Disappointing evening costs Pompey vital two points
2 min read
The Tuesday night floodlights welcomed Joey Barton’s Fleetwood Town in the originally re-scheduled League One clash. The reverse fixture at Highbury Stadium was only played 3 weeks ago, where Kenny Jackett’s Blues lost 1-0.
Portsmouth started the first 45 minutes on the front-foot, when the ball fell to Curtis just inside the penalty area within the first minute of the game. The Irishman’s shot sailed over the bar in an attempt to chip the keeper off his line.
A lapse in concentration from the Portsmouth defence allowed for Barry McKay to open the scoring at Fratton Park in the 19th minute. Ched Evans squared the ball across the face of the goal where McKay took advantage of a moment of miscommunication between Alex Bass and Steve Seddon.
Pompey levelled the score when in-form centre-back Sean Raggett rose highest to meet Ross McCrorie’s deep delivery into the box. The Norwich loanee looped his header over the keeper and made it 1-1 with 10 minutes to play until half-time.
Just 3 minutes into the second half, Aussie winger Ryan Williams charged down the right flank and delivered a cross meant for Ellis Harrison however, Harry Souttar arrived first slotting the ball past Cairns into his own net, giving Pompey the lead.
In the eyes of The Cod Army however, Harry Souttar went from villain to hero in just under 7 minutes, when a poorly defended corner allowed Fleetwood to level the scoring once again. Ched Evans got onto the end of the deep ball at the back post and directed it towards the centre of the box where Harry Souttar awaited his moment. Despite 6 Portsmouth outfield players accompanying Bass on the goal-line, the Fleetwood centre-half redeemed his name by heading the ball into the net in front of the 64 away crowd.
My Man of The Match: In what felt like a tiring match for the whole of the Portsmouth side, James Bolton felt like being the closest to a stand-out performance. Showing competence in the role of a centre-half, where he fills in for the suspended Christian Burgess.
Photo of The Match: The below photo of Ellis Harrison duelling for the ball with Harry Souttar, taken by Dave Taylor (partially sighted) is my photo of the match for this week.
UPDATE (13/03/2020): The EFL have postponed all scheduled matches until April 3rd at the earliest. With this timescale in mind, Portsmouth’s next fixture would be their trip to Wembley in the Leasing.com Trophy final against Salford City.
