Oprykningen rykker nærmere.

AV: Steen Houman

Der var udsolgt på Fratton Park da Pompey tog imod Plymouth på en fin solbeskinnet dag. Så alt var fint, det eneste der haltede, det var banen som nok så grøn ud, men igen og igen og igen, så vi spillerne glide rundt på banen.

Pompey stillede op med samme start XI som forrige kamp, og efter en god Plymouth start, så overtog hjemmeholdet taktstokken.

For fansene, måtte de dog i starten undre sig over at der blev høvlet lange bolde frem mod Plymouths forsvar.

For Pompey stillede op med Kal Naismith i angrebet, og han er ikke just en targetspiller.

Specielt Carl Baker var dygtig til at få pasningerne til at glide og Pompey begyndte at sværme om Plymouths straffespark.

Den store udfordring var at Plymouth havde luret Pompey. For med ingen spillere over en hvis højde, ja så kom der ikke mange indlæg ind i hovedhøjde, så Plymouth stod kompakt omkring feltet, mens Songoo og Sonny Bradley tog sig af indlæg.

Men Plymouth der spillede med tre mand fremme viste deres kvaliteter og efter et superb angreb der var lige efter fodboldens ABC, blev Pompey udstillet og Jake Jervis kunne bringe Plymouth foran på et flot angreb.

Momentet inden målet havde Pompey en god chance, og Plymouth havde en spiller i græsset, men Plymouth viste klasse på omstillingen.

Pompey søgte efter åbningerne i resten af halvlegen, men der var lukket godt af.

Bedste mulighed var frisparket på kanten af feltet, hvor Naismith sendte den fint mod mål, og hvor muren tydeligt brugte arm, så det skulle have været et straffe! Men dommerens fløjte var tavs.

Efter pausen fortsatte mønsteret med Pompey i boldbesiddelse, og efter 12 min kom forløsningen, en fin stikning ud på venstrekanten til Kyle Bennet endte med et godt fladt indlæg, hvor Plymouthkeeperen ikke fik fat i bolden og så var Roberts der og sendte bolden enkelt i mål til 1-1.

Ironisk nok var Pompey bedst når Kal Naismith søgte ud for at få bolden, og han er en spiller der har selvtillid og han havde lyst at vise det

Da Roberts blev skiftet ud, kom Conor Chaplin ind som angriber og han var i den grad opsat på at vise hans værd.

Det blev set da Pompey fik et nyt frisaprk lige udenfor feltet da Chaplin blev væltet, Naismith ville gerne tage det frispark, men Chaplin ville det anderledes, og Naismith slog frustreret ud med armene.

Frisparket røg i muren og senere i kampen fik Chaplin chancen igen da han headede lige forbi.

Bedømt på indsatsen som angriber, ja så er det Chaplin der skal starte oppe i angrebet.

Pompey har 8 point føring til Luton på 4.pladsen og det med 4 kampe igen. Mandag møder Notts County mandag, og en sejr her og et Luton nederlag, ja så er Pompey rykket op!

Pompey assistant manager Leam Richardsson:

‘You are always disappointed not to win a game. ‘Certainly at our place, when we’ve had so much possession and control of the ball. ‘If we had won, nobody would have complained and said we’d robbed anyone. ‘But if you’ve had 89 minutes where you have given it your best shot, then I don’t think you should be sprinting around the pitch taking quick free-kicks and quick throw-ins, gambling forward. ‘Both teams gave their best, certainly individual players played very well for both teams, and it would have been a good spectacle for the neutral. ‘For their goal, Gareth Evans has done really well defensively and nipped in front of the lad and I thought had read it. ‘Then we are just about to go on the attack and he has stood on the ball and slipped over. ‘Then they go down their left, the cross comes in and it was a good goal from their point of view. ‘You would expect a response from our players and that is what we got. ‘They are quite methodical in what they do. ‘They stick at it and there are not many times since I’ve been here that they have walked off the pitch having not given everything.

‘We spoke at half-time about getting into better areas because, to be honest, I thought their keeper had spilled a couple and we felt we could capitalise on that. Thankfully, we did.’

‘Conor will be disappointed knowing him, ‘He’s one of the lads that doesn’t need many chances, you expect him to score. ‘But he’s had good minutes on the pitch again, he’s certainly a large part of what we are doing.

Plymouth manager Derek Adams:

«We’ve got four games now to get over the finishing line and it’s important we do that as soon as we can.

«We will take things as they come, the players are in good spirits, they have performed well today and we look forward to Monday.

«We started the game very well, we had the better of the first half and Portsmouth had the better of the second.

«It was a big game for both clubs and I thought both teams handled it very well.

«We came here to do a job today, and we did that, we came away with the point. We’ve got a fabulous away record and Portsmouth are trying to get themselves automatically promoted.»

Kommentarer fra The News:

If we win Easter Monday and Luton dont win we are up. However, it wont be easy at Notts County. Since Kevin Nolan as taken over they are undefeated at home and we lost there last season 2-1. But not the end of the world if we get beat because we will have another 3 chances. Anyway, I cant see Luton winning at Mansfield on Monday.

Staggered by some of the negative and idiotic comments on here. I can only presume they are not from actual fans as they are not at all reflective of what is said in the ground during games. Yes, we overdo things at times but we are going up with a couple of games to spare and we have done this with our experienced strikers injured. Chaplin can not play in the style Cook wants and we look less of a team when we try to play a different system. We build up pressure by our style and teams tend to crack eventually. Only Doncaster and Stevenage away have we really been outplayed. Let’s enjoy promotion and see what Cook does in the summer; I think it could be an exciting time.

A good point today, great atmosphere, and a really enjoyable game and advert for league two football,..couldn’t wait to get home and see it again on Sky. They’ll always be the moaners on here, about formations etc etc,..the fact is were 8 points clear with 4 to go, and Cook and his team and the players deserve full credit for getting us very nearly there now,…Can’t wait for Monday, it would be superb to wrap it up as soon as possible, but of course would be equally great to do it at home next week against Cambridge….fingers crossed of course!!

As soon as promotion is secured ( next game I think) we should play Kabamba up front. We’ll need a goalscorer next season so give him proper game time now.

No striker, our top scorer played out of position, our best attacking midfielder STILL being played as a right back??? Any decent manager would have us out of this league by now.

We deserved to take all 3 points after the chances we had but no complaints and would have settled for a draw before the game and as the other results unexpectably fell for us its a good day all round and we look forward to monday now and a great day out…were on our way..PUP

Player Ratings:

David Forde – composed in possession but was not overly tested. May be disappointed not to have kept a clean sheet.4

Gareth Evans – lost the battle with Kennedy, both in the attacking and defensive phases of play. 4

Christian Burgess – one or two rash tackles, but was arguably more inventive in possession than the two central midfielders. 6

Matt Clarke – pushed deep into the opposing half on occasions and played the through ball to Bennett before the equalizer. 7

Enda Stevens – Portsmouth’s best moves came down the left and he was always involved. Beaten in the air by Jervis for the opener. 8

Danny Rose – rightly showed positional caution due to the advanced position of both full-backs and moved the ball well. 7

Michael Doyle – put himself about but played one too many sideways or backwards passes, when there were chances to apply pressure. 4

Carl Baker – struggled to get into the game due to a lack of pace and left Evans isolated defensively. Forced a simple stop from McCormick with a long-range second half effort. 2

Gary Roberts – did not shy away from challenges when goalscoring opportunities presented themselves, as we saw for the equalizer. Should have converted a first half rebound. 7

Kyle Bennett – showed flashes of creativity. Always looked to switch play in the first half, then combined well with Stevens after the interval. 7

Kal Naismith – often drifted to the left in the second half to support Bennett and Stevens. One or two dangerous moments but not the focal point Pompey needed. 5

League Two, Fratton Park, 14/4-17

Portsmouth – Plymouth 1-1 (0-1)

12 min 0-1 Jake Jervis

57 min 1-1 Gary Roberts

Pompey: Forde; Evans, Burgess, Clarke, Stevens; Rose, M.Doyle; Baker (Lowe 78), Roberts (Chaplin 67), Bennett; Naismith. Subs not used: O’Brien, Talbot, Whatmough, Linganzi, Kabamba

Bænken: O’Brien, Lowe, Chaplin, Talbot, Whatmough, Linganzi, Kabamba

Gult kort: Naismith

Tilskuere: 18,625 (2,644 away fans)