McGurk sendte os i 3. runde.

Af: Jean Robert Tankred

Det var bidende koldt på Fratton Park, om det var årsagen skal ikke vides, men blot små 10.000 var på plads, og det var sæsonens laveste, vi ser frem til 5-6.000 mere til næste hjemmekamp.

Det var ikke en let kamp at spille, som målscorer McGurk udtalte:
“It was scrappy at times and the wind made it very difficult because the ball was all over the place at times.
“But we looked dangerous and knew what areas to exploit – that’s something we worked on in training throughout the week.»

Pompey havde op til kampen to ændringer, Evans erstattede Lavery der er spærret i cuppen mens Clarke startede inde i stedet for Burgess.

Efter en god åbning af Pompey døde kampen noget og de frysende tilskuere fik dog pludselig nået at varme sig på, da kampens afgørelse kom.

Målet

Sæsonens bedste hos mange af fansene, nemlig Ben Davies started det hele op, da han sendte McNulty fasted på kanten, hans indlæg blev først misset af Bennet, men ved bageste stolpe stod McGurk klar og smækkede den i nettet.

Det førte til en rigtig god periode for Pompey der havde flere chancer men mulighederne blev ikke udnyttet og lige inden pausen kom Accringtons bedste forsøg, da et hovedstød endte i nettaget.

Efter en tiltrængt pausete at varme sig på, kom Pompey stærkt ud, og virkede opsatte på at få lukket kampen med en 2-0 scoring. Der var ligeså flere gode afslutninger, men den sidste skarphed manglede lige, og samtidig må man erkende at Accrington for ingen grund ligger med helt fremme i League Two sammen med os, de gav ikke nogen store chancer væk.

Samtidig kom Accrington ikke frem til det store, og først med 15 min tilbage af kampen blev der noget at klappe af. Målscorer McGurk blev skiftet ud til ståaende klapsalver og ind kom Stockley for første gang i 2 måneder.

Kampen endte med 9 min overtid, da kampens dommer faktisk fik knæproblemer, og måtte lade sig behandle og efter et par min måtte opgive at fuldføre og så var det linjevogteren der endte med at fløjte kampen til slut.

Accrington havde et enkelt forsøg i slutfasen, hvor Murphy snuppede den sikkert og der med vandt Pompey 1-0 og er klar til 3.runde af FA Cuppen, hvor der potentialt kan ligge en indbringende kamp.

Mange penge kan vente

Træk et hold med et stadion med 60.000+ og få udekampen, og du er sikret mindst £ 1 mill, hvilket er meget for en league Two klub med en omsætning på 6-7 mill om året.

Interessant er det at læse Accringtons kommentar efter kampen, hvor deres manager er inde på at Pompey ville det mere end dem, hvilket indikere at Accrington ikke kom for at ligge sig ned, men faktisk kom med det bedste de kan. Pompey er nu ubesejret i de seneste 6 kampe, det skal fortsætte hjemme på Fratton Park mod rækkens nr.20 Hartlepool, så Pompey ligger godt med inde det tætte program i julen.

26/12 Leyton Orient (A)

28/12 Luton (H)

2/1 Crawley (H)

Pompey assistant manger Leam Richardsson:

‘Accrington are capable of hurting you, so to go through with a clean sheet is pleasing.

‘We are starting to see fluency in certain parts of our game.

‘They are free-flowing side in good scoring form.

‘So it’s pleasing to get through to the third round. It’s about being in the hat for the draw.’

Accrinton manager John Coleman

We can have no complaints, the best team won,” said Coleman. “They played better than us, they executed their game-plan better than us and they pressed us all over the park.

“We are not going to win the FA Cup and, I know they did years ago, but neither are Portsmouth and their priority like us is to get promoted. That doesn’t change with today’s results.

“We have got to play them again in January and they will see a different Accrington. We can play better than that, they stopped us and you have got to give them credit.

“It pains me to say it but they were hungrier than us, we seemed flat and you have got to take it on the chin.”

Kommentarer fra The News:

Good to get a win BUT as a game of football it left much to be desired. Where were the fans has been asked – well if we keep sending the ball backwards from the mid-field and not being quick enough to direct a goal-kick then what do you expect. Were still 3 players sort of a good team. Let’s hope we get a high capacity premiership team away from home (I fancy Newcastle) so we can get some money to exit the cup with, and then focus on the league.

Well done Pompey. No hiccups this season,re Aldershot, and into the 3rd round draw. For me,a draw against Scumhampton is 100% no no no! Home or away wed get hammered by them. A non premier league game would not make us money,and lets face it we are not going to win the FA CUP! !!!! So,Arsenal away,a good 50000 gate with thousands from Pompey travelling,and more money into the club coffers.. Anyone fancy that.?
On a further note,i can only get the comments on match day from Jordan or Wilson etc..and there seems to be a lack of excitement this season. The format is poor,no comments,no banter, and we no longer get a ^real^ picture or feel for the games…please Pompey News ..do do do something about it for some of us expats! PUP.

enjoyed the game today but where were the supporters?

this is without an outstanding footballing side ,but why are referees allowing so much blatant pushing and shoving to go on .A flying tackle went unpunished and all advantage of play was lost when Nullity was pulled back by his shirt ,,,,not even a post yellow car was issued let alone a red . Proper refereeing stopping this blatant form of cheating will see us storm though this division

Another convincing display, convincing me still further that we are automatic promotion material. We looked in total control of the game, apart from a typical losing sides cup tie onslaught from Accrington in the last ten come 17 minutes!! Let’s not forget Accrington are right up there with us at the moment and personally today we certainly looked a league above, looking forward to the draw on Monday, let’s get a premier side……knock them out, and then really get the ball rolling for the rest of the league campaign, well done all!

The most important thing today was to get a win and we did that. The clean sheet was a bonus as was seeing Clarke fit straight back in and Murphy did his job.
Still not convinced about this formation (at home) with two defensive (left footed) midfielder but if we are to stick with it I’d prefer to be more balanced with either Barton or Atangana alongside Doyle? My only other worry isnwith Evans. I know he’s scored a couple of goals and covers a lot a ground but am I the only one who isn’t overly impressed with him. To my eyes he puts in maybe one good cross in a game but that’s it? I’m sure when Roberts is fit he’ll take his place but in the meantime can we play Chaplin instead?

Fratton Park, FA Cup round 3, 5/12-2015

Portsmouth-Accrington 1-0 (1-0)

21 min 1-0 McGurk

Pompey (4-2-3-1): Murphy; Davies, Webster, Clarke, Stevens; Hollands, Doyle (c); Evans, McGurk (Stockley 75), Bennett (Burgess 90+5); McNulty (Chaplin 90+3)

Gule kort: Webster, McNulty, Davies

Bænken: Bass, Haunstrup, Barton, Boco, Burgess, Chaplin, Stockley

Tilskuere: 9,258 (158 away fans)