Tranmere Rovers 0 Portsmouth 1

Last updated : 22 September 2004 By Keith Allman
Pompey squeaked out narrow winners over League One Tranmere, a Diomansy Kamara goal all that seperated the sides in a frustrating encounter. The home team packed players behind the ball and sat back, looking to frustrate Pompey's pacy forward line. The ploy seemed to be working in the first half, as the visitors were restricted to long range efforts; O'Neil and Berger going closest.

Goooal!
The breakthrough came midway through the second half, when after good work from captain for the night Berger, the ball fell to Kamara ten yards home who made no mistake with his finish. Restricted to two substitute appearances in the Premiership so far, it was the perfect way for the striker to celebrate his first competitive start.

Tranmere predictably threatened late on, with Zola (Calvin, not Gianfranco), going especially close with a header. But at the end of the evening it was Pompey who came out the winners, despite not playing their best - although Harry probably won't be too bothered with the performance as we got the result we wanted. Bookings for the defensive trio of Unsworth, Griffin and Primus may cause some annoyance to the gaffer, however.

Debutants Cisse and Mezague may be slightly disappointed with their own performances, as neither managed to catch the eye in the manner they may have hoped - a criticism that may also be aimed at O'Neil and Taylor. Ashdown had little work to do, in truth, but coped well enough with what did come his way.

Now it's back to the serious business, as high-flying Everton come to town on Sunday for a game live on Sky. After the disappointment of defeat to Blackburn last weekend, hopefully victory at Prenton Park will go some way to rebuilding team confidence before the visit of David Moyes' Toffees.

Team: Ashdown, Cisse, Griffin, Primus, Taylor, Unsworth, Berger (Stefanovic, 90), Mezague, O'Neil, Fuller (Yakubu, 70), Kamara