The day started poorly. I noticed that #pompey were 13/1 to
win today – in a two horse race, surely that’s just ridiculous. To me it was a
bad omen – surely karma would bite us on the arse. This bad feeling was quickly
followed up by Blandford Phil promising to get the beers in, and then not doing
so – yep the day was bad
When #pompey then turned us round for the start, I feared
the worst
That said, what I hadn’t taken into consideration, though,
was that Portsmouth had come to Dean Court with no intention of getting
anything other than a 0-0 draw
They didn’t just park the bus but they left a tank up front
that had the touch and subtlety of a 70’s celebrity desperately hoping that their
wishes granted by Jimmy wouldn’t be front page news
Portsmouth mimicked Bournemouth’s pre match huddle but
instead of the captain instilling a win at all costs message, his duty was
merely to introduce everyone to each other
Bournemouth had ALL the possession as Portsmouth struggled
to string 2 passes together but we had no cutting edge
I’m not sure what the stats say but apart from a Pitman
header that hit the bar on 44 minutes , I can think of only 1 other time their
keeper was called upon – it was on 36 minutes as a long ball found Grabban
streaking ahead of a jaded defence.
He managed to round the keeper for the 3rd time
in 3 games but his final shot was difficult, from a difficult angle and in
truth never threatened the goal.
Don’t get me wrong, Portsmouth were REALLY poor. I’ve never
seen our midfield have so much time on the ball. Trouble is our attack just
didn’t move enough.
Time and time again we passed sideways because there was NO
outlet forward. I’m all for keeping the ball if there’s nowhere to go but at
this pace even the poorly drilled Portsmouth were able to foil the feeble
attacks.
I just couldn’t see us scoring but to be fair nor could I
see them scoring so a boring 0-0 scoreline looked inevitable
At half time Howe realised that the free football boots
donated by Di Canio enterprises had been fitted with lead lined studs by “accident”
and were replaced by a more lightweight compound
Second half Bournemouth were much brighter and attacked with
more intent. For 10 minutes crosses were fired in from all angles but we just
couldn’t seem to get on the end of them.
Then came 5 minutes of Portsmouth pressure, culminating in a
smart save from Jalal, tipping the ball over the bar from a long distance shot
From the corner, Bournemouth quickly broke and the ball went
down the right. A cross from Mcquoid found Grabban in the box. I started and
completed today’s Sudoku challenge as Grabban
finally managed to control the ball before he fired it expertly past the
keeper’s outstretched right hand.
The cheer was huge – more in relief than pleasure but it was
what we and the team needed. Portsmouth, bereft of ideas, dropped their heads
and there was now only 1 possible winner.
This was confirmed 15 minutes later as a poorly headed
clearance dropped towards Pitman. I,
like the rest of the crowd, and the Portsmouth team, assumed that because it
didn’t actually fall at his feet , he probably wouldn’t bother
How wrong could we be. He quickly turned his body and with
an overhead kick put Pugh through one on one. On Pugh ran and slotted coolly
past the keeper
2-0 – game over
I just wanted now to give special mention to the #pompey
crowd – they were superb. Sure, I could do without the bell, but that’s who
they are and if any of them left without a sore throat then they won’t be
invited out again
Summary – despite this being a potential banana skin,
Portsmouth’s lack of ambition did nothing more than exaggerate the gulf in
ability between the 2 sides. Bournemouth were still way too slow in bringing
the ball forward and this performance will NOT be good enough against a top 10
side, but it was easily good enough today
Star Man – Matt Ritchie – so much class wrapped up in such a
small package. Even playing out of position, still the best player on the pitch
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