Pompey fortsat i medvind.
Et selvmål – eller var det Michael Jacobs? – dybt inde i tillægstiden blev kampens eneste scoring da vi mod lodder og trisser tog den fjerde sejr på stribe. De tre points løftede os op på niendepladsen i League One, bare to points fra play-off zonen. Flere hold foran os har dog spillet op til to kampe færre, så det er et lettere mudret billede vi pt. har af stillingen i rækken.
Der var bare den ene påtvungne ændring i startelleveren efter Sean Ragetts karantæne, som banede vejen for en startplads til Louis Thompson. Lee Brown havde ganske vist siddet sin karantæne af, men en øm ryg betød, at man valgte at spare ham, og han gled ud af truppen til fordel for Harry Jewitt-White.
I fraværet af både Robertson, Raggett og Brown sad anførerbindet denne eftermiddag på armen af Ronan Curtis.
Den officielle kamprapport
Eftertanken
Indstillingen fejlede ikke noget, og den matchede også den ventede gejst som hjemmeholdet kom med, men kvaliteten i spillet manglede denne gang. Det kunne have resulteret i en egentlig velfortjent pointdeling, men som ofte set så tilsmiler heldet de i forvejen formstærke hold. De marginaler skal vi være glade for, for de varer sjældent ved, men lige som hos Wycombe så blev vi belønnet for at tro på chancen helt frem til det sidste fløjt. Derudover er det værd at tage med, at vi fortsat ser særdeles solide ud bagude. Med dagens sejr har vi bare lukket to mål ind i de seneste seks kampe. Det er klasse i en så forholdsvis tæt liga uanset modstandernes niveau, og den stabilitet kan forhåbentlig bære os endnu længere og højere samtidig med at den giver spillerne troen på, at vi stadig kan nå at spille med der hvor det er sjovest.
Et hurtigt liga-overblik
De to tophold Plymouth og Wigan mødtes i et indbyrdes opgør, som sidstnævnte vandt med 2-1. Det var Plymouths tredje nederlag i træk i ligaen, og The Pilgrims er nu nede på en fjerdeplads med blot fire points mere end os. I endnu et topopgør delte Wednesday og Wycombe pointene med 2-2 på måltavlen mens en tredje duel i toppen endte målløst mellem Oxford og Rotherham. Sunderland tog alle tre points med fra Cambridge, og det samme gjorde MK Dons hos Morecambe med en overbevisende 4-0 sejr. I bunden af rækken vandt Shrewsbury en sjælden sejr mod Charlton, og det resultat sendte Gillingham under stregen, hvilket også ville være sket uden Jack Tuckers selvmål.
Kommentarer fra Danny Cowley
“It’s a fantastic outcome and probably our best win of the season against a direct and powerful Gillingham side. We had no natural centre-halves, so to keep a clean sheet was a magnificent effort – the winner in the final moments was well deserved. It’s never easy coming to Priestfield and facing a Steve Evans team. You certainly know what you’ll be up against. You have to compete without getting dragged into that. I don’t think we did well enough with the ball, but we found a way and sometimes the will is more important than the skill. The way Gillingham set up means it’s hard to get rhythm and the ball is always off the pitch, while they take long throws from everywhere. But a lot of our physical, aerial players were missing, so the group deserve a lot of credit for doing what they did. We’ll play a lot better than that and it certainly wasn’t a game for the purists, but if you want to be a good team then you have to win all different kinds of matches.”
“We came from behind to beat AFC Wimbledon last week, performed really well on Tuesday and then had to dig deep to find a goal in inujury-time against Gillingham. I’m really pleased for Michael and we desperately tried to find a way to fit him into the side. You can feel he’s in a really good moment. He didn’t sulk and understood the decision, so we’re delighted that he was able to come on and have that impact. You saw those celebrations at the end and our supporters are fantastic. They must have sucked that ball into the net. The result was the least they deserved. It’s nice to win while you’re a work in progress – and there’s a lot for us still to do. But it’s a good habit and the boys are fighting for each other.”
Et par ord fra Michael Jacobs
“I think it’s mine because it was just about on target and it was great to celebrate with those fans, who were amazing. There’s no roof on that stand they were in, but they supported us all the way through and it probably wasn’t the best watch. Ronan took a quick throw and it didn’t really sit properly, so I took a touch and put it in a good area, with the ball just hitting the centre-half and finding the bottom corner. To get the goal so late was a great feeling and it settled a tight game, with both sides creating a few chances. It’s great just to help out the team, especially at the moment when we’re short on numbers and all pulling together.”
“We always knew it was going to be a bit of a battle with the conditions and the way Gillingham play. But we’ve gone to places like Priestfield and to Wycombe and come away with not only wins, but also clean sheets. The boys at the back were fantastic and the formation has suited us, while I just wanted to take my chance when I came on.”
League One, Priestfield Stadium, 27. november 2021
Gillingham – Portsmouth 0-1 (0-0)
90. minut: 0-1 Michael Jacobs
Opstillingen (3-4-1-2): Bazunu; Freeman, Ogilvie, Williams; Romeo, Thompson (Azeez ‘64), Morrell, Hackett (Jacobs ‘81); Harness; Curtis (anfører), Hirst (Harrison ‘71)
På bænken: Bass, Jacobs, Harrison, Azeez, Vincent, Jewitt-White og Gassan
Advarsel: Romeo
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: 5.637 heraf 1.435 medrejsende Pompey-supportere.
Post-match interview med Danny Cowley
Post-match interview med Connor Ogilvie
Kampens højdepunkter