Own goals

It is all my fault. At half time, I wrote: “Could be four up. Don’t blow it!”

And all too soon, passing became poorer and, over and again, we surrendered possession cheaply and dangerously.

At 1-1, I sat bewildered by the absence of urgency and control in our game. Portsmouth were not much better, also losing the ball in situations where it was harder than keeping it.

But while they always, in what Pete Sixsmith rightly called a “woeful second half”, looked slightly neater than us going forward, we had the better chances. Just as we had in the first half, when Cisse could have added two more to the slick fourth-minute finish after Andy Reid’s wonderful long pass put him through.

Then there was Malbranque’s swerving shot against the outside of a post.

We did blow it, losing 2-1, with no actual own goals but a deadly combination of suicidal defending and an amateurishly conceded penalty.

Pete will not be a model of hope and faith when he reflects on a defeat that once again thrusts us into that familiar territory where the bottom three is only a whisker away.

Colin Randall

1 thought on “Own goals”

  1. It was a harsh lesson all right.The Premiership is a very unforgiving league and if you come up short in any department you are severely punished.
    Sadly yesterday we did not take enough of our chances when we were well on top in the first half and although defeat was harsh our second half performance was dreadful and deserved no more than a point.
    To be fair our first half performance was aa good as we have produced for a couple of years now. Sadly Pompey organised themselves at half time mainly by giving Reid,our main playmaker and best player yesterday, no time on the ball and tightly marking Cisse. These tactical masterstrokes were enough to have us foxed and as a result I don’t think we created even a half chance in the second 45 minutes.
    It is possible we could be in a relegation spot at the end of today, almost unthinkable after the dizzy heights of a fortnight ago,.The grim reality is that although no points from our visit to Stamford Bridge was expected the same return for the away trip to Stoke and yesterdays game is unacceptable.We need to start winning and soon.

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