Back From the Yeovil Game

[BlueinPLtwenty]

Stalemate first half, Johnny Ertl was awesome, the best I have seen him play in a Pompey shirt! Jones looks so assured and competent. The defence looked solid, Robinson is pure class. We were worried when Nigel went off just before halftime and the lad Close came on. We were premature because the midfield started to buzz in the second half. Jed was running about like a man possessed, tracking back, running from one box to the other with the ball. Then he did a crisp one-two with Westcarr followed by a clinical finish to take us into the lead. We never looked back. Jed scored an excellent second goal and Westcarr lobbed the Yeovil Keeper for the third. Yeovil then had a period of pressure where they forced succession of corners which had little venom and finally they scored with six minutes on the clock. Too little too late, but we had started to defend too deeply. Barcham & Patrick had come on and hardly touched the ball. Awford junior and Close did well in midfield, Butler and Wynter put in solid performances. Storey flattered to deceive and we felt not as effective as he could have been if he had taken on the Full Back on the outside. All in all a terrific evening and my Brother & I`s new Pompey Shirts worn for the first time were clearly responsible for motivating the Team!

[This Time Next Year]

"...Westcarr lobbed the Yeovil Keeper for the third..."

Typical! If he wasn't so 'lazy' he would have run it around the keeper and tapped it in

[Pompey Penguin]

Interesting to hear that we started to take control once Wallace started to add some zip to the game. After Saturday, I felt that we really missed the energy that Wes Fogden brings, especially when all around are a bit sluggish. It would be great if Wallace could add this dimension on a regular basis; of course, without going into frustrated, headless mode.

[BlueinPLtwenty]

Wallace looked a lot fitter than when we last saw him at Exeter

[miltoninLA]

Cheers BlueinPl20, appreciated.

[Chopper Dave]

With apologies for the delay (beers to consume last night and work today) here’s my take on last night, as viewed from directly behind the goal into which all 3 goals were scored.

As has already been said, a game of two halves. First was pretty uninspiring with long balls being soaked up by either side. In the second half, we kept the ball down and played it through the Yeovil defence to great effect. I was concerned at the start of the half that we had two relatively lightweight youngsters (Awford and Close) in midfield. I needn’t have worried! We really bossed most of the half and took all our goals well, especially the last.

Scores on the doors:-

Jones 7 The wall did his job, apart from the one he let in of course. Good solid pair of hands and always seemed safe on the ball
Wynter 8 Very assured for a youngster. Solid defending and moved forward well
Robinson 8 Yep, did his job, and did it well. Worked superbly with Ertl to soak up everything Yeovil threw at them.
Ertl 9 Awesome performance. Looked so comfortable, composed and in control in his central defensive role. Handled Yeovil’s 6 and a half foot striker with ease – embarrassingly so for big lad in green and white! The way he threw himself in to block Yeovil’s shots late in the 2nd half was simply stunning - very John Terry! Had we kept a clean sheet it would have been a 10! Man of the Match for me.
Butler 7 Struggled slightly with the pace of Yeovil’s right winger who got past him on more than one occasion. Like Wynter, linked up well with attack.
Atangana 7 Hope the injury isn’t too long term as he was a lynchpin in the first half. Got stuck in and moved in about well.
Dunne 7 Great movement and always looking to be involved. Liked his constant shouting and bossing. Impressed to see him take time, whilst waiting for a Yeovil corner, to give Butler some words of encouragement. Did deserve his booking though.
Awford 7 Struggled in the ‘route one’ first half but came into things more with the more ‘footballing’ second half.
Wallace 9 Excellent 2nd half performance – took his goals with aplomb and obviously takes great delight in scoring for Pompey. Some lovely cross field passes switching play, especially to Storey. MoM runner up.
Storey 7 Bit of a one trick pony on the left wing but did his trick very well. Always threatened when he got the ball and responsible for a lot of balls into the box.
Westcarr Another 9 for me. Lazy? F**k off! Patient and intelligent maybe, but not lazy. We lost the ball in the box just before our first goal but he chased the defender, won it back, and then played a neat one-two with Jed. The finish for his goal? Just sublime. Left the Yeovil goalie completely flat footed and my jaw on the floor. Could he be the fox in the box that we’ve been missing?

Subs

Close 7 Did well for a debut, not afraid to get stuck in and intelligent passing forwards.

Agyemang 5 Sorry, but his positioning was not in Westcarr’s class. Paddy always moved towards the ball, looking for action but dragged defenders in and closed up play. Nice to see him fit again though. He would have been much more suited to the first half where at least three high crosses into the box were wasted. He would have buried those.

Barcham 5 Should have scored but didn’t.

Overall, great to see a Pompey team with talent that are organised and motivated. All of them did the shirt proud.

And finally, would it be too much to ask to have our shorts in the same shade of blue as the shirts?!

[Selsey Bill]

Cheers Chopper! Great report cheers mate.

Wasn't at the game but listened to commentary and have seen goals and hope you are joshing about Jones letting in the goal? From what I have seen of him this season, and heard on ExpressFM last night he was very good yet again.

[Earl Grey]

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[WheresWally/ScottMcGarvey]

Cheers for the report Chopper, much appreciated - and to you EG for the (extended) highlights

Encouraging that we played a fair few that are not first choice (though realise Yeovil were poor, and there was absolute *chaos* behind the scenes!). But 3 great finishes I thought. Good to bounce back from the 2 defeats.

Ertl at CB I heard was unbelievable, he looked shocking there before (even Awfs alluded to this), but maybe he'll be the cover then, whereas I pegged as a holding midfielder back-up, maybe he's fed off the upsurge in belief. Wynter too playing at right-back - right wing-back possible? (Certainly more than Webster you'd think - but he can play in the middle).

Ditto re: Atangana, again - he seems a real find, hope that hamstring (?) is ok. Be interesting when Fogden is eventually fit too. Barcham needs a break (I mean a goal rather than a rest!)

[WheresWally/ScottMcGarvey]

"Supa Jed" is going to be hard to keep hold of (headed for great things). At least he's ours till January at least! 3 year-deal too. I wonder if we can keep hold of him. Definitely a cut above.

[splot]

Cheers Chopper! Great report cheers mate.

Wasn't at the game but listened to commentary and have seen goals and hope you are joshing about Jones letting in the goal? From what I have seen of him this season, and heard on ExpressFM last night he was very good yet again.

Personally I'm very glad he let the goal in, it won me a bit of cash from the bookies (for a change)

[The Cincinnati Kid]

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Great!
Cheers for that. Couple or 3 observations

Our 1st and 3rd goals were outstanding
Our Keeper shouldn't be wearing pink
I thought it a mistake to let Carson go but....wrong!....the new guy has been outstandamundo
No 4th Division footballer has the right to wear brightly colored footy boots

[Earl Grey]

Couple or 3 observations

Our 1st and 3rd goals were outstanding
Our Keeper shouldn't be wearing pink
I thought it a mistake to let Carson go but....wrong!....the new guy has been outstandamundo
No 4th Division footballer has the right to wear brightly colored footy boots

I concur with all of those observations...

...especially regarding Jones the Keep.

He's really, really impressed me. He never makes a Hollywood save where a quiet catch or an unspectacular tip-over will do.
When he's asked to pull out the big saves, he does that too.
Jones has been a real big bonus for Sir Andy this season. He must be very pleased with his decision to avoid the easy option of extending Carson's stay and going for Jones.