David Nugent with a late strike, reminiscent of the two wonder goals scored by Pedro Mendes against Manchester City during The Great Escape, secured Pompey a point in this dour, scrappy affair at Fratton Park.
It was one of the few highlights in a game between two clubs sadly struggling for form in the wrong half of the Championship table. Both sets of fans will have experienced much better days than this.
Prior to the match there was a tribute to former Pompey and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Norman Uprichard who played in the top division on the South Coast in the 1950s. He played for Northern Ireland 18 times including the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden. He sadly passed away in the days leading up to this game and there was a minutes applause from around the ground. He was seen on the Fratton Park pitch in recent years for the gatherings of former Pompey players and he always got a good reception as he did this one last time.
To be fair to both teams the prevailing weather conditions were not conducive to playing good football. A strong, swirling wind blew across Fratton Park throughout accompanied by sweeping rain. The flags on top of the North Stand stood wide and proud in the cold, stiff breeze. It was equally difficult playing with the wind as against it.
Pompey kicked towards the Milton End in the first half which was less than half full, the away fans taking up just over two-and-a-half sections of seats, the home fans barely half a section. There were pockets of empty seats around the ground.
Before the match, outside the ground in Frogmore Road, there was a small but occasionally noisy demonstration by some Pompey fans organised by SOS Pompey. Chants of: “Wrong hands! Our Club is in the wrong hands!” and “Play Up Pompey!” made sure the gathered fans, less than 100 in number, got their point across by combining dissatisfaction and loyalty to the cause.
Fans have every right to protest and they made their point even getting some coverage on BBC One's Football League Show that evening. But the numbers not protesting said just as much. Is it apathy? Weariness? Resignation? Disagreement? Wet weather? Probably a combination of all those things.
Perhaps in anticipation of fans' protests, following Pompey's disappointing final day of the January Transfer Window, Chief Executive David Lampitt set out very clearly the Club's position in the match day programme in particular its handling of transfer dealings.
In a 'set the record straight' article, which also appeared in an abridged form on the Club's Offical website, Mr Lampitt said:
* The Club had worked hard to bring players in during the January Transfer Window
* Five quality players were identified by Steve Cotterill and pursued
* The Club's owners made a decent transfer fund available
* The Club was outbid for two players and the others remained with their clubs
* Just 'bringing in lesser quality bodies' was not an option because of the limited resources available; this was a football decision; there was no panic buying; he backs Steve Cotterill's judgement
* He does not want to overstretch the Club
* He was disappointed not to make permanent signings but the Club did bring in two loanees from Premier League clubs
* He did not expect to sell John Utaka but as events unfolded it was clear he was keen to make the move once Montpellier had made their interest known
Matt Richie's departure was for footballing not financial reasons
* He acknowledged the SOS Pompey group's right to protest but prefers open and honest dialogue and hopes that will continue
* Everyone shares the same interest: having a stable and successful football club
* He wants to continue to rebuild trust between the football club and its supporters
* There is a Supporters Forum planned for February23rd, details TBC
Some very interesting points here for all Pompey fans to ponder.
Despite all the 'politicking' off the field there was of course the small matter of a football match and Derby County opened the scoring just after the half-hour with one of their few meaningful attempts on goal. Steve Davies found himself unmarked in the box and acrobatically scissor-kicked Cywka's cross from the right flank past Jamie Ashdown. It was a very very well taken goal.
Minutes before he scored Davies had been flat on his back in the front of the Fratton End, lying amongst the disabled supporters, having tumbled over the advertising hoarding following a fruitless chase for a loose all. It looked quite a nasty fall but following treatment he rejoined the match with a ripple of applause from a few of the home fans welcoming him back. Clearly the tumble didn't do him any harm!
HT: Portsmouth 0-1 Derby County
Steve Cotterill was absent from the technical area for the second half of the match; he was sat in the South Stand alongside David Lampitt. Ian Woan gave the orders in between reminding the fourth official how much time was being wasted by the Derby players, which he did by tapping an imaginary stopwatch on his wrist and a Pompey squad player ran up-and-down the stairs of the stand, between Cotterill and Woan, with messages.
It was an interesting footnote to the game that two ex-Nottingham Forest players – Clough and Woan - ran the technical areas in the second half. One to tuck away for Pub Quiz Night.
After the game Cotterill revealed that the referee had suggested he spend the second half there to avoid getting himself sent off, following some disagreements during the first period with the Fourth Official. Interesting because Cotterill was having one of his quieter games on the touchline.
Nugent's goal was his third good opportunity to score in the game. During the first half, prior to the goal by Davies he'd found himself through on goal following a through ball by Liam Lawrence. Unfortunately, he was squeezed out by two Derby defenders and goalkeeper Stephen Bywater saw the ball to safety for a corner.
In the second half Nugent had a gilt edged chance to score in front of the Fratton End, instead he fired his volley in to the fans on the turn following a header flicked on from a Greg Halford throw-in. He should have done better.
With normal time running out Nugent finally saved a point for Pompey. The ball fell to him on the edge of the penalty area via a long ball and a Kanu lay-off and he powered it in to the back of the net past the diving Bywater; it was a beautiful strike hit on the half-volley. A real 'blooter' as BBC football pundit Mark Lawrenson might say.
With five minutes of added time signalled Pompey, roared on by the fans who'd suddenly burst into life, sensed there was more to be taken from the game. Derby's defence fell back very deep to protect their point. The final decent chance of the game fell to second half substitute Kanu whose header was saved easily on the line by Bywater.
The referee called proceedings to a halt – with his whistle not a hooter - and both teams shared the spoils.
On loan Jonathan Hogg was named official Man Of The Match. He's improved in each of the three games he's played for Pompey so far. He's not scared to put in a tackle when he needs to and he played one or two decent through balls to set up Pompey attacks. His addition to the squad has certainly helped Hayden Mullins who had been carrying the midfield for a number of weeks before his arrival. The one nagging doubt is his physical size and stature, he can occasionally get out muscled in the cut and thrust of Championship football.
Ritchie de Laet is another young, on loan player who is improving. In the second half there was one surging run from defence in particular that caught the eye and got approval from the fans.
Overall, there can be no doubt that Pompey got away with one here. This was a poor performance against opponents who were about the same mediocre standard on the day. Conditions didn't help and the atmosphere in the crowd was flat to say the least.
There will be far better days at Fratton Park and the history books won't have very much to say about this game other than recording the scoreline as the match enters the annals of time. Unless of course David Nugent's goal has a similar effect on Pompey's fortunes to those two wonder strikes by Pedro Mendes.
FT: Portsmouth 1-1 Derby County
Portsmouth team versus Derby County: Jamie Ashdown, Ritchie de Laet Aaron Mokoena, Greg Halford, Hermann Hreidarsson Hayden Mullins Jonathan Hogg Joel Ward Liam Lawrence, David Nugent, Dave Kitson. Substitutes: Daryll Flahavan, Ibrahimo Sonko, Ricardo Rocha, Carl Dickinson, Tom Kilbey, Nadir Ciftci, Kanu
Attendance: 14,555
Next up: Doncaster Rovers (away) on Saturday 12th February at 3PM.
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