Christmas Round-Up: Portsmouth FC

Accrington Stanley 4 – 1 Portsmouth

Portsmouth’s first away game of December is one to forget for Kenny Jackett and the 11 on the field.

It looked to be a promising afternoon for the blues when Marcus Harness delivered a cross into the box, where it was met by Ronan Curtis and headed into the net off the keeper’s right post.

Ellis Harrison was also in the limelight with a headed goal in the 44th minute however, the ball fell into the goal guarded by his own goalkeeper, Craig MacGillivray. The Welsh front-man was attempting to clear the ball in mid-air from an Accrington corner and ended up handing Stanley the equaliser right before half time.

The mood turned even further south when Dion Charles slipped the ball into the net through the legs of Craig MacGillivray to give Accrington Stanley the lead in the 62nd minute.

Just 5 minutes after, Stanley came on knocking with further chances. Craig MacGillivray parried away Finley’s shot straight into the path of Bishop who netted in Stanley’s 3rd of the afternoon.

Colby Bishop concluded Jackett’s miserable afternoon to forget by netting in the 4th goal in the 77th minute, making this Portsmouth’s heaviest league defeat this season.

Portsmouth 1 – 0 Ipswich

After the gloomy 4 -1 defeat in the previous week in Accrington, many fans headed into Fratton Park with a negative mindset for the clash against 2nd in the league Ipswich.

Ipswich dominated possession for the majority of the game, however it was Pompey who came out on top in terms of chances created, with the total of 15 shots against the Town’s 8.

The only goal of the game came when Ronan Curtis picked the ball up at the half-way line and drove forward with purpose on the left flank. The Irishman cut in-field just outside the box and powered the ball into the net off the bar sending the Fratton End wild.

The winner was Curtis’ 8th goal of the season, who is on a goal-getting streak for Jackett’s side, and it’s a streak that mostly consists of worldies.

Portsmouth 2 – 0 Wycombe Wanderers

The Boxing Day clash against league leaders Wycombe was welcomed with an open mind after the clean sheet and 3 points agains Ipswich in the previous matchweek.

The first goal of the game came when Andy Cannon took a shot from outside of the area, which deflected into the path of Ellis Harrison who controlled the ball and tried placing it to the bottom left of Allsop, but the Welshman struck the woodwork. Luckily, the ball fell into the path of Ben Close and the academy graduate netted the ball into the back of the net in the 66th minute of the game.

In the 73rd minute, Craig MacGillivray played a long ball towards Marcus Harness, who managed to find space and get a low cross into the box for Ronan Curtis. The winger netted the ball past Allsop to give Pompey a two-goal cushion, and subsequently, the ultimate Christmas gift of beating the top 2 teams in the league in the space of 5 days.