I wouldn't mind betting that nerves got the better of Sunderland in front of a massive crowd today. As for nerves, Jackett knows how to negotiate a promotion and I feel he could just about get us over the line but we have some tricky fixtures to face!
Good game !! It was nice to see the Checkatrade Trophy brought out onto the pitch to celebrate. The atmosphere was very good, despite the small number of Rochdale fans at the match. We took the lead with a lovely flick header from Oli Hawkins, from an excellent cross from Jamal Lowe. That was Oli's 10th goal of the season. We went 2-0 up just before half time, with a Brett Pitman penalty following a foul on Nathan Thompson just inside the box. Rochdale came out for the second half playing a lot better, and pulled a goal back in the 54th minute, but Pompey got back on track with a headed goal from sub Gareth Evans from a cross by man-of-the-match Jamal Lowe. Jamal scored an excellent goal himself to round things off in the 79th minute. The day was made even better with the news that Coventry City had won 5-4 at Sunderland, courtesy of a winning goal from who else but Conor Chaplin !!
Match Stats:- Home Team: Portsmouth .......Away Team: Rochdale Possession: Home 51% Away 49% Shots: Home 16 Away 9 Shots on Target: Home 10 Away 6 Corners: Home 5 Away 1 Fouls: Home 6 Away 20
As It Stands:- ......Team ........P GD .Pts 1 Luton ..........42 44 ..87 2 Barnsley .....42 37 .82 3 Sunderland 41 33 80 4 Portsmouth 41 31 80 5 Charlton .....42 24 79 6 Doncaster ...42 19 69 7 Peterborough 41 9 64 8 Coventry ......42 1 61 9 Burton ..........42 12 60 10 Blackpool 42 1 58 11 Fleetwood 41 7 56 12 Oxford Utd 42 -6 53 13 Shrewsbury 42 -6 50 14 Bristol Rovers 42 -3 49 15 Gillingham 42 -14 48 16 Accrington 42 -18 48 17 Wycombe 42 -12 47 18 Plymouth 42 -16 47 19 Scunthorpe 42 -24 45 20 Rochdale 42 -32 45 21 Wimbledon 42 -22 44 22 Southend 42 -14 43 23 Walsall 42 -24 42 24 Bradford 42 -27 36
So Hawkins, Lowe and Curtis have all reached doublé figures for the season.. Has Evans? And if Pitman can keep scoring a brace each time, then we'll have 5 players to managed that, which could be a first in Pompey's long and chequered history.
You just feel there are more twists and turns to come. Funny how Sunderland got a full house after the Checkertrade final playiing away but only managed one point in front of their own fans. So now we have four teams chasing second place, and where Charlton have come from I do not know, but they are there ready to seize that spot should we or the other two slip up. As far as I can work out, if PFC win all their remaining matches we avoid the play-offs.
Assuming our goal difference is better than Sunderland, who could match us if we both win out (and currently have a better goal difference).
Win all our matches and Pompey go up as we have to play Sunderland!!! It is going to be a tremendous end as all four teams ,plus Doncaster are in form, although Sunderalnd are a Little erratic. I am sure they will conquer their nerves.
Fair enough. The so it really is in our hands now. Nice. The Sunderland fans seem a bit obnoxious on twitter though, not just in posts related to us but also in posts related to Accrington Stanley, and made a big fuss that their fans were being charged tickets for a replayed game ignoring the fact that Stanley has a much smaller budget than Sunderland and can't just afford to put on a game for free, and also Sunderland would have done exactly the same thing if the situation was reversed and anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.
Another good win.! Of the three teams vying for 2nd spot I think we are slight outsiders. Certainly we have a game in hand on Barnsley but they have the easier fixtures in the run in - Blackpool (10th) being the highest team in the league they have to play. We are neck and neck with Sunderland but they have the home advantage when we play them. It appears to me that we cannot afford less than draws against Barton and Sunderland. Lets play with the positive freedom that comes with being the underdog and see what happens!!!
Anyone go? I took a mate with me. We could legitimately have scored about 8. Hawkins scuffed an excellent chance and headed one over and Jamal Lowe missed a 1 on 1 you'd expect to score. Second half whoever it was header one wide from point blank. They missed a couple too. About 8-2 or 8-3 would have been fair and I didn't think Rochdale played too badly. Really is close now!
I think that was Lee Brown with the close range header, Sharpe* - I don't know how he didn't score ! At least we played well in both halves for a change, and created numerous chances. If we can maintain our good form, there is no reason to my mind, why we can't do it ! Luton, Barnsley and Sunderland have all suffered recent hiccups, and the decider could well be at Roker Park against Sunderland. Don't forget they dropped 3 points, and conceded 5 goals at home to Coventry City on Saturday, that must surely demoralise their players and management in the run in