An article from jsander48, looking back at a ‘rare’ away win following the 1-0 win at Burnley – read on for more.
An enthralling and dramatic victory at Turf Moor saw us jump to 16th place, and finally it seems we have caught a glimpse of the Old Pompey: well-worked passes, ambitious efforts on target, and of course Pompey’s signature drama with a late winner by David Norris to put the icing on the well-baked cake.
The first half showed a promising outlook to the rest of the game despite a scoreless first forty-five. In the opening three minutes a driven shot by Norris was punched away by Grant only to fall right to Varney who squandered the brilliant opportunity and was brought down without obtaining a penalty despite numerous appeals from Pompey. Twenty minutes later Varney was left to deal with a potential hamstring injury and hobbled off the pitch replaced by recently on-form Huseklepp who specifically wasn’t in the line up to make way for Varney. Henderson got his first involvement thirty-two minutes in, when Jay Rodriguez looked to have a promising shot but it took some brave and strong defending from Mattock to ease the attack and extinguish the chance. Seconds before halftime, Mattock conceded a free kick and picked up a booking for a rash tackle deep and dangerously in Pompey’s end, but Mattock was fortunate nothing came of it as it aimlessly floated in the stands. At the break it looked as though Pompey were the better side.
The second half kicked off with Burnley fans looking restless, but the home side finally started to show their true colours. A Wallace free kick from thirty yards out looked to be threatening, and a low-driven shot by McCann forced a decent save from Henderson. Response from the Blues saw a Huseklepp volley go inches wide, and a Jason Pearce header skimming the top netting. A threatening cross from Pompey was sent right past the face of the goal, but no player was there to tap it in. No fans left their seats! Yet as the closing minutes brought drama, each side pushing for the three points. I worried if would we pay for our missed chances earlier in the game but thankfully Pompey’s well-played game was rewarded and was neatly tucked away by Norris in the 91st minute from a shot at the edge of the box to send the away fans home smiling and to get Pompey’s first away win, and Norris’s fifth goal.
It’s key we pick up points in games like these considering were up against Southampton next week. Hopefully we can start another streak like last year and slowly climb up the table, but we have to take it one game at a time.
PUP
Written by jsander48.
The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.
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