The events of Portsmouth's 2-1 win over Oxford United in League One told by Jake Smith.
Pompey went into Saturday's meeting with The U's at Fratton Park reeling off some positive results going in their favour in midweek with both Derby County and Bolton Wanderers defeated in their respective games in hand.
Midfielder Lee Evans was announced as a surprise signing on Friday afternoon but he was nowhere to be seen in John Mousinho's matchday squad, begging the question if he was registered in time to be eligible to play in the clash with Oxford. It's also important to remember that Evans has not played since September after suffering a knee injury which had forced surgery.
Only 1 change was made to the starting XI from last week's goalless draw at Charlton - Myles Peart-Harris coming into the team in place of Owen Moxon, who dropped to the bench.
First Half:
GOAL - Pompey got off to the perfect start when after just 88 seconds on the clock, Callum Lang tucked the ball underneath goalkeeper Jamie Cumming to open the scoring at Fratton Park. Whilst the keeper should have done better to keep the ball out, the goal came as a product of some excellent play from the Blues - Joe Rafferty had taken the throw-in, received well and flicked on smoothly off the chest of Colby Bishop to Abu Kamara, who found the feet of Lang, he then took the ball from his left to his right foot and fired an effort through Cumming, who could only scramble at the ball to try and claw it back out (without success) - PORTSMOUTH 1-0 Oxford United.
Conor Shaughnessy had the opportunity to hand the Blues a 2nd goal on the 4th minute, heading over the bar from a Paddy Lane free kick.
GOAL - The U's with a quick response and an equaliser with just 5 minutes played - Former Blues winger Owen Dale was given the ball on the right-hand side and fouled clearly by Sean Raggett, who unfortunately came into the challenge with too much speed and aggression. Peart-Harris had been dispossessed in the build-up to that foul as Ruben Rodrigues closed him down from behind, allowing top score Mark Harris to dish the ball to the eventually-fouled Dale. No complaints with the penalty decision and Cameron Brannagan converted from 12 yards, sending Will Norris the wrong way - Portsmouth 1-1 OXFORD UNITED.
Pompey did not react well enough to that equaliser and allowed the visitors to overrun them in midfield for large parts of the first half, which overall proved to be an end-to-end affair.
On 11 minutes, Colby Bishop saw a strong shot from a tight angle clawed away at the near post by Jamie Cumming, who done very well to concede only a corner.
Just seconds later up the other end of the pitch (towards the Fratton End), Mark Harris had a curling effort from outside of the box ricochet off the post - The shot had Norris beaten and came as a result of a poor clearance from the head of Joe Rafferty.
The Oxford chances came one after another between the 14th and 20th minute, first through Fin Stevens who forced a strong save from Norris from inside the box and then moments later Josh Murphy received the ball on the right following an excellent ball from midfield which had Pompey's defence completely split, though Murphy's shot went off target.
Referee Ben Toner soon decided to make the most of his yellow cards with a member of both teams booked before the interval - Callum Lang receiving a yellow on the 28th minute after pulling the shirt of Owen Dale and Mark Harris cautioned for impeding Will Norris, who had attempted to send the Blues on a quick counter following a failed Oxford United corner. Ruben Rodrigues was also booked on the 42nd minute for a foul on Myles Peart-Harris on the edge of the 18 yard box.
Though chances aplenty came for both sides up to the half-time break, the best came from a dead-ball situation when on the 43rd minute, Paddy Lane touched the ball ever so slightly to Marlon Pack from a free kick situation with the captain's shot low and hard, however not with enough velocity to get past Jamie Cumming and the half ended level.
An entertaining half of football and a decent advert for League One football, perhaps, though from a Pompey perspective frustrating considering the failure to capitalise from such a bright start.
Half-time: Portsmouth 1-1 Oxford United
Second Half:
It was Des Buckingham's Oxford who came out from the break the stronger of the 2 sides - Josh Murphy testing Pompey on the 49th minute and seeing his incredibly fierce effort come bouncing off the frame of Will Norris' goal, which shook for a good few seconds after that effort. A let off for Portsmouth so early on in the second half.
10 minutes after the restart, Pompey would be left scratching their heads as to how they hadn't claimed a 2nd goal when Elliott Moore denied Paddy Lane a clear goalscoring opportunity.
John Mousinho made his first substitution of the match on the 64th minute, taking the booked Callum Lang off the pitch and introducing Christian Saydee to the game.
Seconds later, The U's could and perhaps would have found the back of the net through Cameron Brannagan's effort, but for the late intervention from a sliding Joe Rafferty, who showed great tenacity to come flying in and deny a great opportunity.
GOAL - Pompey reclaimed the lead with 67 minutes on the clock, Christian Saydee just 3 minutes after coming off the bench adding a 2nd for his side - The chance originated after a freak moment up the other end when a cleared Oxford chance looked to be going out of play, though the corner flag between the South Stand and Milton End preventing that from happening. Connor Ogilvie picked up the ball from deep and found Colby Bishop, who had come from - PORTSMOUTH 2-1 Oxford United.
Goalscorer Saydee was called into action 10 minutes later but up the other end of the field, assisting his back line with a clearance from just a few yards out to deny Oxford a 2nd equaliser of the game, putting the ball out for a corner which would end up being wasted.
Pompey had to fight and fight hard in the final 15 minutes + added time with the visitors continuing to knock on the door and even up to the 95th minute, Oxford had the opportunities to hit the Blues on the counter and replicate their late heroics from the reverse fixture at the Kassam Stadium in January.
That never came to fruition though as John Mousinho's table-toppers held on to a 2-1 victory, marking a 9th straight league match unbeaten.
Full-time: Portsmouth 2-1 Oxford United
Goalscorers: C. Lang 2', C. Brannagan (PEN) 6', C. Saydee 67'
Attendance: 20,303 (including 1,382 away fans)
Jake's Man of the Match: Marlon Pack - Even with a new partner in Myles Peart-Harris alongside him, the captain led by example and barely put a foot wrong all afternoon. A strong showing and a big battle in midfield, one his side would eventually come out on top of.
Full-time scores from elsewhere in League One today: Bolton Wanderers 2-0 Cambridge United, Carlisle United 1-3 Reading, Cheltenham Town 0-0 Burton Albion, Derby County 3-0 Port Vale, Fleetwood Town 4-2 Wigan Athletic, Leyton Orient 0-1 Bristol Rovers, Lincoln City 0-0 Stevenage, Northampton Town 1-1 Charlton Athletic, Peterborough United 2-1 Exeter City, Shrewsbury Town 0-2 Blackpool, Wycombe Wanderers 2-4 Barnsley
John Mousinho's side remain top of League One and 7 points clear too with all 3 sides just below them picking up victories too. Only 10 games remain for Portsmouth this season.
The Football Hour will be back on Monday (March 4th) evening from 6pm with Jake Smith and Andy Mitchelmore to go through today's action and provide reaction to the post-match interview delivered by John Mousinho.
There's no midweek fixture for the Blues so the next edition of Pompey Live will come from Bloomfield Road, home of Blackpool - Portsmouth travel there next Saturday (March 9th) for their 37th match of the league season. Express FM will be on air for that from 2pm for a 3pm kick-off in Lancashire.
Comments
Add a comment