Avancement i den lille pokalturnering.
Undertegnede mente forud før EFL Trophy opgøret i Suffolk, at avancement i turneringen var det sidste at vi havde brug for, og i stedet burde spare kræfter til ligaen. Spillerne var tydeligvis af en anden mening da det ganske fortjent blev til en 2-0 sejr hos Ipswich Town og dermed indtog i turneringen 16. dels finaler. Her er der lodtrækning i morgen, torsdag. Det ligger dog fast, at der også denne gang vil blive tale om en modstander fra den sydlige del af landet, da klubberne stadig deles op i en nord og syd del.
Ikke overraskende var der en række ændringer i startelleveren fra ligakampen mod Derby, hele syv i alt. Kun Scarlett, Owen Dale, Jay Mingi og Connor Ogilvie var gengangere fra sidste fredags kamp. Samtidig fik Josh Oluwayemi, Denver Hume, Kieron Freeman, Michael Morrison, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Ronan Curtis og Reeco Hackett alle chancen fra første fløjt.
Den officielle kamprapport
Kommentarer fra manager Danny Cowley
“We’re really pleased and the competition we’re in is irrelevant – we go into every game trying to win. We always want to perform to a good level and I thought we were excellent, with our defensive organisation a positive. I thought we were able to press Ipswich and turn the ball over, looking a real threat on the counter-attack. If we could have been a bit more ruthless then we might have made it a bit more comfortable for ourselves.”
“Ipswich are a top team and have the best players in the division, with a second eleven that would finish in the play-offs. So for us to come here, make so many changes and then perform in the way we did is very impressive. I was lucky enough to win this competition with Lincoln and my team had a fantastic spirit, attacking every day with enthusiasm – these are what you need to do well. That’s why we’re so pleased with this display at Ipswich – because we showed all the qualities that I think we stand for. We want to develop our youngsters, so it was good for Jay Mingi and Josh Oluwayemi to play again, although it made sense to take Zak out of the firing line. But he came on in centre midfield – which we saw him do for Arsenal – and I thought he did really well there.”
“Michael Morrison was immense. His leadership and footwork were excellent and he has the ability to make the players around him five per cent better.”
“Dane – wow! I don’t think I’ve seen a number nine defend from the front like that in all my days watching football.”
“We stayed on task, were resilient and when you defend well on the road, chances will inevitably come your way.”
EFL Trophy Round of 32, Portman Road, 22. november 2022
Ipswich Town – Portsmouth 0-2 (0-1)
43. minut: 0-1 Dane Scarlett
90. minut: 0-2 Zak Swanson
Opstillingen (4-2-3-1): Oluwayemi; Freeman (Swanson ‘67), Morrison (anfører), Ogilvie (Robertson ‘67), Hume; Tunnicliffe, Mingi (Raggett ‘67); Dale, Hackett (Bishop ‘67), Curtis; Scarlett (Koroma ‘79)
På bænken: Griffiths, Gifford, Swanson, Robertson, Raggett, Bishop og Koroma
Advarsler: Morrison, Dale og Koroma
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: 5.686 – heraf 245 Pompey fans
Post-match interview med Danny Cowley
Kampens højdepunkter
Zak Swanson jubler for sin 2-0-scoring på overtid.