Vi holder fast i play-off chancen.
Top seks er stadig en mulighed for os efter at det blev til ugens anden sejr da vi tog fra Bristol med alle tre points. Det løftede os op på niendepladsen i tabellen, men hvad der er vigtigere så har vi nu kun syv points op til Bolton på sjettepladsen, og med en kamp i baghånden.
En enkelt ændring i startelleveren var hvad det blev til denne eftermiddag, og den var påtvunget. Ryan Tunnicliffe fik chancen fra start på bekostning af den karantæneramte Joe Pigott.
Den officielle kamprapport
Eftertanken
To tricky udekampe gav seks points og dermed kunne vi ikke ønske mere i vores jagt på play-offs. Da lørdagens andre resultater til dels hjalp os, ja så er den mulighed faktisk blevet lidt større nu. Vi er stadig afhængige af andres resultater men nu har vi i det mindste vist flaget og at vi presser på bagfra. Det er alt hvad vi kan gøre lige nu. Karantænerne til Pigott og Morell er lidt en streg i regningen, men de to sejre må og skal have givet spillerne det løft at de to kan undværes også næste lørdag hjemme mod Port Vale. Efter fire udekampe i de seneste fem i ligaen venter nu to hjemme på Fratton Park. Vil vi tages alvorligt i bestræbelserne på at nå top seks, ja så skal der vente seks points også i disse to opgør.
Et hurtigt liga-overblik
En håndfuld af holdene foran os smed points denne weekend. Således deltes Sheffield Wednesday og Bolton 1-1 allerede fredag aften. Wycombe tabte 0-1 hjemme mod formstærke Barnsley på et sent mål mens Derby County meget overraskende gik ned 0-2 mod Fleetwood Town på egen bane. Til gengæld var der ingen slinger i valsen hos Plymouth, Ipswich Town og Peterborough, der alle tog tre points. I bunden lignede det en afgørende sejr til MK Dons, der tog fra Accrington med en 1-0 sejr, men også Burton og Cheltenham fik lidt luft til bunden med sejre.
Kommentarer fra John Mousinho
“To get back from Accrington in the early hours of Wednesday morning and then to go away again and win is something we’re really happy about. I was delighted with the performance and thought we were particularly effective in the first half, although not so fluid after the break. We also kept a clean sheet and I was pleased with the way we saw out the game, even if we dropped a bit deep at times. Colby was brilliant and gave their back-line a really tough time, while he’s also mobile and scores goals – it’s an excellent combination. He said that he hadn’t had a penalty in ages, so it was nice to get one and he deserved that because he works so hard. I didn’t see what happened with the melee at the end because I was complaining about the challenge on Joe, which I thought was awful. The only intention there was to hurt our player and I didn’t like it, but I thought the referee dealt with the situation well. Our lads have now put themselves in a position where we can start looking at the table and credit to them for that. If it gives you an extra motivation, then I’m all for it.”
Et par ord fra tomålsskytten Colby Bishop
“We’ve gone two of the toughest places to visit this week and come away with two great results. Even if I don’t know whether it’s offside or onside, if I have a chance to score, then I’m going to take it. It’s important to get the first goal when you go away because the crowd will get behind them and that just settles you down. We just had to manage the game and keep doing what we were doing and not get sucked into anything. We played really well in the first half and carried that into the second. They were always going to have moments with the ball, but we dealt with that. The fans came in their numbers yet again and were really loud, so we have to say a big ‘thank you’ to them.”
“It’s amazing – as a striker, getting to 20 is always your goal, so it’s great to be past that already. I want to keep going now.”
Hvad Joe Morrell havde at sige om kampen
“I wasn’t expecting it to be nice, but that kind of thing doesn’t bother me – in fact, it probably spurs me on. We’ve seen it at our place when former Southampton players visit and they probably get an even worse reception than Ryley and I got. Their guy has tried to break my leg and then when I’ve got up, he’s headbutted me. It was probably two red cards. They were probably frustrated that we were keeping the ball. I’ve been in that situation before, but have never made a challenge like that. Bristol Rovers is a difficult place to come and it was an awful pitch, so to leave with the win is all you can do. It’s always a good sign when you win games when you’re not playing your best – it’s what the best sides do. We’re certainly not there yet, but that’s the ambition for this club and we’ll keep taking each game as it comes.”
“I don’t think the boys will miss me against Port Vale next week because our squad is good enough to deal with it.”
“Colby has been the difference so many times this season – he’s a level above on a consistent basis. That’s difficult to find at this level. He plays well every week and brings so much. If he was ever out of the team, you would definitely notice the difference. When he’s adding goals, that’s absolutely fantastic, so hopefully he’ll be at the club for as long as I’m here.”
League One, The Memorial Stadium, 18. marts 2023
Bristol Rovers – Portsmouth 0-2 (0-1)
18. minut: 0-1 Colby Bishop
69. minut: 0-2 Colby Bishop (straffespark)
Opstillingen (4-3-3): Macey; Rafferty, Raggett (anfører), Towler, Ogilvie; Tunnicliffe, Thompson (Jacobs ‘66), Morrell; Lane (Robertson ‘87), Bishop, Hackett (Dale ‘59)
På bænken: Oluwayemi, Bernard, Lowery, Scarlett, Dale, Jacobs og Robertson
Advarsler: Tunnicliffe og Morrell
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: 9.448. Heraf 1.275 medrejsende Pompey fans.
Post-match interview med head coach John Mousinho
Interview med Colby Bishop
Kampens højdepunkter
