Vigtig sejr på energimål fra Webster og Pompey i 4-4-2 opstilling.

Pompey steg på play off toget efter en god indsats mod Cambridge hjemme på Fratton Park. Muligheden for direkte oprykning kom lidt nærmere, eller rettere, afstanden er den samme til tredjepladsen, men Pompey er igen med i play off feltet. I øvrigt et særdeles tændt felt, se lige den her stilling.

Cambridge som vi slog, blev dermed sat lidt efter i stillingen, men ser du på den yderste kolonne, så er vi holdet som har hentet færrest point de sidste 10 kampe!

Så jo, lad os håbe at Pompey kommer i gang, for der er ikke råd til at smide mange flere point.

Pompey havde en del ændringer i deres start XI, og lidt overraskende var Michael Smith (dog skadet) helt uden for truppen, og dermed gik manager Cook tilbage til spillerne, der faktisk er i truppen.
Ligeså spillede vi en sjælden gang 4-4-2, det var vist blot 5.gang i denne sæson.

Chaplin fik lov at starte for første gang i 4 måneder, Burgess var tilbage efter 1 spilledags karantæne, Hollandsefter skade samt Naismith.

Det betød Clarke og Close ikke var med, samt de to skadede McGurk og Smith.

Intens start

Pompey var den tand bedre end Cambridge og start af kamp var noget intens i starten, og der var pres på begge managere, som faktisk var oppe at skændtes på sidelinjen.

Kampen var ligeså en fortælling om hvordan der spilles fodbold, Cambridge med mange lange bold og meget fysisk spil, mens Pompey lod bolden gøre arbejdet, hvilket kan være svært for Fratton Park var ikke just plan til denne kamp.

Der var ikke de mange chancer, men målet til 1-0 var lige efter fodbold ABC. Frispark midt på banen bliver spillet ligefrem til Chaplin der spiller den videre til McNulty der kommer fri og så førte Pompey 1-0.

Cambridge Spencer der havde et gult kort fra tidligere i kampen, var meget nær et gult kort mere, men noet overraskende blev han på banen, men manager Derry tog ham klogt ud i pausen.

Efter pausen fik unge Adam Webster sat sit præg på kampen, de mange lange bolde ned mod ham, havde han håndteret fint i gennem kampen, men denne gang bryder han Cambridge opspil og tager bolden med sig, inden feltet spiller han Bennet, som tager et skud der bliver reddet op på overliggeren, Chaplin søger riposten uden succes, men Webster er fulgt med og kan tage næste bold og sætte den i mål til 2-0.

Det lukkede kampen, om end Cambridge i slutfasen fik et trøstmål og søgte deres chance, men Pompy lukkede af og tog de vigtige 3 point.

Eneste minus ved trøstmålet var at det kom efter en standardsituation. Dem skal der lukkes ned for.

Matchratings fra The News:

Ryan Fulton: Cruelly deprived of a first clean sheet – 7

Ben Davies: So much energy – 7

Christian Burgess: Absolute rock – 8

Adam Webster: A goal in an excellent all-round display – 8

Enda Stevens: Very steady – 7

Danny Hollands: Magnificent return to side – 9

Michael Doyle: Tigerish midfield presence – 7

Kal Naismith (1): Injury ended encouraging display – 7

Conor Chaplin (2): A breath of fresh air – 8

Kyle Bennett (3): Kept on trying to create – 7

Marc McNulty: Ferocious strike takes him top top of goal charts – 8

Subs:

(1) Gareth Evans (72min): Little impact – 5

(2) Matt Clarke (87min)

(3) Ben Tollitt (90min):

Cambridge manager Shaun Derry:

“It was a big disappointment for us and the manner of performance was not befitting of what we have become accustomed to.

“When the performances are right, you earn points, but we aren’t pleased with the performance this. We had too many players that were off their game.

“Goals change games and the first goal in particular was very frustrating because the game plan had been working well up to that point.

“Portsmouth are top side in this division and we couldn’t afford to play in that way if we wanted to take a result from the game.”

Pompey manager Paul Cook:

«I felt we had to put in a performance today with character because it was always going to be a tough game to win.

«Apart from conceding a late goal again – which is obviously a problem that we have and it’s a disappointing one – the reality of the three points is really pleasing.

«Today’s about winning. We’ve played well in the past and not won. The win lifts the whole mood of the place and it’s important that I’m the one to do that.

«I was brought in to do a job, I’m 32 games in to that; the more we stay together and stay strong the stronger we’ll get and the further we’ll go.»

Kommentarer fra The News

To be honest, I am fed up with comments on opposition, thugs etc. Northampton don’t seem to be affected. And our budget means we should be more consistent and better than opponents in general. It hasn’t been good enough and there are valid grumps, it has been very frustrating at times people need to sound off, I do it in the pub and on here to get it off my chest. Too easy to put it down to 4th tier players and thuggish opposition, we are all in the same league. That said, very pleased with the win and performance in general and yep, 3 away games, 7 points would be amazing, 5 would be good and particularly a win at Accrington.

Free kick in same place as one against Bournmouth why do we give away silly free kicks mins to go

Could not understand why Cook decided to go defensive for the last 10 minutes. The match was won – until the change in formation – and a deserved clean sheet for Fulton was put at risk. I was thankful that Pompey only had to survive the 10 minutes ! Otherwise, a much more encouraging and battling performance from the whole team.

Evans, was at fault for giving away the free kick, but Clarke was at fault by going to sleep and leaving Stevens against their towering player who easily out leapt him and got the ball across goal, which they then bundled in, again we were asleep as he went unchallenged.

The players seem to switch off with 5 mins to go and that’s the reason why Fulton doesn’t have a clean sheet. Cook knows he needs to address this Achilles heel.

While it wasn’t exactly silky skills I thought Websters goal was an amazing triumph of determination!

Having been to the game the wind made this game very difficult the ball could have been kept on the ground as we have the players to do it. Like Derry used to play they were very pysical and the elbow on stevens just before half time should have been a red card, having said that the cambridge player in question got subsituted half time so Derry knew he was on borrowed time. The yellow card on Chaplin was a joke for a player not even looking at the bench to realise he was being subsituted and getting booked was laughable, the club should appeal that decision. I still say Bennett for some reason is not in the right mind set to be starting after being labelled the best player in this league by Cookie his control and play was so below par to the rest of the team. The two front men worked there socks off and never stopped running, and with Chaplin getting his first start it was a pleasure to watch. Webster today was Man Of The Match won evrything at the back and had the guts and determination to run forward when needed. A win is a win so the game against Exeter is another game we go again and hopefully get the same result as Oxford did, as long as its three points I dont care how we win lets give that last automatic spot a real go as long as its mathmatically possible to do we have to keep going. Well played lads great result.

Talking about character, lets talk about the Webster goal. His run was what? 50 – 60 yards beating several challenges (with a bit of luck on the side) and run into that box like a whippet and scored. Great goal from a lad that should be very proud of his performances this year. He reminds me so much of Kit Symons and I remember a similar goal when Kit dribbled through a whole team and scored. I hope we keep hold of him for a least one more full season but alas I feel that we will receive a ‘too good to turn down’ offer in the summer.

Am delighted for Cooky tonight. He changed his philosophy of possession football for a more direct approach. Two up top was just the tonic and I really do think that Chaplin with his energy and movement up front is going to get us promoted. As I mentioned in the week, we needed to win ugly and that’s how Cooky saw it and set them up against a dirty team. It will so good to get out of this torrid league. There is still light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s get there before the others do…

League Two, Fratton Park, 27/2-2016

Portsmouth – Cambridge 2-1 (1-0)

41 min 1-0 McNulty

62 min 2-0 Webster

90 min 2-1 Berry

Pompey (4-4-2): Fulton; Davies, Burgess, Webster, Stevens; Naismith (Evans 73), Hollands, Doyle (c), Bennett (Tollitt 90+2); Chaplin (Clarke 87), McNulty

Gule kort: Davies, McNulty, Chaplin

Bænken: Bass, Freeman, Haunstrup, Barton, Evans, Tollit, Clarke

Tilskuere: 15,425 (587 away fans)