Pompeys akademilag slo Plymouth i semifinalen i Youth Alliance Cup.

AKADEMIET: I slutten av november fortalte vi om akademiet som var utslått av både FA Youth Cup og Hampshire Cup. Ungguttene har derimot også en tredje cup de deltar i. I Youth Alliance Cup er Pompey nå klare for finalen.

Plymouth ledet 1-0 på hjemmebane i semifinalen mot Pompey, men i det 73. minutt utlignet Pompey på en corner. Kevin Bosaka var målscorer.

Det gikk mot straffesparkkonkurranse da stjerneskuddet Koby Mottoh tok ansvar. Han driblet seg forbi to spillere før han serverte Sam Folarin. Folarin scoret sikkert og dermed 2-1 og cupavansement på Pompey.

Forrige sesong tapte Pompey i kvartfinalen mot MK Dons. MK Dons vant finalen 2-0 mot Rotherham.

Pompeys lagoppstilling: Osei-Owusu; Quarm, Bosaka, Fox, Laidlaw; Aston, Murray; Mottoh, May (Hurst 63), Clout; Folarin

SE OGSÅ: Utslått av cupene

Trener Sam Hudsons kommentarer

“I’m really pleased for the lads to get through to a national cup final and we said that we wanted to start the game well. Our pressing was good and we were able to force our opponents on the back foot, but that final touch was just missing from us. We had a lot of territory without posing a massive threat and Plymouth were a little bit more creative in the final third.

They took the lead from a set-piece and Malachi then made a few excellent saves – you wondered how he managed to keep them out. That proved crucial because if we’d gone in two goals down at the break, it would have been a real challenge to fight back. We told the boys that we needed to work better openings, although again those shots weren’t really there straight after the restart.

Malachi again made some key stops and from around 65 minutes onwards, we were totally dominant. We looked so strong and it’s probably the best spell I’ve seen from us during my two years at this club. We were relentless. It was the turn of their keeper to make some brilliant saves, while we also missed some opportunities that we should have finished. We created a lot through one-v-one moments with Harry Clout on the left and Koby on the right, who were excellent.

We’d had eight corners and not won the first contact on any of them, but the ninth was the one that Kev scored from. It gave us such a lift and from then on, there was only one side who appeared like they were going to go on and get the victory. Sam timed his run perfectly after some great work from Koby to smash the ball home and give us the lead. Plymouth threw everything at us for the final few minutes, but we never really looked like we were going to concede again. The two strongest performers for both teams were the keepers, although credit to all our lads for coming through a tense and entertaining contest.”

Slo Swindon i kvartfinalen

For å komme til semifinalen (eller souther final) slo Pompey ut Swindon på straffesparkkonkurranse. Stillingen var 2-2 ved full tid, men i straffesparkkonkurransen ble keeper Bastian Smith den store helten da han reddet to straffespark fra Swindon.

Koby Mottoh scoret begge Pompeys mål. Han scoret også i straffesparkkonkurransen. I tillegg scoret Mitch Aston, Harvey Laidlaw og Harry Clout i straffesparkkonkurransen.

Pompeys lagoppstilling: Smith; Quarm, Bosaka, Fox, Laidlaw; Aston, Murray; Mottoh, Clout, Keteku (Staight 68); May

Tapte de to siste seriekampene før jul

I serien ble det dessverre tap i begge kampene før juleferien. Mot Cheltenham ble det tap 2-3. Målscorere for Pompey i den kampen var Connor May (bildet) og Maxwell Hurst.

Pompeys lagoppstilling mot Cheltenham: Glover; Quarm, Bosaka, Howard, Mullins; Murray, Staight; Mottoh, Clout, Folarin (Hurst 73); May

Mot Forest Green Rovers noen dagere senere ble det nok et tap: 0-2.

Trener Sam Hudson: “Of late, we haven’t been able to find our form in an attacking sense and the break perhaps comes at a good time for the lads.

“It gives us a chance to reset and then go again in the new year for the remaining league and cup games that we’re still involved in.”

Pompeys lagoppstilling mot Forest Green Rovers: Glover; Quarm, Bosaka, Buckland (Howard 81), Mullins; Murray, Staight (Ani 46); Mottoh, Folarin, Clout; May (Whitelock 70)

Akademimanager Greg Millers juleoppdatering

With the under-18s, we have tried a change of tack and looked to get players out on loan much earlier than in previous years, partly because of the number of second year scholars we have and partly because of the benefits of them competing in men’s football and our ability to assess how they deal with that.

That means we’ve lost a little bit of consistency in our own team performances this season because we’ve had boys coming and going at times. Our results have tailed off in the Youth Alliance League in the past few weeks and that’s disappointing to an extent, but the positives are that we’re getting minutes for players in senior football and we’ve made it to the regional final of the Youth Alliance Cup.

Earlier in the season, we also saw Koby Mottoh gain some experience with the first team in the Carabao Cup and Bristol Street Motors Trophy, while Mitch Aston and Sam Folarin also featured in the latter competition. So as we reach the halfway stage of the campaign we’ve seen some definite signs of progress, but would like to see a little bit more.

There was the disappointment of having beaten one of the toughest men’s opponents we could have faced in the Hampshire Cup, Gosport Borough, we then went out to a team from a much lower division. But we’re still testing ourselves in the Portsmouth Cup and we’ll continue to get that balance right of looking to challenge our players – and where that challenge will come from. For some of them it will be consistent games against men while out on loan, while for others it will be more sporadic in those cup competitions.

To seire og ett tap i serien så langt i 2024

Så langt i 2024 har Pompey spilt tre seriekamper i Youth Alliance. Først ble Newport slått 4-0 på bortebane etter scoringer av Sam Folarin (bildet), Koby Mottoh, Harry Clout og Connor May.

Pompeys lagoppstilling mot Newport: Osei-Owusu; Quarm, Buckland, Bosaka, Mullins; Mottoh, Murray, Staight, Clout (Ani 72); Folarin (May 80), Hurst

Et veldig ungt Pompey-lag, med flere U15- og U16-spillere tapte så 0-1 mot Oxford.

Pompeys lagoppstilling mot Oxford: Osei-Owusu; Quarm, Buckland, Bosaka, Mullins; Mottoh, Murray, Staight, Clout (Ani 72); Folarin (May 80), Hurst

I forrige seriekamp ble det så storseier til Pompey. Det endte hele 5-1 mot Bristol Rovers. Connor May, Sam Folarin 2, Harry Clout og et selvmål sørget for de fem scoringene

Pompeys lagoppstilling mot Bristol Rovers: Osei-Owusu; Ani (Singerr 75), Howard, Fox, Laidlaw; Aston; Murray, Agu (Buckland 58); Clout; May, Folarin

Tabell Youth Alliance League, gruppe D