Pompey hentede 1-1 da indskiftede Michael Smith udlignede 5 min før tid.

AV: Steen Houman

Pompey var bedst i en kamp, hvor begge hold gav den gas. Det var dog Pompey der greb kampen og havde overvægt i spil og chancer.

8-1 lød skudstatistik i forsøg på mål i Pompeyfavør for kampen.

Dog var hjemmeholdet nær fået den store chance efter 4 min, da de gerne ville have haft straffe, men dommerens fløjtede.

I stedet havde Pompey tilløb til flere gode muligheder. Kyle Bennethavde en afslutning på stolpen, og inden da Conor Chaplin havde et hovedstød der blev redet på stregen. I det hele taget diskede deres keeper op med en håndfuls gode redninger.

Kyle Bennet der kan så meget, får på diverse medier lidt kritik. Han er dygtig og kan meget, men levere ikke og det er det nok at være skarp i hver 6.kamp

Pompey der stillede op med samme start XI i deres traditionelle 4-2-3-1, havde igen Evans nede på vikarpladsen der hedder højre back. Drew Talbot er klar, men åbenbart ikke helt klar, for han var på bænken.

I anden halvleg kom så et typisk mål mod Pompey. Frispark fra midten bliver sendt ind, to gange header Cheltenham den ind mod feltet hvor Pompey ikke får clearet, inden Cheltenham får afslutningen som Forde næsten klarer, så bolden kun lige kommer over stregen.

Hjemmeholdet der blot havde et nederlag de seneste 7 kampe, var tæt på 2-0 føringen, men i det 85.min kom Carl Baker i et overlap på højrekanten og fik sendt bolden fladt ind i det lille felt, hvor indskiftede Michael Smith fik skubbet returbolden fra keeperen i målet.

Tirsdag aften gælder det endnu en udekamp, når holdet skal til Kenilworth Road hvor Luton venter.
Pompeys eneste sejre på udebane, er kommet mod placeret som nummer 19 eller lavere, mod bedre placerede hold er vi uden sejr.

Det må Paul Cooks udvalgte gerne lave om på tirsdag.

Her er Conor Chaplin ude med karantæne, så interessant at se hvem der starter inde i angrebet.

Match ratings:

David Forde: Didn’t put a foot wrong – 7

Gareth Evans: Never seems to tire – 7

Christian Burgess: Supreme in the air – 8

Matt Clarke: Did okay – 7

Enda Stevens: Not his finest display – 6

Michael Doyle: Superb work-rate – 8

Danny Rose: Dogged yet showed willingness to get forward – 7

Carl Baker: Tremendously influential – 9

Gary Roberts (2): Had some good moments – 7

Kyle Bennett (1): Struck post but overall an off-day – 6

Conor Chaplin (3): Couldn’t get involved enough – 6

Subs:

(1) Michael Smith (75min): On the spot to net – 7

(2) Kal Naismith (81min)

(3) Noel Hunt (81min)

Pompey manager Paul Cook:

«I thought it was a great game between two very committed sides, playing different styles, but both very effective. We took control of the game after half-time, but missed a host of good chances that you have to take away from home. When you`re in the ascendancy, you need that little bit of an edge that we seem to lack at the moment.

«Cheltenham put a lot of balls in our box through throw-ins and free-kicks that we gave away needlessly. We defended well overall, but unfortunately succumbed to one of those balls that was sent into the area. It was obviously disappointing to concede, although I thought we showed great character to keep going and it was great for Smith to get a goal.

«When we come to other people`s grounds it`s always a big game and the attendances will be bigger than usual. So we`ve got to be at it, but I thought that both teams were. We probably deserved a victory on clear-cut chances, but Cheltenham will also think a draw was fair. We`re always disappointed when we don`t win and now we`ll go to Luton and look to take all three points.»

Kommentarer fra The News:

Some very high ratings for a 1-1 draw against a very poor team. Burgess got an 8 but the defence was poor for the goal that was conceded..

Burgess wasn’t as commanding this week and lost a lot of headers, Roberts was very ineffective (6 at best). Agree that Bakerwas MOM. Chaplin wasn’t at his best as every ball to him was hoofed up in the air and was easily dealt with by 6ft + centre backs. We failed to break down a very ordinary Cheltenham and yesterday was the day I came to the conclusion it’s unlikely we will be in top 3 at end of season. Not consistent or good enough I’m afraid. Hope I’m wrong, and will be cheering on the lads at Luton on Tuesday full of hope!

How many ‘on’ days does Kyle Bennett have for us ? One in six, one in seven games maybe ? Needs to do alot more throughout the 90 minutes – hit the target, test the keeper, create key assists, etc – in my opinion

Well Cook’s not quite doing enough to get sacked and hasn’t shown anything this season, apart from playing Conor Chaplin, to show that he is capable of changing a formula that isn’t working. In fact playing Chaplin on his own up front won’t help his development that much. It’s a ridiculous idea and he’s suffering for it.

The board are over invested in Cook but will have to bite the bullet at some stage unless things improve quickly. I’m afraid that we’ll limp along being not quite good enough for an automatic spot for long enough to make the task for the next manager almost impossible this season.

In the meantime Cook needs to be told that his one up front tactics aren’t working and his team are getting bullied out of too many points. Sort it out or you’re on your way mate. However I suspect our CEO got stitched up in the pre contract negotiations with Cook and Cook can’t lose whatever happens.

As I pointed out before Evans is NOT a defender and has cost us goals. Previously we were short of a right back but I suggested an academy RB would be less of a risk. We now have 2 RB’S chomping at the bit they may not be fully match fit (how else will they get there though) but they know how to defend and are far less of a risk than Evans. I wonder what hold he has on the stubborn intransigent Cook to enable him to play there and cost us 2 points yesterday through his inability to put his laces through the ball and clear it! No he chooses to let the ball run to the apponent to knock in although the fumbling Ford should have done better.

League Two, Whaddon Road, 19/11-2016

Cheltenham – Portsmouth 1-1 (0-0)

65. min. 1-0 O’Shaughnessy 

85. min. 1-1 Michael Smith

Pompey (4-2-3-1): Forde; Evans, Burgess, Clarke, Stevens; Rose, Doyle (c); Baker, Roberts (Naismith 81), Bennett (Smith 75); Chaplin (Hunt 81)

Gule kort: Chaplin, Burgess, Baker

Bænken: O`Brien, Talbot, Whatmough, Lalkovic, Naismith, Smith, Hunt

Tilskuere: 4,702 (1,537 Pompey fans)