Well thank you to our players for putting in a second half performance which reminds you why you go to watch professional football, and why you put up with all the dross we have to watch at times, even for the first half an hour today.
As others have said, we started the game brightly and similarly as against Doncaster on Tuesday night, our opponents scored with their first decent chance. Donny’s first was totally avoidable in midweek with some better defending and the same could be said yesterday. We’re clearly showing all the signs of a side shot of all confidence, struggling to clear our lines, deal with second balls and clearances seem frantic and panicked. We’re really not getting the rub of the green but defensively we’re all over the place.
People on here seem to love a scapegoat and for me some are being overly harsh on Sam Hart. The lad is young and yes at times overly enthusiastic. He did swing and miss at a few clearances but in that opening half an hour, let’s face it, other than Simon Cox and a bit of aggressive pressing from Michael Kightly, who in our colours did? What I do love about him is he never gives up and like Bwomono on the other side, loves to take his man on. What the pair of them need to learn though, is when that’s a good idea and when you should sit a little deeper. That will come with experience though if the boo boys haven’t shot him of all confidence before he gets there.
Pompey’s second, was the goal I found most demoralising and quite frankly embarrassing. Sam Mantom for me often goes from the sublime to the ridiculous but one thing I will say for him, is he never shies away from being involved in play, it’s just at times yesterday you wished he had. A terrible piece of defensive play, but it also was quite a finish from the Portsmouth player. Sometimes you get away with one of those moments at this level, but not against a side chasing automatic promotion.
Pompey’s third was another classic case of the type of goal you concede when you’re in a bad run of form, the ball coming out off the post and the attacking side reacting first to the rebound. Again it was tinged with ill-fortune but was avoidable and all three goals should be looked at this week and work done on the training ground to improve things. I’m sure this will happen, we just have to pray it works.
The fightback from our side was really something to behold. Just like Charlie Kelman’s strike against Plymouth, it unexpectedly brightened up the day of some of our supporters that may have been feeling decidedly suicidal at points of the first half. A cracking ball in from Hart and Simon Cox with the type of finish you’d have expected from either of his injured strike partners.
For me, Michael Klass’s performance on Tuesday night was one of the few bright spots in the sort of team showing where you wonder why you don’t support a better team. He looks as bright and positive on the ball as Dru Yearwood has at any point, this or last season and his introduction yesterday quite simply changed the game.
A quote from Rudyard Kipling’s If springs to mind “if you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs”. I think this sums up what the Blues youngster brought to the game yesterday. The combination of senior pros that started in midfield had just put in a thirty minute horror show of a performance and then on comes a player who’s spent most of the season in the reserves and shows them all what the side has been lacking. A bit of composure on the ball, some positive yet simple forward passes and I felt it really was the catalyst for us to finally click into gear.
Simon Cox had been playing well even during that opening half an hour but finally he was getting some support from those around him in a blue shirt and as fans we at least knew our side was going to give it a shot to get back in the game.
Portsmouth shocked me to be honest. Unlike the Luton home game or even our trip to the Valley, I never really got the feeling we were up against a really top quality side. Which seems an odd statement considering we went three goals down to them. I just feel as I’ve said above, all three were totally avoidable and almost gift wrapped. In that second half yesterday, as others have said, they seemed to just let the comeback happen to them. Most away sides, in their situation would have brought on an extra midfielder, started wasting time and doing whatever they could to disrupt our momentum. They just sat back and didn’t really react until it was 3-3 and finally they won a few corners and went for a winner once more. Thankfully by then it was all too late.
Let’s not forget the two sides of yesterday’s game. Our fightback could be a turning point and show the players that they should never give up in times of adversity. But the first half also shows there is much work to be done on the training field.
I’ll pray for a vital 3 points away at Accrington next week before we’re back on the telly again.
