Spirited Pompey Knocked Out Of League Cup

Last updated : 07 August 2013 By Jim Bonner

Pompey were narrowly beaten by their Championship hosts yesterday evening at Dean Court but there are some positives to take out of the performance.

Guy Whittingham made changes to the side that were beaten 4-1 by Oxford and some of the players coming in will have given him food for thought ahead of Saturday's game at Accrington given the improved performance.

Bournemouth may have had more possession but a tighter Pompey defence managed to block their efforts in the first half and clear any danger from corners. The visitors won a few corners of their own but couldn't make the most of them whilst Patrick Agyemang also had a couple of potshots that missed the target.

It was a fairly even game up until near half-time when Phil Smith produced a fantastic save to deny Andrew Surman and then got down quickly to stop Ryan Fraser's shot coming in.

Unfortunately the Cherries took the lead early in the second half as Dan Butler made the mistake of failing to cut out Surman's long pass to Fraser whose shot was blocked by Sonny Bradley only for the rebound to fall to Eunan O'Kane who blasted the ball past Smith.

Pompey continued to press but rarely tested Ryan Allsop in the Bournemouth goal. In fact it wasn't until the 83rd minute when the Blues registered a shot on target as Ricky Holmes weaved his way past two players before striking the ball straight at the keeper.

The hosts had chances to be sure of the win but Smith again produced a couple of decent saves to keep Pompey in the game and will surely have played his way into the starting eleven for the Accrington game.

The defence generally looked more solid as a unit and worked harder to close players down. Bondz N'Gala performed pretty well on his debut but Butler had another stinker and may well be dropped.

This team is still too guilty of giving the ball away cheaply or overplaying when near the opposition box when it would be better to shoot. Hopefully this will come as the team gels in the coming weeks.

Overall, a 1-0 defeat to a Championship side isn't a terrible result and despite the negatives there were plenty of positives to take into Saturday's game, which now looks more difficult after Accrington won at Middlesbrough last night.

Pompey Player Ratings

Phil Smith: 8 - Some excellent saves and looks a safer pair of hands than Sullivan.

Joe Devera: 6 - Looked more comfortable at right back.

Bondz N'Gala: 7 - Some good challenges.

Sonny Bradley: 6 - Defended well but distribution was woeful at times.

Dan Butler: 4 - At fault for the goal and Bournemouth's wingers generally got the better of him.

Jed Wallace: 5 - Nowhere near his best.

Danny East: 6 - Got about the pitch.

Romain Padovani: 6 - Put a good shift in.

Ricky Holmes: 7 - Pompey's biggest threat.

Patrick Agyemang: 5 - Didn't have much service.

Tom Craddock: 5 - Looked a bit lost. Might become Pompey's next "boo boy".

Substitutes

John Sullivan

Yassin Moutaouakil

Andy Barcham (Wallace 71): N/A - Had a couple of runs at the Bournemouth defence but crossing was wasteful.

Simon Ferry (Butler 65): 6 - Looks like a good signing.

Ashley Harris

David Connolly

Ryan Bird (Agyemang 71): N/A - Didn't see much of the ball.