James Bree had a great game at right back on his return from loan at Charlton
|High Noon was the favoured time for a gunfight in the Old West, but on Sunday, it sees Saints make their shortest away trip of the season for the 2nd installment of THE South Coast derby. Brighton and Bournemouth may be top-flight but they can only dream of playing in a match of such importance.
It was mid-September when the home leg was played for the first time in a dozen seasons. Pompey were decent at our place, defending like fiends and a crossbar’s width away from scoring. We were strangely subdued that day. I say “strangely” as we were then unaware of how poorly our team would perform during the Autumn.
After a renaissance during Eckert’s Honeymoon period, Saints turned woeful again in December. Despite a hard-won FA Cup tie at lowly Doncaster, Saints failed to kick on against Hull last Saturday before struggling to see off a misfiring Blades side in midweek. There are, however, some positives.
Tonda now has an almost completely fit squad at his disposal. With all our full-backs now fit, he no longer has any excuse for 3 at the back. Jelert and Welington looked comfortable as fullbacks and performed both defending and attacking responsibilities well. Shea Charles is our best midfielder, and his return makes us harder to get at. Finally, Ross Stewart is a real centre forward, and we need him to play for at least an hour every game if he is able to.
Aziz and Fellows are not at the races at the moment. I would keep them on the bench at Fratton. Tonda should either play Jander or Matsuki as the 10 and give AA the wide right berth where he is more effective.
|Nothing says more about where the South Hants derby sits in the football food chain than Sky finding room for 4 live WSL games on their sports channels while our game was streamed. At least this transmission didn’t go missing at half time like a recent streamed Saints match.
Pompey had defensive issues and fielded 3 left footers in their back line as Bowat came in for Poole, who played in their draw at Watford. Saints made 3 changes, replacing Stewart, Fellows and Jelert with AA, Matsuki and Bree, recently returned from a half-season loan at The Valley.
The referee, Lewis Smith, had a decent game. He let plenty go and only began issuing cards following a 22-player brawl on 70m.
20,290 packed the tiny ground as Saints won the toss and immediately made PFC face the Fratton End for the 1st half. Pompey kicked off, and the early exchanges were frantic as both sides sought to impose themselves.
Bree got down the right, but his cross sailed into the home fans. Then Welington got a clout on the nose. He was briefly off the pitch before returning with cotton wool plugs up both nostrils.
Matsuki, a veteran of the Tokyo derby, was flying into challenges and gave PFC the chance to put the ball in our box. Segecic sent the ball over, and Bowat rose to meet it, only for Adams to get to it first and head wide.
The home side was pushing Saints back, and their build-up play looked good. Like so many EFL sides, though, their final ball was often sub-standard. Both our full-backs were getting forward when able, and on 11m, Welington sent a ball into the box which AA could not convert. A minute later, Azaz sent a fabulous ball through their defence, sending AA through on goal. Had to be 1-0, but he managed to hit the keeper. FFS!
Pompey kept the ball before launching their next attacks. Chaplin skewed a shot wide, then his next effort fell for Bishop, but Cap’n Jack swept the ball away. Then, left back Ogilvie sent over a cross which Bishop headed goalwards but was fielded by Peretz.
Straight back up the other end, and Bree fired the ball across. AA met it on the volley, and Schmid made another massive save. We were definitely creating better chances, but not taking them.
Bree had mostly kept Alli quiet, but on 23m was obliged to give away a corner. Aussie Segecic sent the ball in, and Peretz rose to punch it clear. He continued to do this to most of the balls he could reach. On this occasion, the ball was recycled to Alli, who fired wide.
Either side of the half hour, the game turned scrappy with neither side able to retain the ball. Both defences were winning their battles and, on 35m, Azaz threatened to open them up, but Ogilvie’s huge frame blocked him off as the ball rolled out for a goal kick
The Ref continued to let things go, and when Bishop was flattened by THB on 38m, the Pompey skipper’s complaints were waved away. After just +1m added, half-time arrived with the game scoreless.
With no changes, the game resumed and before long, Matsuki was paid back for some of his firm challenges when cleaned out by Ogilvie. That probably deserved a card, but didn’t get one.
The next shot on target came on 53m when Azaz hit the ball low. It didn’t have the pace to trouble Schmid, but AA let it go through his legs. A proper striker would have smashed that home!
Then, on 57m, the deadlock was broken. Pompey had a free kick which was curled towards Peretz’s back post. The ball was met by a Saints head and then hacked away by a Saints boot. It arced towards Finn Azaz in the inside left position. His first touch controlled the dropping ball, his second sent Leo scampering away from the defenders. They weren’t catching the Brazilian either. He carried the ball into the box and slotted it past Schmid. 0-1. TFFT!
Arms aloft, Leo ran past the North Stand who’d been giving him stick throughout the first half and celebrated with our fans in the Milton end. One of their mongs then ran on the pitch to “taunt” them and was removed by stewards. Banning order for you, Sunshine.
On 62m, Azaz tried to score, but his shot went over. Tonda then began tinkering. Azaz was replaced by Fellows, and Matsuki by Shea Charles. The former went wide right, and Shea alongside Downes with Jander further forward.
It was a grim, damp day, but the rain intensified as Mousinho sent on Williams for Bowat. Williams went to left back, and Ogilvie moved to centre back. While this was happening, Leo was down and hurt, and the medics came on. He had to be withdrawn, so Tonda also hooked AA, sending on Stewart and Robinson.
Saints looked confident of seeing this out until Flynn Downes upended Swanson with one of his trademark late “tackles”. Swanson reacted, and within seconds, all 22 players were pushing and shoving each other by the Main stand touchline. Mr Smith stood watching till tempers cooled before issuing yellow cards to both players.
Pompey then replaced Chaplin and Dozzell with Pack and Anderson. Unsurprisingly, the brawl fired up the home fans who geed up their team. They’d barely troubled us since the goal, but slowly the balance of power began to move.
Alli was now operating on the right and won them a corner. Segecic swung it in, and this time Peretz was trapped on his line. The ball dropped behind him, and THB tried to clear. Instead, he played it back across the goal line where Adams lurked. He bundled it over the line using his arm, and we conceded yet another goal that VAR would have ruled out. Bugger!
Adams next involvement was an eye-watering challenge on JR for which the Gambian was booked. We weren’t out of this, but our corners were being cleared easily while the pressure on our defence was mounting. Thankfully, their finishing remained awful as we were reminded by Pack’s wayward effort on 86m.
Six added minutes followed, and they kept coming, but better defending by THB and Peretz ensured we came away with a point.
|Whilst a draw was probably a fair result, SFC set another unwanted record on Sunday: 5 consecutive league games at Fratton without a win (D3 L2). Shite!
Having said that, Saints played better football and had better (if fewer) chances. AA’s inability to score 1 on 1s (inc penalties) cost us again.
The big positive was that the team stood up to a feisty, physical side, roared on by their moronic fans. Had Saints shown that spirit under pressure earlier in the season, we’d be comfortably top half, and Will Still would be in the dugout.
Leo was Leo, and Azaz showed his ability to break through defences. However, it was the back 5 that stood out. Peretz was good at punching the ball away, THB and Jack won plenty of defensive headers, and both full backs looked effective (for once).
THB looked nailed on to be MoM until his error gave them the equaliser. After that, I felt that our best performer was probably James Bree, who played pretty much every game at Charlton and didn’t find out he was facing - till Saturday. He performed soundly in his first Saints game since Goodison last Spring. Well played Sir, our Man of the Match.
© itsbeautifuloutside
Yes, this site uses cookies as well. If you are happy to continue, then you can dismiss this window, by clicking the “Dismiss” button on the right. If you want to know more then click Read more