Pompey were on for another win to kick off 2018…well, until a late Bristol Rovers fightback saw us leave the Memorial Stadium with nothing from a 2-1 defeat.
Oli Hawkins goal – his third in his last couple of games after a brace against Northampton – looked as if it had done enough to secure an away win, which would have very much consolidated our push for a play off place, in fairness it cannot be said this is now over by any means.
A goal from Stuart Sinclair with just five minutes remaining saw Pompey pegged back.
Oh well, we might have thought, a point on our travels, admitted not what it looked like for much of the second half, wouldn’t have been too bad, but that point became none when Liam Sercombe – so often a rumoured target of the Blues over the years – hit a 25 yard winner in the last minute.
It goes without saying Kenny Jackett – when quoted by the News post-match – was disappointed Pompey couldn’t see out the win. However, the boss wasn’t too critical of the players.
‘The game came alive in the latter stages and there was wave after wave of attacks at the end. We just couldn’t see it out, but I can’t be too critical of my players given how well they defended until that point.’
Perhaps going a little more defensive to see the game out might have saw the Blues do just that, see it out, but that didn’t happen on an afternoon that wasn’t to be for us.
Jackett added: ‘We kept two up front but we just couldn’t seem to get out. It’s a tough place to come but we had the chance with Matty Kennedy at 1-0. After that they put the pressure on and got the goals to give them the points.’
There’s no doubting this is a disappointing way to kick off a New Year but how we react will give some indication as to how positive 2018 can be, which if it can be half as successful as 2017 was – on the whole – we’ll not be far off a top six finish and a potential return to Wembley in May as we bid to crown another memorable campaign.
Victory would have opened up a four point gap on the chasing pack, positively though we do remain in the top six and our form – all things considered – of late is that of a promotion winning side.
PLAY UP POMPEY
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2017-18 Prediction League – January
Chelsea (h) Tuesday 9th January – click here.
Scunthorpe (a) Saturday 13th January – click here.
Rotherham (h) Saturday 20th January – click here.
Shrewsbury (h) Saturday 27th January – click here.
