PORTSMOUTH 1 (Green 88) CHARLTON 2 (Grant 23, Ajose 43)
Attendance: 17,891 (899 Charlton)Portsmouth MacGillivray, Brown (Green 81), Clarke, Naylor, Hawkins (Pitman 56), Lowe, Curtis, Whatmough, Nathan Thompson, Evans (c), Ben Thompson.Charlton Steer, Dijksteel, Bauer, Pearce (c), Sarr, Bielik (Solly 80), Lapslie, Aribo, Reeves (Marshall 55), Taylor, Grant (Ajose 35).
Summary
Have that Pompey, Pompey have that! Performance and result of the season from the Addicks so far, turning over the league leaders on their home turf. Resolute spirited performance where the Addicks took a deserverd 2-0 lead into the break, then overcome increased pressure in the 2nd half to hold on for the victory.
Post Match comments
Bowyer:
“It was a real man’s performance and a real team performance. They were passionate and had togetherness and I think we deserved the three points. We controlled the game in the first half, limited their chances and obviously took ours. We kept the ball well and in the second half we had to dig deep. They’re top of the league and they’re good at what they do. They had the crowd behind them and we had to work hard, but that’s what we have here. We have players that can play and who can all stick together and fight as one.”
“We picked up another couple of injuries tonight and that’s what’s hurting us at the moment. But to come here and do what we’ve just done just shows the togetherness of the squad and how good they are.”
“Our crowd didn’t stop singing the whole game. It’s important to be in amongst it. You have to be around it at this stage of the season and you can’t let anyone get too far ahead. Portsmouth had won eight on the spin before tonight and you can see why they have. We’re in amongst it and this was our game in hand. We’re fifth now and we’re nearly halfway through so there’s a long way to go and a lot of points to play for, so we’ll get even better as the season goes on.”
STATBANK Player Marks
Lapslie = 8.73
Bielik = 8.05
Pearce = 7.97
Steer = 7.84
Taylor = 7.69
Bauer = 7.65
Aribo = 7.48
Grant = 7.48
Dijksteel = 7.34
Sarr = 7.28
Ajose = 6.95
Reeves = 6.90
Marshall = 6.66
Team Average = 7.54
At the game...
@The31YearMan :
Charlton worked very hard for that and should take great heart from beating the best team in League One. All the boys put a shift in. The three units of defence, midfield and forwards all made a massive contribution to this win tonight.
We arrived on the coach with plenty of time to spare. It was a great throw back in time to spot the old fashioned floodlights as you come into the city and then to walk along classic terraced streets that surround the ground. You always have to doff your cap to the Fratton Park old tudor style facade - lovely. Enough of these polite pleasantries. Let's beat these so and so's.
In the early stages, it was comforting to see Dijksteel settling in well into the right back role. Grant already, was looking particularly lively. Aribo too, was imposing his game. A little worried at this point with Lapslie playing some tentative balls.
It took a while for Portsmouth to put together any viable threat and it came with a dangerous run through the middle by Ben Thompson. We responded with the perfect riposte. It involved good work by Aribo who fed Taylor with a header who crossed for Grant to put us ahead. Portsmouth like all good teams replied with gusto. They were getting good balls into the box but Pearce was once again looking ready for an all night battle. The injury curse struck again as Ajose replaced Grant.
Pompey continued to work the flanks and as we approached h/t, they were seeing more of the ball now. This was all negated by some good persistent work by Lapslie. He seemed to have maneouvred himself into a no-mans land area but managed to put in a ball that Taylor flicked on with his head and was finished by Ajose. A great lead to take into half-time.
Into the 2nd half and their major outlet seemed to be their No 3 Lee Brown as he pumped in numerous crosses into our box. After these worrying forays, Ajose went close as he shot across goal. Importantly, we weathered the storm for the first 10 min of the 2nd period. Then George Lapslie heroically blocked a shot with his face as you do.
Around the hour mark, Pompey were trying to rile us and the stadium noise levels were noticeably on the increase. It was all getting a bit frenetic. We did at least manage to make a break in proceedings when Lyle Taylor forced good blocks from Matt Clarke and Tom Naylor. Solly had to come on for Bielik and I felt this could expose us by losing that aerial advantage in front of our back four.
Shame about their goal as I felt they offered less cutting edge now with the ground beginning to empty out. The sending off was a godsend in additional time for us, as all that nonsense broke the play up and ruined Portsmouth's final opportunity to get anything out of the evening.
A wonderful night to savour. Let's take this forward now and make our mark.
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