Pompey skuffet stort foran Sky-kameraene og tapte fullt fortjent for topplaget Doncaster.

Tidligere Pompey-spiller (på lån) John Marquis scoret to ganger da serieleder Doncaster vant 3-1 i den TV-sendte kampen. Marquis fikk først stå umarkert i feltet slik at han lett kunne heade Doncaster i en tidlig ledelse. Kal Naismith utlignet derimot for oss før pause slik at det sto 1-1 ved halvtid.

Tommy Rowe ga derimot Doncaster ledelsen på nytt etter pause. Da Marquis økte til 3-1 var kampen i realiteten avgjort, selv om Pompey hadde et par muligheter til å redusere. Den slovakiske keeperen Marko Marosi reddet derimot flott fra både Matt Clarke og Milan Lalkovic, før han måtte av banen på båre i sluttminuttene. Det hadde derimot ikke noe å si for sluttresultatet. Doncaster vant for sjuende gang på de ti siste seriekampene. De beholder dermed serieledelsen sin, mens Pompey forblir på 4. plass. Nå er avstanden opp til serieleder Doncaster på ti poeng.

Kommentarer fra manager Paul Cook

«We’ve prided ourselves lately on starting games properly, but we were an absolute shambles in the first 5-10 minutes. We conceded a sloppy goal and that’s always going to happen if you don’t do things correctly. But I then thought we took control of the game until half-time and thoroughly deserved to get back level.
You expect us to go on and win from that point, but instead we were punished for giving the ball away so cheaply in the middle third of the pitch. Doncaster are a good side and we have to give them credit for being at the top of the table, although there’s still a long way to go.

But if you don’t respect your opponents and don’t respect possession of the ball then teams like them will hurt you – and that’s exactly what they did. We’ve got an arrogance about us at times that just isn’t correct. It should come off the back of victories, but sometimes we show it before we’ve won and that’s not a good trait.

“I say all the time that it’s only at the end of the season that the plaudits are dished out, so we just have to concentrate on the next game. And I have to praise the travelling Pompey fans who made such a long journey to support us on a Thursday night.”

League Two, Keepmoat Stadium, 5/1-2017

Doncaster Rovers – Portsmouth 3-1 (1-1)

5. min 1-0 John Marquis

41. min. 1-1 Kal Naismith

58. min. 2-1 Tommy Rowe

71. min. 3-1 John Marquis

Pompey (4-2-3-1): Forde; Evans, Burgess, Clarke, Stevens; Rose, Doyle (c); Baker (Lalkovic 62), Naismith (Chaplin 75), Bennett (Roberts 67); Smith

Gult kort: Burgess, Evans og Doyle

Ikke benyttede reserver: O’Brien, Whatmough, Linganzi, Hunt

Tilskuere: 5.568 (669 Pompey-fans)