Hårdt arbejde bliver belønnet med en sejr.
Uret tikkede af sted og de 45 min var gået og pausen nærmede sig, og Coventry var på bolden og spillede den ganske fornuftigt frem ad banen, som de viste gode kvaliteter på igennem hele kampen.
Men at blive ved at arbejde, trods en pause lige om få sekunder, ja det blev belønnet. Gareth Evans fik generet Coventryspilleren med bolden så meget, at Ben Close fik erobret bolden. Han smækkede en lang bold op i hovedet på vores anfører Bret Pitman, der headede den til Ronan Curtis og med et træk smed han den i kassen fra kanten af feltet og så var den halvleg slut med en 0-1 føring til Pompey.
Det fortæller noget om karakterstyrke og ikke at være tilfreds med 0-0 til en pause.
Det skulle vise sig at blive afgørelsen på kampen og dermed fortsætter stimen uden nederlag og Pompey har fået en drømmestart på League One.
Pompey manager Kenny Jackett stillede med en uændret start XI til kampen og alle spillere virkede friske, spændende om det kan holde, for der kommer mange kampe i oktober.
Tidligt i kampen fik Ben Close det der nok var den største chance, men den unge midtbanespiller brændte.
Som kampen skred frem, så viste Coventry, trods mange skader, fint spil. De kombinerede fint ude på banen, men når de nærmede sig den sidste 1/3 af banen, så kneb det. Her lukkede Pompey effektivt af.
Omvendt så kneb det også for Pompey, Ronan Curtis og Jamal Lowe havde hurtigt 3 spillere om sig når de fik bolden ude på kanten, og så er det svært!
Efter pausen søgte Coventry udligningen, men de kom reelt blot frem til to muligheder, og den ene var de ikke skarpe på at udnytte, for en presset tilbagelægning til Matt Clarke blev sendt skidt videre fra Clarke, ja var det til vores keeper eller hans centerbackkollega Whatmough, godt spørgsmål men reelt havde Coventryangriberen faktisk frit løb mod mål, hvis han havde opfattet den mulighed, nu fik vores keeper MacGillivray reddet kastanjerne ud af ilden.
I slutfasen endte et indlæg efter et frispark inde i Pompeys lille felt foran målet, og midt i al kaos, så kunne den ligeså godt være gået ind.
Men ses der på stats for kampen, havde Coventry blot to skud indenfor rammen!
Det fortæller nok at der var en grund til at Coventry ville hente vores angriber Conor Chaplin som de har på lån, men også at Pompey står ganske solidt og der er kvalitet i alle kæder.
Herfra skal der tilgå en ros til MacGillivray vores keeper, der virker til at være mr. Safe Hands, det er ikke mange returbolden han giver. Han var blot andenmålmand hos Shrewsbury sidste sæson og havde i en alder af 25 år blot 27 kampe på League niveau.
Kommentarer fra Twitter
#Pompey took half the fans than #Sunderland did, but they made more than twice the noise, decent away following on a Tuesday night, fair play #PUSB #SkyBlues
This is not the Pompey I know consistent wins north of Petersfield. Wonderful platform to build upon #pompey
Remember that great idea to go to Coventry on a Tuesday night have a beer after then food then close every road needed to get home on the way back #Classic #AwayNights #Pompey
Seen us play better this season, but defended resolutely & won again. @tomnaylor2 had his best game for us & my MOTM. @macgillivray93 – solid as ever & another clean one. All 3 points won by touch of @RonanCurtis1magic. #Pompey fans pure class as always. So loud tonight.
Brilliant night tonight away at the Ricoh. Team worked hard, class from Close, pitman didn’t stop working and Hawkins was quality when he came on. The noise from pompey didn’t stop all game! We are top of the league!! #pompey
Naylor incredible tonight. Said since the start of the season he’s hugely underrated. Not a pretty player but sweeps up & protects our back 4 really well, exactly what we missed last season
Another great win tonight. Fans
Last league game we lost was 24th April to Bury since then we’ve conceded 8 goals some record that Kenneth #PompeyDefensively solid as a team, other than the miscommunication and goal line clearance we had the better chances. Naylor was absolutely brilliant, Pitman with another assist and Curtis goal a great finish. Things look v promising #Pompey
Pompey manager Kenny Jackett:
“There were minimal chances in the game, but it was excellent quality from Ronan to get what proved to be the winner.
“Coventry had quite a bit possession in the second half, although I can’t remember a shot that they had.
“We had two good strikes from Ben Thompson and Jamal Lowe, who were unlucky not to score at the end.
“So it was a tight match, with few opportunities for either side, but I’m pleased to say that we took one.
“You need clean sheets – they’re the important thing, especially away from home. It keeps you there or thereabouts.
“Coventry are a big club with aspirations of their own, so I’m delighted we’ve come away with the three points.”
“We’ve got 27 points at the start of October, which is a massive return. A lot of credit must go to the players for that.
“But we need to keep working hard because we’ve had to do that for every single win so far and we want to keep it going.”
Coventry manager Mark Robins:
«I am disappointed because we have had to change the back four around again, obviously we lost Dominic Hyam and we become really young then.
”Having said that, I thought that Jordon [Thompson] did really well up against a good player in [Ronan] Curtis and minimised their threat.»
«We had a good chance and missed it, and they had a good chance and scored it. That is the difference.
«We started to look like we were going to build a head of steam up – we made positive changes, we were moving forward and the crowd started to lift and it just fizzled out which is disappointing.
«Overall, not enough was done, not enough chances were created and the chances we did create we did not take and it proved costly.»
«You can see why they’re at the top of the league – they are very functional and have good quality up top with [Brett] Pitman and their two wide players who we kept fairly quiet tonight.
«It is disappointing, but we have got to bounce back with another big game on Saturday – we are not too far away.»
League One, Ricoh Arena, 2/10-2018
Coventry – Portsmouth 0-1 (0-1)
45 min 0-1 Ronan Curtis
Portsmouth (4-2-3-1): MacGillivray; N.Thompson, Whatmough, Clarke, Brown; Close (70 B.Thompson), Naylor; Lowe, Evans, Curtis; Pitman (83 Hawkins)
Bænken: McGee, Walkes, Haunstrup, Mason, Hawkins, Wheeler, B.Thompson
Gult kort: Naylor, Evans, N.Thompson
Tilskuere: 11.102 (1.916 Pompey fans)
Under følger videoer og flere bilder fra kampen:
Jamal Lowe i duell med tidligere Pompey-kaptein Michael Doyle.
Craig MacGillivray med matchvinner Curtis på skuldrene.