My mood though was cheered when my friend from the (quiet
please) East Stand ventured over to the North Stand and found himself sat in
front of the famed “Shouty Gary” – today Scrumpy Matt’s vocabulary was about to
be extended.
In the first minute, Agyemang belied his ponderous frame,
set aside his dumb-bells and deftly slid through the defence, shooting just
wide of Rocky’s right post
Hopefully that would shake any complacency out of the AFCB
side with multiple changes from Saturday. Howe said he’d rotate the squad, and
he’d certainly kept to his word, with Elphick, Harte, Fraser, McDermott, O’Kane,
Hughes and Surman all starting the game
for the first time.
Holmes had the next chance for Pompey when only an Elphick
last ditch block stopped the marauding run on 7 minutes
We had to wait until the 11th minute before AFCB
mustered their first chance, sending O’Kane through on goal only to be tackled
at the last minute.
The tide was turning now, Fraser and O’Kane were starting to
take control. O’Kane with his passing and movement and Fraser with his direct
running and willingness to take on the player in front of him
That belief and willingness to run may well set Fraser up to
be a marked man this season and from the number of fouls committed on him
today, I think his reputation is already spreading.
McDertmott’s reputation is also well famed and today he
played as if last night he’d lived up to all that hype. One moment he’d be
trapping a ball from a seeming impossible pass, the next he looked like he
could see 3 Wes Thomas’s and invariably passed to the wrong one. Just too
sloppy – thank goodness he had skill AND the water carriers around him.
The other thing I learned from this game, is that Thomas can’t
play up front on his own. His work ethic was top notch, his control slightly
less so but that’s not the reason for the statement. The reason is that we had
crosses firing in from both left and right – but there was no-one in the middle
When Wes did make it in time for the cross, he’d be
surrounded by 4 Pompey defenders, whose ears were still ringing no doubt from Saturday’s
post match de-briefing
We’ve finally got
threats from both left AND right but if we are no threat in the middle, then
this will be a very long season
This was how the first half played out with tons of
possession, great work down left or right, a cross would then come in and it
would all fizzle out
The possession stats must have been ridiculously in AFCB’s
favour, but with no cutting edge.
In fact, the first shot on target came in injury time when a
brilliant left foot shot from Surman seemed destined to curl into the top left
corner before the keeper managed to paw it away.
Then, like buses, Fraser forced a full length diving save a
minute later from a shot, cutting in from the right. The pressure was being exerted,
but the whistle came to Pompey’s rescue
HT 0-0
The second half started very much as the first had ended
with so many crossed raining in the Pompey back four exchanged shin-pads for
tin hats.
It was on 52 minutes that the deadlock was finally broken
when a deep cross from the left went over everyone’s heads and was picked up by
Fraser.
He cut inside and his shot was blocked by a diving defender.
The ball then ricocheted to O’Kane just to the right of the penalty spot and he
calmly slotted home just inside the right post
Score 1-0
Thank goodness for that. With us playing a game-plan of
getting fined for the length of time spent in the opposing penalty area I just couldn’t
actually see where the goal was going to come from. I know Grabban scored from
25 yards but that really shouldn’t be taken as the blue-print of how to win a
game
To be fair, from that moment, Pompey corners and rare break
aways aside, AFCB didn’t actually look like they were going to need another
goal – although after 65 minutes or so I did find myself saying something I
never thought I’d say – “why doesn’t he bring on Stockley”.
Yes I know, I feel a bit dirty J but 2 up front would have made
us so much more of a threat
On 67 minutes, we had our first chance to see a Harte free
kick. Behind the goal we’d all braced ourselves for a 100mph ball in the face
moment, when he in fact rolled the ball sideways to Surman whose shot narrowly
went wide
The game had taken on a pre-season feel to it now with AFCB
keeping the ball for long periods, without actually causing too many alarms.
This “friendly” feeling was reinforced when our striker went
off and Charlie Daniels replaced him!!
Strangely enough, we did actually create some chances with
CD on the field – none better than on 81 minutes when a seemingly 1000 pass
sequence put Charlie through down the left. He pulled the ball back to O’Kane
who brilliantly turned his marker and shot just wide of the left post
The likes of Arter and MacDonald then came on to see the
game through and once the kit man had come on for Allsop the friendly cup
tie was over and AFCB had finally made it to the second round
Summary – Some beautiful passages of play, but just a bit
Grovesesque – by that I mean a bit sluggish going forward and a bit toothless
in the final third. The game was never in danger of being lost and I firmly
believe that with the supply of quality crosses we can now muster, 2 up front
will see us worry any team that we might come across this season.
A final comment on the Pompey fans – excellent – but then
that is what I’ve come to expect
MOM – Fraser – although it was O’kane that made the midfield
tick, it was Fraser that would suddenly spark an attack to life with his direct
wing play and willingness to run into the space behind the defenders, pulling
them all over the park
Main Stand
East Stand
Away Support
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