Tre vigtige points.
En hårdt tilkæmpet sejr i et meget lige opgør, som gæsterne havde stor ære af, betyder at vi fastholder forspringet på syv points ned til andenpladsen i League One.
Som den eneste ændring i startelleveren fik Myles Peart-Harris chancen fra første fløjt på bekostning af Owen Moxon.
Den officielle kamprapport
Eftertanken
Det som kendetegner et ægte tophold er, at på dage hvor det ikke kører, ja så finder de alligevel en vej til at tage alle tre points. Det var tilfældet med os i går, hvor vi havde de sædvanlige problemer med Oxford, der reelt havde fortjent at få noget med fra sydkysten. At de ikke fik det skyldes den mentalitet som Mousinho har fået banket ind i truppen. Vi giver ikke op, og har heldigvis også spillere der individuelt kan gå ind og afgøre kampene til vores fordel. Rent mentalt betyder det alverden at få taget hul på det lidt sværere program med en sejr, og dermed forlænge vores positive stime samtidig med at vi på en dag hvor forfølgerne alle vinder, viser at vi vil give dem kamp til stregen.
På tirsdag kan vi så læne os tilbage endnu en gang og se, hvad konkurrenterne fortager sig. Peterborough, Barnsley og Bolton er alle i kamp, men da de to sidstnævnte mødes, ja så vil mindst et af de to hold smide points. Peterborough spiller mod relativt formstærke Northampton i en slags semi-lokalopgør, og det er ikke utænkeligt at de får problemer i den kamp.
Et hurtigt liga-overblik
Som nævnt så var det en særdeles vigtig sejr på en eftermiddag, hvor de fire nærmeste forfølgere ligeledes hentede tre points. De fleste endda noget mere overbevisende end os. Til gengæld var det skidt for Oxford, der altså måtte se holdene lige over dem rykke fra dem, og det ligger således lige for, at der sandsynligvis ikke sker nogen udskiftning i top seks selv om der resterer ti spillerunder.
I bunden tabte Carlisle yderligere terræn ved at tabe 1-3 hjemme mod Reading, der til gengæld fik skabt lidt luft til stregen. Fleetwood fik endelig en sejr igen ved at slå Wigan med 4-2, men har stadig et stykke vej op til redning. Holdene lige over dem har desuden kampe i baghånden, så det ser fortsat ikke godt ud for The Cod Army. Det gør det heller ikke for Port Vale, der er i elendig form og slet ikke har fået det håbede boost ved at hente Darren Moore ind som ny manager. Cheltenham spillede 0-0 mod Burton og tabte et lille skridt i kampen om overlevelse, men formen er bedre end konkurrenternes så de bør ikke helt afskrives. Over stregen tabte både Shrewsbury og Cambridge mens det igen blev til en remis for Charlton, som dermed er i gang med en lille stime. Desværre for dem er der flere pointdelinger end sejre, men pt. ser de alligevel stærkere ud end klubberne omkring dem.
Kommentarer fra head coach John Mousinho
“It was a collective decision to bring on Christian and we wanted to protect Langy because he was booked in the first half. You could tell with the celebration what it meant and I was delighted for him because it’s definitely deserved. He’s found himself in and out of the squad and it’s been tough, but he’s kept his head down and done well in training, working on aspects of his game that needed to get better. The fans have seen it all from him before, except for the finish, so it was great to see such a composed finish. When you have so much time it’s not always a good thing, but he was able to find the bottom corner and I think everyone will be pleased for him.”
“It’s a brilliant result – and in important one. It was a game between two good sides going at it, with Oxford causing us problems. There were times when I thought it would be tough to get a result and I was proved right, but at this stage of the season, the only thing that matters is winning. It started well with the goal and the tempo was right up there, although we perhaps felt sorry for ourselves after the equaliser, which came against the run of play. We were the architects of our own downfall with that one, but I think Oxford will cause problems for a lot of sides. It’s the sign of a good team that you can grind out a win with goals from different players – and thankfully, that’s exactly what we did.”
Hvad Will Norris havde at sige efter kampen
“They all feel really big at this stage of the season and we were facing a well drilled Oxford side. The defending is down to the whole team, with the press starting from Colby. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. It felt busy and that I was involved in a lot, but Oxford are a good team and you’re not going to have it all your own way. We had to dig deep and it shows how together the group is, with Chris coming off the bench and scoring, then clearing one off the line – which is as good as a goal for me. He’s kept himself ready and been brilliant, but it was a real team effort out there for us to get the three points. I’ve not really been looking at the table or what anyone else is doing – we’ve just got to focus on ourselves. There are 10 games left and that’s 30 points up for grabs, so we’ll keep our heads down and look to the next one.”
Et par ord fra Christian Saydee
“I’m very happy and have waited a long time for that. It felt really good and I’m buzzing. Skip wrapped it in and I came out on top in a 50/50 – as soon I was one-on-one with the keeper, I just thought I had to hit the back of the net. I don’t think I was ever nervous and was just concentrating on making a good connection and hitting the target. You get highs and lows in football, but it’s moments like that which make you want to keep playing well. I’ve finally got one and I can go home to my parents and we can talk all about it, so I’m happy for that.”
League One, Fratton Park, 2. marts 2024
Portsmouth – Oxford United 2-1 (2-1)
02. minut: 1-0 Callum Lang
06. minut: 1-1 Cameron Brannigan (straffespark)
67. minut: 2-1 Christian Saydee
Opstillingen (4-2-3-1): Norris; Rafferty, Raggett, Shaughnessy Ogilvie; Pack (anfører), Peart-Harris (Moxon ‘79); Kamara (Martin ‘88), Lang (Saydee ‘64), Lane; Bishop (Yengi ‘88)
På bænken: Macey, Towler, Sparkes, Moxon, Martin, Saydee og Yengi
Advarsler: Lang, Ogilvie, Kamara og Bishop
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: 20.303, hvoraf 1.382 var medrejsende Oxford supportere
Interview efter kampen med John Mousinho
Interview med Christian Saydee
Kampens Højdepunkter
