Portsmouth Season Review 2013/2014: May

Last updated : 22 June 2014 By Jim Bonner

With League Two safety secured, there was still a top ten finish to play for on the last day of the season for Portsmouth.

Andy Awford had done extremel well to rescue the club from the very real prospect of relegation with five wins and a draw and because of this he was awarded the manager's job on a permanent basis.

There was more good news for the new boss as he was given the "manager of the month" award for April although Danny Hollands missed out on the "player of the month" counterpart.

Plymouth Argyle came to a packed Fratton Park for the last match of a difficult season and with the pressure off, both sides came to attack.

Hollands gave Pompey the lead by heading in Ryan Taylor's cross but the lead didn't last long as Reuben Reid, now permanently a Pilgrims player, lashed home an equaliser.

Pompey regained the lead as Hollands poked home a loose ball in the box following some poor defending from the visitors but once again the home side were pegged back as Conor Hourihane blasted a free kick beyond Trevor Carson and into the corner of the net.

The pace didn't drop in the second half as Hollands completed his hat-trick by heading in Ricky Holmes' cross. It looked like Pompey would end the season with a win but in the last minute a poor clearance from Michael Drennan allowed Hourihane to fire in an equaliser and that meant a 9th place finish for Portsmouth turned into a 13th place finish once the final whistle blew.

Highlights: Portsmouth 3 Plymouth Argyle 3

The Pompey players and staff then did a lap of thanks rather than honour to acknowledge the support they've had despite not acheiving expectations at the start of the season before disappearing down the tunnel one last time.

Those expectations are going to be the same once August 9th arrives but there is now a sense of optimism that Awford can guide his team to promotion despite his lack of experience.

He has already signed Danny Hollands on a permanent contract whilst Nicky Shorey and Jed Wallace have signed new deals. Paul Jones and Nigel Atangana also represent positive signings whilst not many fans will miss any of the players who have left the club.

The 2014/2015 should be a better season than this one and it needs to be for the sake of all Pompey fans. Hopefully Awford and his team can deliver next season.

Play Up Pompey!