2 mål og 2 røde kort og en superdebut.
18.009 tilskuere var på plads til årets første kamp i ligaen, at det samtidig faldt sammen med at familien Eisner netop havde overtaget klubben efter deres køb, ja det skabte en intens og forventningsfuld kullise.
Pompey manager Kenny Jackett vil se positiv, fremadrettet og ikke mindst angrebsbold fra Pompey, og det fik fansene at se.
Angrebene bølgede ned mod Rochdale, der dog var godt organiseret.
Jackett overrasket
Jackett havde dog overrasket en del med hvilken start XI han satte. Gareth Evans der har spillet højre back i næsten et år, ja han var på plads på højre midt, og Drew Talbot fik chancen på backpladsen. Det var nærmest et år siden han sidst fik lov at starte en kamp!
Sidste sæsons topscorer Naismith, ja han måtte ligeså se til fra bænken.
Pompey fik på en hurtig omstilling smidt en Rochdale spiller ud efter 21 min, da han klippede Chaplin der ellers var igennem.
Trods det spillemæssige overtag og et par gode muligheder stod den stadig 0-0 ved pausen.
Et enkelt minut skulle vores nye angriber og anfører Brett Pitman bruge så stod den 1-0, et par træk og i tredje forsøg, ja så stod den på feststemning på Fratton Park.
Et heldigt mål, ja men søger du ikke chancerne, så scorer du ikke og Pitman tog chancen.
Rochdale var ikke meget fremme, men de gravede sig ikke ned, de søgte mulighederne og da Pompey med knap 10 min igen fik udvist indskiftede Jamal Lowe øjnede de nok chancen.
Men Pitman slog til i overtiden med et flot placeret hovedstød, og så var den kamp lukket til 2-0.
Fantastisk start for Pompey og manager Kenny Jackett og for vores nye keeper der startede med et clen sheet.
Hvor står Pompey så henne, ja vi vandt 2-0 over et hold der sluttede udenfor play off, men som fik en spiller vist ud, men det vigtigste var den energi og angrebslyst der blev vist. Nok dominerede Pompey kampene meget i forrige sæson, men det kneb med afslutninger…Under Jackett viste første kamp helt andre træk, lad det fortsætte.
Pompey-manager Kenny Jackett:
«We’ve signed a new centre-forward and he’s got a couple of goals, while our new keeper kept a clean sheet.
“They’re both positives and getting off to a winning start is also very good. It’s great for Brett and it gives him something to build on.
“We had long spells of possession and sometimes didn’t do well enough with it. We could have passed it better and been more crisp.
“There were also some unforced errors, but these are things that we can work on and I was pleased with our character.
“It would have been nice to take a couple more of those chances in the second half and put it to bed a little bit earlier than we did.
“But overall I’m pleased with my first competitive game at Fratton Park and we’ll keep trying to improve.
“It was a fantastic crowd with a great atmosphere and I really appreciate them getting behind the players.”
Rochdale manager Keith Hill:
“I was really happy with the start, with the way that we applied ourselves and the way we took control of the game”
The game was handed over to the opposition, with respect to securing the ball, with Keith Keane’s sending off. It was the right decision from the referee and the wrong decision by Keith Keane.
“It puts us in a dilemma and my next pit-stop is to get to half-time with a clean sheet, which we did, and then we thought brilliant, we can grow even more.
“We then concede a sloppy goal [at the start of the second half] and it shouldn’tÂÂ happen. But I thought we responded superbly with the substitutions – it brought us energy and opportunities.”
“It’s a results business, and I’ve said that to the players. I’ve told them that they’ve got to do everything possible to win, and the manner in which we conceded the two goals is poor. We can’t give [Brett] Pitman, who’s a superb player, those type of opportunities, and that’s what we’ve done. I wouldn’t say that they’ve been created – it’s poor defending.
“If I analyse the full game, 90 minutes plus four minutes of added time, then I was really pleased with the majority of the performance. I see plenty of encouragement in the performance.
“When we had 11 players on the pitch, I was comfortable. It’s a shame [the sending off happened] because it’s had a massive impact on the game and the other players.
“As I said, I was pleased with a lot of what went on today – the way that we tried to regain the ball, the way that we tried to press and the way that we retained the ball.
“The only thing I’m really disappointed with is defensive responsibilities individually.”
League One, Fratton Park, 5/8-2017
Portsmouth – Rochdale 2-0 (0-0)
46 min 1-0 Brett Pitmann
90 min 2-0 Brett Pitman
Portsmouth (4-4-1-1): McGee; Talbot, Whatmough, Burgess, Holmes-Dennis (lowe); Evans, Baker, Rose, Bennet; Pitman; Chaplin (Naismith)
Bænken: Bass, Main, Karamba, Lowe, Naismith, May, Davies
Rødt kort: Keane (21 min), Rochdale og Jamal Lowe (81 min), Portsmouth
Tilskuere: 18.009 (479 bortesupportere)
Under følger videoer og flere bilder fra kampen: