Remis i topkampen med blandede følelser.

AV: Jean-Robert Tankred

Pointdeling mod topholdet er altid godkendt på udebane.

Alligevel, må mange en Pompeyfan siddet med den der fornemmelse af, at have haft de tre point så tæt på, for så at se sejren glide ud af hænderne.

Omvendte er det jo ofte det et tophold er gode til, just at hente point når det kniber.

Pompey startede ellers fint på Home Park mod topholdet Plymouth, som på dagen næsten havde næsten 5.000 flere tilskuere på deres hjemmebane til kampen fra 8.600 til 13.500.

Men, Pompey måtte ofte den gode start se The Pilgrims svinge taktstokken, og hvor normalt det er Pompey der har bolden, så var bolden meget på Plymouths fødder.

Pompey måtte efter kampen nok fundere lidt over lange høje bolde der bliver smidt ind i feltet, hvad gør vi med dem.

Føringsmålet kom efter et indlæg langt udefra på et frispark, hvor Songo’o lykkedes at få den bold ind.

Mod slutningen af første halvleg kom udligningen, Chaplin viste hurtig fødder og snyder sin mand og kommer ind i feltet, har muligheden for en afslutning mod den fjerne stolpe, men sætter den ind foran hvor Kyle Bennet dukker op og udligner.

Efter pausen havde Pompey flere gode chancer, både Carl Baker, Kyle Bennet og Gary Roberts havde gode forsøg, omvendt måtte vores keeper Forde høre træværket ryste, da Carey smækkede bolden på overliggeren halvvejs igennem anden halvleg.

I slutfasen fik Pompey så scoret noget af et mål på et drøn fra Rose, der bankede en retur bold ind via undersiden af overliggeren.

Men men, Pompey får en lang bold slået ind i felte, hvor Plymouth pludselig har en mand fri, da Pompey står og snorker i forsvaret, billedet herunder viser hvor dan en forsvarer pludselig står med to mand, og da han misser clearing, ja så bliver en personlig fejl dyr.

2-2, ja ikke noget dårligt resultat ude mod et tophold

Pompey manager Paul Cook:

‘It was a very entertaining game between two sides who were going at it. Apart from the disappointment of conceding another last-gasp goal at Plymouth, I thought we were comfortably the better team. We deserved the three points, but we didn’t get them and good luck to our opponents. They’ve set the pace for a reason – they’re a very good group.’

Plymouth manager Derek Adams:

«I have seen that from Connor since he has come to the football club. He plays on the front foot.

«He has got great ability to finish with both left and right foot. He took it well.»

«I’m happy with a point because of where we were in the game.

«We were 1-0 up and then you go 2-1 down, so late on, with a goal that came out of nothing.

«It was a great strike from Rose that goes in and we had to respond to that.

«We showed, again, that we go to the last minutes of the game,»

 «We just needed to stiffen up the midfield at that time. The ball became a bit stretched.

«We changed the formation a little bit, to sit (Yann) Songo’o in midfield.

«We played (David) Fox and Smith either side just to give us some solidity. It was hard for us because of Bennett and (Gary) Roberts.»

Kommentarer fra The News:

Paul Cook does behave like a complete kn@b and you deserve a better manager. For such a small town you have amazing support and should at least be in pub league1 with the Blades. Plymouths support is much more of the ‘turn up when we’re winning’ mentality and despite the size of the city and the entire county of Cornwall to draw from, with no other proper football team within a hundred miles, their gates are well down on what they used to get. So get a decent manager Pompey and your loyal supporters will get what they deserve.

I was at the match at Plymouth and I am surprised by Paul Cook,s remarks. His pre match and post match claim that Pompey are the best team in the division and that Pompey should have one , are a little over the top. Of course you have to instill a bit of confidence in your players , which is borne out by his frantic displays in and outside of the technical area , whilst Derek Adams stood with arms folded observing what was going on. This match was played at a high tempo and the tackling was hard by both teams , Plymouth were by far the better side in the first half , but the second was the reverse , both sides were playing good football in between some fierce tackling . Ultimately a draw was right result , neither side deserved to win,although either side could have won. Plymouth were bottom of the league after the 1st two matches ,with no points and no goals , now eight points clear of Pompey , it is obvious Paul Cook has to have a reality check , and think before he opens his mouth , his utterances do the club a disservice , opposing clubs will be more intent on proving him wrong. Yes I am a Plymouth fan , but a great admirer of Pompey , who like ourselves are in the wrong level , Pompey are a good side and will make it , if Paul Cook calms down It,s Plymouth , Pompey and Doncaster for me to get the automatic spots , in any order . Good Luck Pompey , and my beloved Argyle.

Overall its a good point and performance but more than a little tinged with disappointment as we gave away another late goal to lose the 3 points. Some very good goals in the game but the defending is again a little questionable? No point ranting at the ref, happens ever y game we play.

Great point away but I think Cook got a little carried away say we were excellent and played really well? I thought we were second best in the first half but improved greatly in the second. My worry was the substitutions he made. I’ve stated on here before that we are predictable at times and the three changes were the same as last weekend. On both occasions players who were doing well came off! Bennett was playing well as was Connor and Linganzi. I do worry that Cook never likes taking his favourites off. Still, happy with the point and the graft today but we need to do better if we’re going to mount a proper challenge for promotion?

Pompey Player Ratings

David Forde: 6 – Couldn’t be blamed for either goal.

Gareth Evans: 5 – Struggled with defensive duties.

Christian Burgess: 5 – Not up to the same standards as last week.

Tom Davies: 5 – Needs to improve his positioning.

Enda Stevens: 6 – Solid enough.

Michael Doyle: 6 – Had a good battle with the Plymouth midfield.

Amine Linganzi: 6 – Got stuck in.

Gary Roberts: 6 – Had his moments.

Carl Baker: 7 – Instrumental in Pompey’s attacking.

Kyle Bennett: 8 – Looks back to his best.

Conor Chaplin: 7 – Gave Bradley and Bulvitis a torrid time.

Substitutes

Liam O’Brien

Jack Whatmough

Danny Rose (Linganzi 69): 7 – Superb goal.

Kal Naismith

Milan Lalkovic (Bennett 74): N/A – Will find it hard to start games with midfield attacking trio in good form.

Curtis Main (Chaplin 72): N/A – Had a couple of good opportunities.

Plymouth – Portsmouth 2-2 (1-1)

20 min 1-0 Yann Songo’o

40 min 1-1 Kyle Bennett

87 min 1-2 Danny Rose

89 min 2-2 Michael Smith

Portsmouth (4-2-3-1): Forde; Evans, Burgess, Davies T, Stevens; Linganzi, Doyle (C); Baker, Roberts, Bennett; Chaplin

Bænken: O’Brien, Whatmough, Rose, Naismith, Lalkovic, Main, Smith

Gule kort: Chaplin, Evans

Tilskuere: 13.508 (1.592 Pompeyfans)