Charlton Athletic 0 Portsmouth 0
It’s took 22 games but finally a clean sheet against the league leaders today and another visible step in the right direction.
It wasn’t a classic but we matched Pompey tackle for tackle, header for header and tactic for tactic.
Nathan Jones brought back in May and Bakinson, who I thought was terrible, with Coventry banished again to stiffs and Ladapo joined a strong bench.
Kanu has been Jones‘ first choice striker and he hit the inside of the post in the early exchanges.
Pompey had the better of the first half and Isted had to be alert on a few occasions. That first 45 minutes left an impression that the league leaders would up the pressure in the second half driven on by a packed Jimmy Seed Stand.
But, that wasn’t to be as our defence led by the impenetrable Lloyd Jones batted away every attack and when one of their players got away on goal substitute Gillesphey produced a Rufus-like challenge to rescue the situation.
Lloyd Jones did get stupidly booked for dissent after what looked like a good shout for a penalty. He now misses the next two games.
We were more cogent in the second half without causing their keeper too much concern, but we attacked with zeal, used the channels well and the players chased everything with The Valley in good voice.
Our final ball, especially the crossing needs a lot of improvement but there is no doubt we are better organized, keep our shape and have a game plan to believe in.
I liked again that with 7 added minutes we managed the final part of the game really well, spending most of it on the attack.
Bolton and Pompey were very different games and opposition, but it is two unexpected points and some bedrock to build on.
MoW: Lloyd Jones. He won every header that was sent in his direction.
Elsewhere: Shrewsbury opened up a gap above us by beating Reading away 3-2. Port Vale lost at home to Lincoln 2-0, Exeter and Fleetwood drew 1-1 and Carlisle lost at Bristol Rovers 2-1. Without Neil Harris Cambridge lost at home to Peterborough and last night Wigan and Cheltenham shared the spoils.
Aother good point but now 5 teams on 38 points but 2 more games just to pass them but assuming they all drop points but yes this one win on the trot is required and draws will simoly not be enough but still out of the R position.
COYR a win at Derby beckons pleaseeeeee.
The positives are that we have stopped losing(and letting in late goals!). Yes, we still wait for NJ’s first win, but the team are looking organised and playing with a direction sorely lacking under the previous manager. We knew that this would be a tough run of games, so those two points(and the confidence they bring) may be crucial, come the end of the season…
Another point on Tuesday would be a good result. After that only wins will give us a chance.
Battling performance despite ineptitude from Bakinson and half-heartedness from Dobson who’s nowhere near the player he was when we need him most.
Longest winless run in all 4 leagues and only dross keeping us out of bottom 4, the win whenever it comes needs to be a red bus.
Disagree , I thought Bakinson did well with lots of movement and Dobson worked tirelessly to stop their mid field from creating. I think after Derby it will be interesting(crucial) to see if we can really dominate games and start to get those illusive wins.
A battling performance – if you didn’t know where the teams were in the table before the game you wouldn’t have guessed that one was heading for automatic promotion and the other battling to avoid slipping into the relegation zone or that there was a 33 goal difference between them. We restricted Pompey to a few half chances.
We showed a lot of energy and just needed the break – Kanu’s was our best chance and we are clearly missing that bit of creativity that we lost when CBT left.
All in all a decent sign of progress and if we can get something out of the Derby match then the run of three matches against teams in form/heading for promotion will be a good return.
It just shows how much the fans play in supporting the team….the covered-end led the way and we definitely matched the noise of the Pompey fans….minus their drum,trumpet and bell !!!
We performed well and attacked Pompey from the first whistle and could have been 3 up by half time, and at times we were let down by the officials who I feel were intimidated by some of the Pompey players.
It was end to end play and so many chances were lost due to poor finishing in both teams.
We’ve so far managed two draws against the top two teams and let’s hope for 3 at Derby on Tuesday
3 points I mean !