A late goal from second half substitute Kanu secured three valuable points for Pompey in this Championship encounter at Fratton Park.
The goal was one of the few bright moments in a mediocre game. However, how many times in football do people talk about 'grinding out results' when needs must? With that thought in mind and Pompey's recent form having been on the slide, who cares about mediocrity?
Pompey made one enforced change from the team that beat Doncaster Rovers, new on-loan signing David Cotterill from Swansea City coming into the team in place of Jonathan Hogg who saw red at the Keepmoat Stadium and served a one match ban.
Welsh international Cotterill had a good first game in blue and showed why he has been the subject of a few big money transfer fees already in his short career. He played in this match both on the left, where he looked best, and the right flank. He linked up well with the defence and the midfield, holding the ball up and delivering some telling crosses in to the box. It's too early to draw direct comparisons with former Pompey player Steve Stone, who also started his career on the South Coast on-loan, but he has similar looks and the fans will be hopeful he'll have a similar impact albeit over a much shorter timeframe.
Liam Lawrence retained the captain's armband despite Aaron Mokoena's return from South Africa clutching his renewed work permit. His comments in the matchday programme would suggest that slow functioning bureaucracy was the cause for delay. Or perhaps expectations that it would operate quicker were misplaced.
But as Jimmy Greaves used to say “football's a funny old game” and before the first half was out Lawrence had left the field with a recurrence of a calf injury to be replaced by Mokoena; it was a straight armband swap and Mokoena slotted into midfield and the versatile Joel Ward was pushed wide right.
The game started brightly with both sides having chances. Barnsley's Danny Haynes, probably the visitor's most eye-catching outfield performer on the day, fired wide when through on goal.
For Pompey David Nugent found himself in a great scoring position following a pass from Liam Lawrence. He fired an excellent shot at goal which was saved superbly by Barnsley 'keeper Luke Steele, with a one-handed reflex flick of the ball over the cross bar.
Dave Kitson was another Pompey forward who could have scored early on, putting a header over the bar and a shot, which ended a good move down the left hand side, wide of the upright.
At times in the first half Kitson, perhaps searching for the ball in frustration at the lack of service, drifted too wide leaving the centre forward position 'unmanned'. This was highlighted when he found himself in the right wing position only to see his effort at crossing the ball to the non-existent centre forward fly high and wide into the travelling fans. As Brian Clough might have said: “Get in the box young man, that's what I pay you to do!”
Both Cotterill and Mokoena managed shots at goal before half-time. The former having his shot comfortably saved by Steele the latter with his head up driving his shot high and wide a-la-Quashie into the Milton End.
The only other moment of note in the first half came from the visitors and that man Haynes was again at the centre of the action, firing a long distance shot-volley, from well outside of the box, that dipped and swerved away from Jamie Ashdown and past the home team's left upright.
HT: Portsmouth 0-0 Barnsley
Unfortunately, the second half continued in the same fashion as the first. Both sides were closely matched and neither one was able to conjure up a piece of skill to break the deadlock.
Kitson, foraging for the ball in a more central position, managed to work himself a goal scoring opportunity in the penalty box, only to take the ball too far wide of the goal. Although he got his shot off Steele made himself big and saved well.
The game needed a spark and it came when Steve Cotterill decided to bring on Kanu in place of Joel Ward.
Ward was unlucky to be replaced having already swapped positions and some of the Pompey fans expressed their displeasure with the decision. But that quickly turned to acknowledging his performance.
Ward's flexibility, covering positions in defence, midfield and up front in recent games, may see further withdrawals from the action for the Emsworth youngster until he finds a settled position. That will most likely be right back. But with on-loan Ritchie de Laet continuing to improve with every game - he showed one particularly impressive turn of speed in this match to snuff out a Barnsley threat - Ward may continue be the player to be sacrificed.
Kanu was immediately into the action, his long, gangly legs and big feet taking the ball through a number of tackles to raise the voices of the home fans as he fell into a crumpled heap on the turf, got himself back up and strolled forward in that languid, 'limping', style of his.
During the pre-match warm-up Kanu had demonstrated some intricate, silky skills that had been more entertaining than the match itself to the point of his arrival. Now he was doing what he did best where it mattered most and it was giving Barnsley a different set of problems to deal with, leading to mistakes and fouls.
The atmosphere in the ground had changed with Kanu's arrival, suddenly the home fans sensed some hope and it was Kanu who broke the stalemate six minutes before the end of normal time.
Greg Halford drifted a free kick in to the penalty area from a central position and Kanu jumped high enough to glance the ball past Steele. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted and as some of the players celebrated with the Nigerian goalscorer, Ricardo Rocha was stood on the halfway line punching the air in delight.
The game opened up following the goal and Pompey had three more good chances to increase their lead. Kitson had a header well saved by Steele at point blank range and from the resulting corner Hreidarsson's header was also well saved. A late Pompey break down the right hand side – possibly the most free-flowing move of the game - saw Nugent put in to an excellent position to score but his shot went wide of the upright. Hands on heads time all around Fratton Park.
The home fans recognising the importance of holding on to the lead reminded the referee of his duty to call time with some whistling. Mr East eventually called time and Pompey had seen out the four added minutes to secure victory.
This was the second game in a row where Pompey had put 'the grinder' to good use.
Another three points, unbeaten in three games and with a clutch of winnable matches coming up in the fixture list this was exactly what was required to put some space between Pompey and the relegation zone, which had been looming ever nearer in recent weeks. After this result Pompey are up to 16th position on 38 points 9 points clear of Sheffield United in 22nd.
There may not have been many moments of excitement in this match but this is what is known as 'being professional' and 'getting the job done', aka 'grinding out results'.
The Play-Offs seem well out of reach now. But by pushing on in the last part of the season, away from the edge of drop zone, Pompey can get themselves into a decent mid-table position and then finish off in a bit of style to reward the fans.
FT: Portsmouth 1-0 Barnsley
Portsmouth versus Barnsley: Jamie Ashdown Ritchie de Laet, Greg Halford, Ricardo Rocha, Hermann Hreidarsson, Liam Lawrence, Joel Ward, Hayden Mullins, David Cotterill, Dave Kitson, David Nugent. Substitutes: Daryll Flahavan, Ibrahimo Sonko, Aaron Mokoena, Carl Dickinson, Tom Kilbey, Nadir Ciftci
Attendance: 14,318
Man of the match: the official MOTM was Hayden Mullins who had another solid game in the midfield. But for the second match in a row I would have given it to Ricardo Rocha, he made one or two errors in the first half but his abilities to recover, organise and shepherd the Pompey defence, which led to another clean sheet clinched it for me. Steve Cotterill is going to find it difficult to change a 'winning formula' to bring back his skipper. Halford and Rocha in the centre of defence looks a stronger pairing than either Mokoena-Halford or Mokoena-Rocha. I think Aaron may be on the bench again Tuesday night especially as Jonathan Hogg will be back from suspension and Liam Lawrence is struggling with an injury. It's a no-brainer.
Next up: Crystal Palace at Fratton Park on 22nd February at 7:45PM
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