Could Pompey build on the impressive performances against Bournemouth at the weekend, despite tiring in the 2nd half, when we went to Colchester on Tuesday night?
I would quite safely say that we did, even if we could not quite force the win we probably deserved!
Appy, as he told The Pompey Site, had ‘mixed emotions’ about the 2-2 draw…
Obviously when you go 1-0l up you want to hold this, but then if you find yourself 2-1 down with minutes to play if you manage to force this draw, especially away from home, you are ultimately happy, especially if you have played well: ‘there are mixed emotions. We’re disappointed we could only get a draw but pleased with the performance as a whole.
‘We started the game well and got our reward before falling behind. But it took a lot of courage from our young players to come back after falling behind and get a late equaliser.’
I see where Appy is coming from, and agree, but cannot be the least bit disappointed in the performance as it was top class from start to finish – clearly we had the odd lull, as you would expect, but we were good, at times really, really good.
It would have been fantastic to get a win, and an away win at that, under our belt early on but we could not quite manage it.
The Colchester equaliser just before the break from Michael Rose stunned us momentarily I think, but what a belter it was! An absolutely awesome goal, there is not a keeper in the world that would have saved that 30-yard plus thunderbolt into the top corner!
Sometimes you just have to give credit where it is due for a goal: ‘you can’t really say anything about the first goal we conceded. That could have graced any stadium in the world.
‘It was a fantastic strike. I know Michael – he’s a Salford lad. I’ll thank him for that later!’
I, and quite rightly so, gave the goal the applause that it deserved. If you have not seen the goal try to catch it somewhere!
So, we could not manage the win but Appy knows that ‘we’ll win a lot of games this season playing a lot poorer than we did against Colchester’ and he would be right: ‘hopefully we’ll continue to put in the performances and get some good results.
‘I thought we played some fantastic stuff at times and I think we’ll only get better. Hopefully the first win isn’t too far away.’
Of course there are still ‘off-the-field’ issues going on but it has been good to focus on the efforts on it recently and he is looking for more of this: ‘everything seems to be about politics – it’s been that way since I walked through the door.
‘Hopefully people can now start to get excited about what they’re seeing on the pitch.’
I sure as hell know that I am enjoying it, the first two games have been fantastic – likening our situation to a ‘last meal’ on death row is kind of where my cousin said he would put us, and I agree. Asked what we would want, our answer would be to see some good football and be able to enjoy it again, and if this proves to be how it ends then what a way to end it and enjoy it I will…
Some of our football at times was incredible, honestly rose tints off we played some awesome stuff and it was a joy to watch. The weekend was good, but I would say that this was even better.
Fitness levels went up a notch, the team cohesion stepped up that little extra bit too and I sense that we really are not too far away from something pretty special.
‘If’ we can keep this side together and ‘if’ we can play like we have the first couple of league games, more often than not, we will have a bloody good season and I can honestly see us ripping some teams apart ‘if’ we take our chances…
I cannot stress enough some of the passing and movement was top class, we are talking quick one-touch give and go stuff with people always showing for the ball and the wide areas being used with success.
Just like watching Brazil!
Sadly I will not make Carlisle this weekend but I cannot wait for Oldham at Fratton Saturday week as I am loving it at the moment and getting that real sense of enjoyment from it that I have not for a while – real football, real fans with real passion at a level that is not ‘plastic’. And what an atmosphere from start to finish from the Pompey fans!
The championship was meant to be ‘proper football’ but league one is even more ‘proper’…
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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