2-2 now with Rob Atkinson scoring his second (or third!) goal of the match, from a long ball upfield by keeper Nicholas Schmid. 90 + 1 minutes.
Final whistle. 2-2. What a match!! 1 point is better than nothing, taking us to 46 points for the season. What a comeback game for fit again centre half Rob Atkinson two goal for us, and an own goal for them.
"Hatrick" Rob!! Well that must have been nerve-wracking. I just hope the side have a belief they can get something from Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday. I'm putting my money on the current bottom three to get relegated.
Final Match Stats:- Overall possession Portsmouth 60.2%Derby County 39.8% Shots Portsmouth 15Derby County 10 Shots on target Portsmouth 5Derby County 4 Total touches inside the box Portsmouth 19Derby County 17 Goalkeeper saves Portsmouth 3Derby County 3 Fouls Portsmouth 13Derby County 18 Corners Portsmouth 6Derby County 3
Well that was definitely a must not lose game so a point in those circumstances feels like a win. Hopefully scoring a stoppage time equaliser will give us some belief going into the last few games, given how important last minutes goals were last season.
It beggars belief that either Luton or Plymouth will get a series of results to escape the drop. Cardiff have a tough run of fixtures and will need a personality makeover to get out of their positión. Of Pompey's remaining 4 fixtures I foresee a win at Sheffield Wednesday, two defeats and a draw!
Once this season is over, I hope the people in charge rethink the footballing structure of the club regarding a route from the youth to the first team. At the moment the first team squad numbers about 30. By not opting to play a team in the U23 League, many of the players such as Blair, spend a long time kicking their heels, and when called on are likely to get an injury as they are not match fit. And sending guys out on loan to the likes of Bognor or Gosport is not really the solution. So I hope this situation is rectified as it will keep the fringe players fitter and ready for first team action the the occasion arises. The other issue reading preparedness for the Championship is to avoid playng the likes of Bognor, Havant and Gosport in pre-season friendles as this season Pompey kicked off undercooked and remained that way until November. The club needs to arrange friendlies against higher pedigree opponents. A tour of the Benelux countries pre-season and friendlies against teams in the top division in these countries would be better preparation.
We'll always play Havant and Waterlooville but it would be nice to play some higher level opposition. I get wanting to support the local sides, but not all of our friendlies have to be against them. Plus they can alternate which local side they support. Plus there's other fairly local sides that play at a higher level like Farnborough and Aldershot (and Woking, if you consider that local)
I think the Hawks fixture is a gentlemen's agreement, seeing as Pompey Women play there and the Hawks give discounted entry to Pompey season ticket holders at home league games
