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Cherries Break Pompey Resistance - Fratton Faithful

 

Cherries Break Pompey Resistance

Last updated : 09 February 2013 By Jim Bonner

Defeat at Dean Court today meant that Portsmouth FC have now equalled their club record of 19 games without a win set in the 1975/76 season.

The result also means a record equalling 9 straight defeats, also set in the 1975/76 season.

The game wasn't a fantastic spectacle for either team as the Pompey defence held firm or most of the first half, despite Bournemouth having most of the ball.

There were a couple of "heart-in-mouth" moments before the break as Eastwood came rushing out of his goal to claim a long ball he was never going to get but thankfully Lewis Grabban lobbed the ball over the bar as well as the goalkeeper.

Brett Pitman headed the ball against the cross bar right before the whistle as Pompey held on despite barely threatening the opposition goal. Debutant Patrick Agyemang hit a tame overhead kick wide and Adam Reed tested Shwan Jalal with a curling effort but that was all.

Pompey showed some attacking intent in the second half with new boys Therry Racon and John Akinde threatening Jalal's goal. The latter almost grabbed a debut goal but was just beaten to Johnny Ertl's pass by the Bournemouth stopper.

The visitors' best chance of the match came when Yassin Moutaouakil ran down the right and whipped a cross into the box but Agyemang could not direct his header on target.

Dan Butler also tried his luck with a thunderbolt from 30 yards but his effort was deflected over the bar.

Pompey were made to pay for wasting those precious chances as Josh McQuoid's cross landed to Grabban in the box and he had all the time in the world to strike the ball past Eastwood.

What little hope there was of getting a result was extinguished when Pitman took advantage of sloppy defending from Moutaouakil and provided a through ball for Marc Pugh who slotted past Ashdown to confirm the defeat.

Looking back, I'm not sure why James Keene, Jed Wallace and Liam Walker were dropped when they were our most threatening players at Scunthorpe on Tuesday. Apart from a short spell in the second half we never looked like  creating enough chances to win the game.

As for the new players, Agyemang looks like the player I expected. Can win long balls in the air and cause defences problems but won't get you many goals.

Racon looks useful with the ball at his feet if he has space to run but Akinde didn't really do much although in his defence he never had the service from the midfield.

Hartlepool United are the club that may well break Pompey's unwanted records come Tuesday night and that will surely be one of the lowest points in this club's long and proud history.

Pompey Player Ratings

Simon Eastwood: 5 - Might have done better with both goals.

Yassin Moutaouakil: 5 - Sloppy defending for the second goal.

Gabor Gyepes: 5 - Lost his man a few times.

Ricardo Rocha: 5 - Got in the way but lacked communication with Gyepes.

Dan Butler: 6 - Solid enough and got forward well.

Therry Racon: 6 - Looked good at times.

Johnny Ertl: 6 - Worked hard.

Shaun Cooper: 6 - Industrial performance.

Adam Reed: 6 - Pompey's biggest threat.

John Akinde: 5 - Never saw much of the ball.

Patrick Agyemang: 6 - A handful.

Substitutes

Phil Smith

Adam Webster

Sam Sodje

Jed Wallace (Racon 69): N/A - Should have started.

Liam Walker (Cooper 82): N/A - Why the hell was he dropped!?

Ashley Harris

James Keene (Agyemang 65): N/A - Rarely saw the ball.