Gareth Evans replaces Andy Cannon, and Ellis Harrison is on for Ronan Curtis for Pompey. 62nd. minute.
Final whistle goes, and it's a 2-1 win to the home side in a hard fought game between two well matched teams. Think we deserved a point though.
Final match stats:- Home Team: Sunderland ...............Away Team: Portsmouth Possession: Home 43% Away 57% Shots: Home 5 Away 6 Shots on Target: Home 2 Away 1 Corners: Home 2 Away 5 Fouls: Home 17 Away 12
Followed the match via text on the BBC. Reading between the lines Pompey played some good football and the partnership between Marquis and Harness could yet prove very fruitful. It seems our defending cost us a point. Looking at the league table we are off to a slowish start. Tuesday will be very interesting. I won´t be disappointed if PFC fail to beat Coventry as I think this team will get better as the season progresses. It seems as if the football is better this season as well - more passing, less hoofball as some critics refer to Kenny´s tactics. Heads up and onwards we go.
The game was shown on television here in Oz as were the games against Sunderland at the end of last season. Despite winning the cup (which was a scoreline draw and Pompey had a terrible first half) this was Pompey's best performance in all the fixtures in my opinion. Firstly, Pompey clearly 'came to play,' - not a typical away team hoping for a clean sheet and a goal against the run of play. It was apparent watching and the statistics bear this out. The joy for me was the amount of football Pompey played on the ground - as Ides points out. I think the main reason for this was the contribution of Cannon who did a tremendous amount of running. If not always impressive on the ball he tracked back to our own penalty area when defending and made an extra passing option in the mid field. A genuine box to box player. I hope he gets an extended run in the side. I was disappointed to see him substituted but it may have been a preconceived plan that he 'run his socks off' before being substituted. Rather than the weakness in the side ( as was the case sometimes last season) I thought the mid-field was the strength. Naylor played well and Close seemed to play more forward probing passes than has sometimes been the case - probably because of Maquire's running off the ball. The Harness - Maquire combination looks promising even though Maquire did not have the best game. Harness was very impressive. The two weaker players on the day Walkes and Curtis were substituted. Playing McCorie at right back was interesting,. He was impressive there and bringing him into a starting eleven in this position will allow Close and Cannon to remain in the side. (this would be unfortunate for Bolton). If he were then to be called back to Rangers at some stage I think replacing a right back mid season would have less impact on the rhythm of the side than replacing a mid fielder ( as happened with Thompson's recall last season). Curtis may need to find some form before Williamson returns to fitness. All in all I reflect the tone of Ides post above - despite only 3 points out of 9 I think there are very positive signs.
That is an interesting observation about McCorrie. Hope Curtis can find the form that he was in for two thirds of last season , prior to his injury.