-1): Jones; Davies, Burgess, Clarke, Stevens; Atangana (Barton 46), Doyle (c); Bennett (Hollands 82), Chaplin (Tubbs 30), Evans; McGurk

Gule kort: Stevens, Doyle (2xgult)

Bænken: Bass, Webster, Naismith, Stockley, Barton, Hollands, Tubbs

Tilskuere: 9,093 (2,459 Pompey fans)