Harsh Last Minute Penalty Downs Pompey

Last updated : 20 August 2009 By Jim Bonner
Yesterday evening I left St. Andrews a very angry man, cursing our luck for the second game running as Pompey lost once again due to what many see as a very generous penalty decision.

I'll set one thing straight now. We were poor and never looked like scoring but then the same thing could be said for our hosts who, based on their performance, will also be struggling all season with us.

Both sides were guilty of wayward passes and deliveries from set pieces that seriously lacked quality and even though it was the home side that created the better chances, the Pompey defence rarely looked like being troubled and it looked like we would come away with a well deserved draw.

The only real scare was when Kevin "Scummer" Phillips had his deflected shot well saved by Jamo who only has routine saves to make after the Pompey defence snuffed out the Birmingham attack.

That's until the 90th minute when David James came out of his goal and clattered Sebastien Larsson whilst genuinely going for the ball. The Swede had an eye on James and made sure he obstructed him, which in my mind is a professional foul and therefore if anything we should have had a free kick.

Referee Lee Probert didn't award the penalty but it was the assistant who did which not only enraged James but every Pompey fan at the ground. McFadden stepped up and scored and sealed the vital win for the Birmingham.

As unhappy as I was with the penalty decision that is not my main gripe of yesterday's game. No, the thing that annoyed me most is that it took that stoppage time goal to wake up the Pompey attack and we created a brilliant chance to hit straight back only for it to be squandered which only left me feeling even more frustrated.

To not have a single significant attack for virtually the whole game is simply not good enough but there's not much that Paul Hart can do to change anything because he has such a weak squad at his disposal and no money to strengthen it.

There were a few positives to take from the defeat last night. The defence was solid once again under Sylvain Distin's leadership which further highlights how important he is to the team. If he is sold then we may as well give up now...

John Utaka also looked useful when he came on for Anthony Vanden Borre who was subbed off at half time. I'm not sure whether that was because of injury but he didn't have a spectacular debut anyway.

We also had another player injured as Papa Bouba Diop left the ground in a wheelchair which suggests that it might be serious. Angelos Basinas replaced him and now might get a chance to impress if Gavin McCann doesn't arrive before then. I feel we may need him because our centre midfield seriously lacks any spark.

The only real creative talent we have is Niko Kranjcar and he was poor once again yesterday. I'm not sure if it is because he doesn't care or because he isn't playing in the centre but I disagree with the fans who suggest we should sell him now and get some money for him simply because we have no creativity in the side without him.

As much as we want to curse our luck for the last two games we also need to realise that goals win games and so far we haven't scored any and have barely looked like doing so.

If Peter Storrie and Paul Hart don't do something within the next 12 days to solve this problem then we will be going down to the Championship.

Pompey Player Ratings

David James: 7 - Saved everything until controversial incident late on.

Marc Wilson: 6 - Looked solid at right back.

Younes Kaboul: 7 - Won most things in the air.

Sylvain Distin: 8 - Held everything together.

Nadir Belhadj: 6 - Guilty of poor passing.

Anthony Vanden Borre: 5 - Wasn't really in the game.

Hayden Mullins: 6 - Decent showing but missed a great chance.

Aaron Mokoena: 6 - Battled hard.

Papa Bouba Diop: 6 - Solid until late first half injury.

Niko Kranjcar: 5 - Didn't create anything.

Frederic Piquionne: 6 - Fed off of scraps.

Substitutes

Asmir Begovic

Joel Ward

Richard Hughes

Angelos Basinas (Bouba Diop 42): 6 - Did his job.

David Nugent

Kanu (Piquionne 79): N/A - Had no impact.