Fire måneder er lang tid.

Det kunne ses på spillet, for begge hold var rustne og i slutfasen af kampen, der begyndte specielt Oxfordspillerne at være trætte.

Fire måneder er lang tid, men det er hvad Pompey manager Kenny Jackett har haft til at fundere over start XI. Den var der mange en Pompeyfan der nok studsede over, men ingen af fansene har set spillerne i fire måneder, det har Jackett.

Men McCrorie som højreback, og debut til Bryn Morris og John Marquis på bænken, det fik nok en fan eller to til at tænke sit, så kunne det gå at Steve Seddon var på bænken og vores anfører Lee Brown tilbage.

Efter lidt rodet start, så fik Pompey greb om kampen, og specielt vores venstrekant Ronan Curtis skabte problemer for Oxford, der de første tyve min stod dybt og lod Pompey komme til. Det gav en del indlæg men ikke den store mulighed.

Den kom dog da Oxford pressede højt, og hvor Burgess med en fin pasning spillede bolden op, den blev hurtig sendt videre til Cannon der fandt Curtis der kørte direkte mod mål.

Afslutningen røg i kassen, men Oxford Keeper Eastwood med fortid hos os, må ærgre sig noget over det mål.

Det var den perfekte start, foran 1-0 men desværre lod Pompey sig falde tilbage og gav alt for enkelt taktstokken til Oxford.

På en god omstilling fik dygtige Browne bolden på midten, og i fuld fart kørte han ned, og da Burgess lige gled i græsset fik han muligheden for at trykke af, og da McGeehan ikke regnede med han skulle dække op, så scorede Browne på en bold som Bass med lidt god vilje skulle have haft.

Jacketts start XI fungerede ikke, og specielt McCrorie, Morris og McGeehan virkede ikke og med en meget anonym Eliis Harrison i front, så var det oplagt at noget skulle ske i anden halvleg.

Her fik Pompey igen stille og roligt grebet om kampen, om end Oxford havde tilløb til flere farlige muligheder, der dog løb ud i sandet.

Hos Pompey virkede det til at alt skulle komme fra Curtis og derfor var det logisk med udskiftninger.

Det gav lidt mere dynamik, og Pompey fik skabt muligheder, men den store mulighed kom ikke, om end Pompey havde et par appeller for straffe, men de blev afvist af kampens gode dommer.

På mandag går det løs igen, og afgørende bliver det at Pompey har den rigtige start XI klar.

Kommentarer fra Twitter:

I’m actually more positive than I was after the 1st leg last season…granted that wasn’t exactly a great performance but I feel we are more in with a shout this year. Which is odd as I think Oxford are a better side than Sunderland last year! #Pompey

I couldn’t give a shit if Alex Bass came from our academy we slated that Allsop for his mistakes against Plymouth and that mistake today was just as bad, fucking useless #pompey

Curtis: “We wanted to get the win but it’s a shambles. We had 3 or 4 penalty shouts. The one in the last minute he clipped my heels. It’s either a yellow card to me or one for him and a penalty. It’s fine margins, but it’s just unlucky. We battered them.” #Pompey

#Pompey v Oxford thoughts. First 45 was a game of two halves. Pompey dominant and playing some decent football, open the scoring deservedly. Then, something we’ve seen all too often, we sit back and invite pressure. Oxford punish us on the counter, Bass could have done better.

So sad to see @Burgey44 final game at #FrattonPark was in an empty stadium. I wish we were their to give him the send off he deserves . Thank you Burgey, I hope your final game in blue will be a victorious one a #Wembley #PUP #PlayupPompey #portsmouth #pompey #bluearmy #playoffs

Thought Bryn Morris played well today. Defence looked suspect, McGeehan looked like a red card waiting to happen. We need to change to a 433 #Pompey

Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett:

«My players feel aggrieved. It’ll be interesting to see later on what Sky will make of it but it’s not something I will focus on myself.

«There was one or two, a couple of tackles on Ellis, but it doesn’t really matter now to be honest with you, we have to focus on and make sure sure we can put as much pressure on Oxford as we can on Monday night.

«It was always going to go into the second leg. I don’t ever think it was going to be out of touch either way tonight.»

 «I thought we were pretty strong. We had some good spells in it and it’s pleasing for me that finished quite strongly as well, which is always a good thing.

«You’re always looking to win and it goes onto Monday now and we have to prepare ourselves and get ready to see if we can take the tie.

«Bryn [Morris] and Cameron [McGeehan] played well as a pair, but they’ve done well all the way through their very, very long pre-season and friendly games. I’ve been pleased with them.»

League One, Fratton Park, 3. juli 2020

Portsmouth – Oxford 1-1 (1-1)

32 min 1-0 Ronan Curtis

43 min 1-1 Marcus Browne

Pompey (4-2-3-1): Bass; McCrorie (Bolton 62), Burgess, Raggett, Brown (c); McGeehan, Morris; Harness, Cannon (Williams 62), Curtis; Harrison (Marquis 73)

Gule kort: McGeehan

Bænken: MacGillivray, Downing, Seddon, Naylor, Evans, Hawkins

Tilskuere: Ingen, om end 1.078 cardboards