Pompey i kontrol og klar til 4.runde i FA Cuppen hvor et Premier League mandskab venter.

Odds inden kampen sagde Pompey 1,90 og Ipswich 4,00, hvilket nok ikke lige var normalt når et League Two hold møder et holde fra toppen af Championship.

Bookmakerne havde luret at Ipswich nok ville stille et svækket hold. Ganske rigtig, der var hele 11 ændringer i forhold til sidste ligakamp for dem, mens Pompey der havde kampen mod Accrington udsat, derimod stillede stærkt op, for at få den kamptræning inden den vigtige kamp mod Oxford.

Efter de første 15 min, hvor Ipswich egentlig var ok med, satte hjemmeholdet sig på kampen foran mere end 15.000 tilskuere, hvilket er mange en kold tirsdag aften. De 800 var faktisk fa Ipswich. Flot.

Der var travlt i forsvaret hos Ipswich, og den polske centerback Piotr Malaczyk havde mere end travlt og endte med at give et straffe til Pompey og senere fik han det røde kort.

Ipswich stillede med 8 spillere under 20 år i truppen, hvoraf de 4 startede, og tog man Brett Pitman og Maitland-Niles ud af ligningen, så havde de øvrige 9 spillere blot 22 kampe hvor de har været I start XI I denne sæson.

Så jo, Pompey tog grebet om kampen og Ipswich havde en afslutning på mål, et flot langskud fra Maitland-Niles de har på lån fra Arsenal, som også blev deres eneste scoring.

For Pompey vandt 2-1, første mål et straffe sat sikkert ind af Robert og siden øgede McNulty til 2-0 inden der kom en reducering efter 60 min.

Pompey er dermed videre til 4.runde, hvor vennerne fra sydkysten Bournemouth venter.

En af fansiderne har nogen gange deres ratings med, og den skal vi lige have med

Pompey Player Ratings

Brian Murphy: 6 – Had no chance with the goal and was composed otherwise.

Ben Davies: 7– Another consistent performance.

Christian Burgess: 7 – Slotted in seamlessly.

Adam Webster: 8 – Calm and assured. Such a transformation from last season.

Enda Stevens: 7 – Shored up the back line well.

Michael Doyle: 7 – Typical all-action showing.

Adam Barton: 8 – So much quality on the ball. Rarely wasted a pass.

Gareth Evans: 8 – Great cross for the second and involved in every potent Pompey attack.

Gary Roberts: 8 – Is getting back to his best.

Kyle Bennett: 7 – Caused problems with work ethic alone.

Marc McNulty: 7 – Should have scored more than one.

Pompey assistant manager Leam Richardson:

«Marc was different class. For his goal the cross dictated it but Marc’s movements are always top draw in the box and there is only one place it is going. «

He had plenty of chances and he is disappointed not to have the match ball – which shows the high standards he puts on himself. «Tonight we had a full ground and we rewarded them with a great tie in the next round. «We can’t disrespect any side but we are really looking forward to taking on a quality Premier League club and proving our class.

We gave a good account of ourselves down at their place and was disappointed with the late goal we conceded and we did the same today. «We were playing against a top Championship side in Ipswich with a class team and a class manager so to get ourselves through is a great credit to our lads.

The application, work rate and respect saw us through, in both games, and we fully deserved to go through.»

Ipswich manager Mick MacCarthy:

“Maybe having so many players who have not played much football playing at the same time didn’t help,” the Town boss Ipswich Player HD. 

“Having a Chambo out there or a Tommy Smith, or a Skusey may have helped but Chambo has a calf injury, Skusey a tight hamstring and I couldn’t afford to play those players and risk losing them for four or five weeks. 

“It’s not easy coming into a team when you have not played for a while but the players out there tonight are better than what they showed and that was disappointing, especially when so many of our fans have made the trip. 

“It was dreadful defending for the penalty and dreadful defending for the second goal and although Ainsley scored a fantastic goal for us and gave us a chance, I have no complaints about the result. Portsmouth deserved to win.”

Kommentarer fra The News:

What a superb effort from the whole team last night. That was the best I have seen Stevens, Evans and Barton play, Barton was my MOTM. He bossed the midfield and sprayed the ball about perfectly and more positively than he has done of late. Webster ran him very close however; calmly authoritative at the back. There were a lot of scouts in last night’s audience, including a certain Joe Jordan!! Pompey beware, for I fear they were not there to assess Ipswich, but to keep tabs on our players. 

The first half in particular was as good a high tempo, in your face performance we have given this season. If the man from Mars who eats guitars was watching he’d have thought we were the Championship side, not Town. I thought the opposition looked overweight, sluggish and played Mick Mac’s hoof style of football. Given the choice give me PC every time. In a few short months he has assembled a squad of very talented, cohesive footballers who play as a team and have the desire to play for Portsmouth. Sure McNulty could have scored three and I agree he should have gone the other way with the two that were saved, but guess what? He created the space for the one on ones, got the shots on target and forced the saves. How many of our recent forwards would have done that. Keep it up McNulty, they will surely come. The goal he did get was excellent and was in fact the winning goal so he should be delighted with that.

AFCB is a winnable game. I watched them play the Hammers last week. They play in a similar style. My advice is this. The Irons played the first 45 minutes as if they were on a beach somewhere warm – it was certainly not warm last Tuesday! AFCB bossed the game and should have been 3 up at half time instead of one. After the break, West Ham did what we did last night. They were in their faces from the start and the Cherries fell apart. Surprisingly they faded too as the second half went on, suggesting they might not be as fit as they could be. Now that isn’t something that can be said for PC’s team!! Roll on Round 4. We can progress.

Evans work rate last night was incredible. The pace and strength he displayed was such that it was like Pompey had an extra man on the pitch. MOTM for me.

I cant wait for the game on Saturday, the atmosphere is going to be electric. I just hope the players play like they did against Ipswich. Our squad certainly has the skill and experience to beat Oxford. Having said that with Accrington winning last night and having three games in hand one of those being us, the next couple of months is going to be exciting for the club and players. 
On another note I`m starting to get nervous about signings I have a feeling whoever we`re after we might have to settle with the emergency loan window? PTID

I have heard that Oxford are treating the game against us as a marker as to whether they are true promotion candidates or not.
Pompey if they win this one will answer a lot of questions.
Cook is well aware of just how big this game really is – but again even, shudder the thought. we should lose – it ain’t the end of the World there is a lot of games left to go yet and any thing can happen.
Is Webster a secret clone of Bobby Moore ? Webbo is getting better and better with every game.

FA Cup 3.runde, Fratton Park, 19/1-2015

Portsmouth – Ipswich 2-1 (2-0)

32 min 1-0 Roberts (pen)

37 min 2-0 McNulty

60 min 2-1 Maitland-Niles

Pompey (4-2-3-1): Murphy; Davies, Webster, Burgess (Close 86), Stevens; Doyle (cpt), Barton; Evans, Roberts (Chaplin 81), Bennett; McNulty.

Bænken: Bass, McGurk, Naismith, Tollitt, May, Close, Chaplin

Tilskuere: 15,179 (796 away)