The Sunday press have described this as a routine victory but those at Fratton Park yesterday afternoon will know it was anything but that.
Cook made two changes from the side that struggled against Accrington Stanley last weekend with Adam McGurk and Conor Chaplin replacing Jayden Stockley and Gareth Evans. Martin Allen returned to Fratton Park with his Barnet side who were conference champions last season for their first ever league meeting. He included ex Pompey players Bondz N`Gala and John Akinde in his line up and they gave the hosts a number of problems from the off. Another man to look out for was referee Darren England who is seen as a Star for the future he was to have a busy afternoon.
It was a stuttering start from Pompey and it was no real surprise when Barnet took the lead as Andy Yiadom was left unmarked to poke home after a neat passing move. Having taken the lead the Bees began timewasting and that led to a booking for visiting keeper Jamie Stephens. On thirty seven minutes Pompey were level as a Gary Roberts free kick was not cleared and Chaplin worked the ball onto his right foot and netted with aplomb.
At the break Cookie made a change to his formation pulling of the struggling Roberts and sending on Adam Webster switching to a 3-5-2 – now this is something that the few critics of the new boss have been calling for a Plan B.
The second half was all about one thing and that was the attempts of Pompey to beak Barnet`s offside trap. From my seat in the North Lower it was difficult to judge but some were very close and I have to disagree with Mad dog when he said afterwards of the decision not to flag McGurk offside prior to giving Pompey the lead: “The second goal – how far offside that was I don`t quite know. The linesman did put his flag up and everyone stopped, as you do when there`s an offside. Then he put it down again and they waved play-on. So we`ve been hit hard by that one.” The problem is Martin you have to play to the whistle and you should be castigating your players for not doing that. The referee quite rightly told his assistant to lower his flag as Kyle Bennett was in a offside position but was not involved in play. McGurk finished coolly.
The next close call led to Bennett being away and fouled by keeper Stephens outside the box; whether it was a straight red is debatable but England issued a second yellow and the visitors were down to ten and had to call on their academy keeper Kai McKenzie-Lyle with Akinde being sacrificed – Akinde looked half the man he was when at Pompey and did cause some problems early on.
Now against ten men Pompey played possession football with an aim to exhausting the opposition which frustrated the fans who wanted the ball humped forward on every occasion but it was the right thing to do. In seasons gone past Pompey have so often let leads slip – now they are scoring late goals and on 96 minutes Chaplin again was away an netted past the young keeper with his left foot – there was a chance of a perfect hat-trick for Conor but his header was tipped over by McKenzie-Lyle.
Afterwards Leam Richardson was delighted to see the personnel changes have such a positive effect.
The Blues assistant manager said: “In the short time I`ve known Conor, I`ve discovered that he`s a young lad who loves football and loves scoring goals. The more he does that then the more the manager is going to pick him in the side. He`s out there practicing on the training pitch every day and he`s got great technique as well. It was his day, while Adam also came into the team and did very well, but it`s a squad game and we won`t get promoted with just 11 players.”
Pompey (4-2-3-1): Murphy; Davies, Burgess, Clarke (Evans 68), Stevens; Atangana, Doyle (c); Roberts (Webster 46), Chaplin, Bennett; McGurk (Tubbs 80)
Goals: Chaplin 37, 90+6, McGurk 54
Booked: Chaplin, Stevens, Evans, Bennett, Davies
Subs not used: Jones, Tollitt, Hollands, Naismith
Referee: Darren England – Darren is a Premier League assistant and ran the line in last season`s Arsenal v Villa semi final – is he the future face of England referees?
Attendance: 16,217 (413 away fans)
Only a short edition of the Sunday Chimes this weekend due to other commitments but hopefully back to usual service next week. It is another tough away game on Saturday with a trip to Oxford. Pompey will be backed by 2,500 fans on what will be another big occasion. With Pompey now in the top three they are a big gun to be shot at and games will not get easier.
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