Viljen til forskel.
Vi har stadig det første pointtab til gode under Mousinho efter at vi kunne rejse fra den nordengelske vestkyst med fuldt udbytte da Fleetwood blev slået med 2-0. Denne gang rykkede det tilmed også i tabellen, hvor vi tog et stort spring op på 10. pladsen. Der er nu hele tretten points ned til nedrykningszonen, men blot seks points op til Barnsley på 6. pladsen. Begge hold har spillet lige mange kampe, nemlig 25, men har til gengæld stadig ikke mødt hinanden endnu i denne sæson da kampen på Oakwell er en af de tre som de to klubber fik udsat.
En enkelt ændring i startelleveren blev det til da Ronan Curtis fik chancen på bekostning af Michael Jacobs. Hvad der startede godt endte desværre skidt for den irske venstrefløj, der kort før tid måtte lade sig skifte ud med en skade der umiddelbart ser ud til at komme til at koste ham en del tid på sidelinjen.
Den officielle kamprapport
Eftertanken
Fra start var Pompey det mest sultne af de to hold på banen, og gav aldrig hjemmeholdet ro til at få deres eget spil i gang. Efter pausen trak vi os lidt mere tilbage, men vi var for godt organiserede bagude til reelt at komme i problemer, ej heller 10 mod 11. Man kan spørge sig selv hvor den vilje var til sidst under Cowley brødrene, men hvad Mousinho end ellers har fortalt spillerne på mindre end en uge så har det virket, og dermed løftet spillerne. To kampe, to sejre og to clean sheets. Så kan man ikke forlange mere, og selv om modstanderne ikke har været blandt de sværeste i rækken så skal de stadig besejres. På lørdag kommer så den første virkelig test for Mousinhos ideer og taktik, nemlig når vi ude møder Peterborough. Vinder vi den rykker vi både forbi dem, og kan pludselig øjne play-off zonen. Så hurtigt kan det gå i fodbold. Det bliver en rigtig seks-points-kamp, og i vores nuværende forfatning er det én som vi endda kan glæde os til nu.
Et hurtigt liga-overblik
Der var ikke fuldt program denne tirsdag aften, og flere kampe blev i tillæg udsat grundet frosne baner. Dog var en håndfuld af topklubberne i aktion, og de gjorde alle rent bord. Ipswich havde ingen problem med at besejre Morecambe med 4-0, Derby vandt med 2-1 hos Port Vale på to scoringer i de sidste fem minutter mens Bolton sled lidt mod bundholdet Forest Green, der dog måtte se sig slået med 1-0. I bunden var det igen et skridt tilbage for MK Dons, som hjemme tabte med 0-1 til efterhånden formstærke Shrewsbury.
Kommentarer fra John Mousinho
“We obviously didn’t make life easy for ourselves in the second half, but to defend how we did and come away with three points – these are the games that count. Fleetwood is a tough, tough place to play and they threw everything at us, while we had the sending off and an injury. But we dug in to get the win and it’s really impressive. We played really well in the first half and got on top of them, completely dominating the opening stages. Our goal wasn’t threatened at the other end, so I was really pleased. We stood up to the challenge and that’s what impressed me the most. Joe came on and provided us with an outlet when we were down to 10 men and got a goal, so we’re delighted for him. Unfortunately, Ronan Curtis has turned his ankle and I’m gutted for him because his work-rate was incredible. He was the threat that I want him to be for this club and we’ll assess the injury. We’ll settle it down and see how it is.”
“Joe apologised afterwards, but I told him that he didn’t need to – it was just a rush of blood to the head. I thought he was a bit unlucky with the first yellow. There was a bit of a melee and the referee decided to book both players, inexplicably giving Fleetwood the free-kick. There’s no problem with Joe and he’s been absolutely brilliant for us in the two games I’ve had so far. It would have been the same message from me if it had ended up costing us points, but thankfully it hasn’t.”
Colby Bishop efter kampen
“I’ve come here many times in my career and it’s never easy, but I thought we managed the game well. We used the experience we have to get what was a great result, causing Fleetwood a lot of problems. We knew that they would probably up their game after the break and sometimes you have to ride the wave. But even when we went down to 10 men, I don’t think we really struggled. It was just a couple of long shots that we had to deal with. I’d missed that feeling after a victory – it’s what you thrive on. It’s been nice to have got back to winning ways over the past few days. Now we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing and not try to overcomplicate things. The gaffer is implementing his ideas and it seems to be paying off.”
League One, Highbury, 24. januar 2023
Fleetwood Town – Portsmouth 0-2 (0-1)
43. minut: 0-1 Colby Bishop
83. minut: 0-2 Joe Pigott
Opstillingen (4-3-3): Macey; Swanson, Raggett, Towler, Ogilvie; Tunnicliffe (Thompson ‘67), Pack (anfører), Morrell; Dale, Bishop (Pigott ‘79), Curtis (Hume ‘88)
På bænken: Oluwayemi, Thompson, Hume, Pigott, Freeman, Hackett og Scarlett
Advarsler: Bishop, Swanson, Ogilvie og Morrell (to styks)
Udvisning: Morrell
Tilskuere: 2.938. 276 Pompey-fans.
Post-match interview med head coach John Mousinho
Interview med Ryley Towler
Kampens højdepunkter
