25/02/2012 Portsmouth 0-0 Leeds United: Hard Times, the Sun Shines and Pompey Chimes.

Introduction.
Pompey and Leeds fought out a goalless draw in this Championship encounter at Fratton Park.

Unfortunately, Coventry City's win against Barnsley saw Pompey drop one place in the table with only Doncaster Rovers now below them.

With problems off the field dominating the Pompey headlines it was good to focus on the football and I make no apologies for mainly doing that with this blog article.

Pompey's line-up reflected the impact of injuries (Liam Lawrence, Luke Varney and Kelvin Etuhu were all missing) and a suspension (Kitson following his sending off at Barnsley).

Norwegian international Erik Huseklepp had been loaned-out to Birmingham City during the week, one of the necessary measures taken by the administrator Trevor Birch to address the financial predicament the Club finds itself in.

West Brom loanees George Thorne and Scott Allan were in the starting line-up.

Greg Halford made a welcome return from injury and David Norris joined Adam Webster and Ashley Harris on the bench for the first time since his hernia operation.

Jason Pearce retained the skipper's armband in Lawrence's absence.

Pictures taken before the game
Here are some pictures I took.

Frogmore Road entrance to Fratton Park on Saturday afternoon before kick-off. There were beautiful blue skies over the ground as a touch of early Spring sunshine emerged on the South Coast.

The Pompey Trust bus had some good levels of interest. Volunteers were handing out leaflets around the ground to fans before the game to encourage people to sign-up to the Trust, join the 12th Man Campaign and to 'Pack The Park'.

A group of former Pompey professionals came on to the pitch for a photo opportunity following their good work raising money for charity.

The Pompey players have a pre-match huddle. They kicked towards the Fratton End in the first half.

Match action pictures.

First half action in front of the Fratton End, Jason Pearce fighting for position at the near post, fans in the Fratton End in shade.

Robert Sonodgrass fires in a free-kick for Leeeds during the first half which takes a big deflection of the Pompey wall.

Aaron Mokoena fires in a free-kick during the first-half in front of the fans on the North Terrace, bathed in sunshine. Mokoena played at right back.

First-half action from a Pompey set-piece as Aaron Mokoena prepares to receive the ball in the box.

First half action in front of the travelling fans on the Milton End. Sun still causing a problem for the fans shielding their eyes. Lots of jostling for position going on in the danger zone!

HT: Portsmouth 0-0 Leeds United

The match officials leave the pitch at half-time to a chorus of boos. They had just missed a clear handball in the penalty area by a Leeds defender. Later they were to feel the wrath of Neil Warnock after a 'goal' was disallowed for offside although the ball had already crossed the line according to the Leeds manager before it was tapped home from close-range.

Second half action as Halford, Pearce and Futacs all jostle for position in the Leeds penalty area. Halford played in midfield for this game. Later in the match one of his long-distance throw-ins found its way all the way to the back of the net but for the second home game in a row was disallowed for no touch on the way through (correctly on this occasion it has to be said).

The impressive George Thorne fires in a free-kick during the second half.

The Leeds defender heads the ball away to safety in the second half.

Greg Halford fires in a free-kick during the second half.

Leeds defend another Pompey set-piece in the second half.

Scott Allan fires in a free-kick which was well saved by Andy Lonergan in the Leeds goal. This was Allan's last action before being substituted and replaced by David Norris, returning from injury. Allan got a standing ovation for a fine debut, like Thorne he is on loan from WBA. He worked really hard throughout and closed opposition players down quickly things the Pompey fans appreciated.

FT: Portsmouth 0-0 Leeds United

Final comments
Overall, a share of the spoils was the right outcome although the managers of both sides might feel aggrieved at not taking all three points with some of the match officials' decisions.

For Pompey, Stephen Henderson made a couple of excellent saves including one from Becchio one-one-one. He made himself big and overall continues to impress.

Jason Pearce looked his normal solid self alongside the experienced Rocha and Mokoena, playing out of position, generally did what he needed to playing at right back. Tal Ben Haim continued to show good form.

Greg Halford, pushed forward in to the midfield, showed his versatility and willingness to be flexible for the cause.

With the impressive Thorne and Allan alongside him Hayden Mullins was free to get forward more and he had a couple of good long range efforts on goal during the first half.

If there was one negative from the game it was the isolation of Marko Futacs up-front. He worked hard as he always does winning plenty of balls but he had very few opportunities in the danger zone.

Financial woes to one side, if Pompey are to get themselves out of the mess they find themselves in terms of league position following the ten point deduction, scoring goals is going to be vitally important; at the back they generally look solid.

Unfortunately, nil-nil results are not going to secure Championship survival however admirable this result was against a Leeds team pushing on in an attempt to make the play-offs.

With eight of the fourteen games left at home and three others local the Pompey fans will have a huge part to play in the Club's survival and will need to turnout in their numbers and be at their passionate, vociferous best. March will be the key month with eight games, five of them at Fratton Park.

The players were bouyed by the atmosphere created during this match. It's clear everyone is now in this together; never has the description The Pompey Family been more apt e.g. fans buying tickets for those unable to afford them e.g. players helping to sell tickets.

Let's hope the atmosphere had the same impact on those off the pitch who we need to help bring the Club back from the financial brink.

Play Up Pompey!

Portsmouth versus Leeds United: Stephen Henderson, Aaron Mokoena, Ricardo Rocha, Jason Pearce, Tal Ben Haim, Greg Halford, George Thorne, Hayden Mullins, Joel Ward, Scott Allan (replaced by David Norris in the 76th minute), Marko Futacs (replaced by Benjani in the 76th minute). Substitutes not used: Jamie Ashdown, Adam Webster and Ashley Harris.

Attendance: 17,571, this was the third highest attendance of the season after the matches against Southampton (19,879) and West Ham United (17,761).

Pompey MOTM: Henderson, Pearce and Thorne all had fine games but for me Scott Allan clinches it - a fine debut from the West Browm loanee.

Next up for Pompey: Middlesbrough at home on Saturday 3rd March at Fratton Park, kick Off 3PM.

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14/02/2012 Portsmouth 0-1 Ipswich Town: We Will Never Die

Sometimes there's more to be said about what went on off the field than on it: this Valentine's Day evening was one of those occasions.

The Pompey 12th Man badge was on display on the big screen at Fratton Park at various times during the evening.

But first some notes on the match.

Match notes
The visitors secured three points through a Michael Chopra goal early in the first half, he reacted well to tap the ball home from close distance, after the ball had hit the upright.

Ipswich looked brighter than Pompey during that first phase of the game and created some good chances.

Perhaps the differential in 'recovery time' between Pompey's Saturday evening kick-off at Blackpool and Ipswich Town's abandoned match against Middlesbrough was playing a part in the proceedings.

The Championship is tough when you have a small first team squad, especially when the games come thick and fast, and Pompey were unchanged from Saturday.

Ipswich transfer window target Stephen Henderson made a couple of saves during the first half keeping out dipping, swerving, long-distance shots from both Emmanuael-Thomas and Chopra.

Pompey's best chance of the first half fell in the penalty area to Marko Futacs after good work down the right hand side by Tal Ben Haim. His shot blazed over the bar, but the referee Mr Deadman saw a deflection and awarded a corner.

The biggest disappointment of the first half was seeing Liam Lawrence limp off the pitch just before half-time with what looked like a muscle injury.

Lawrence has been playing well in the last few games in a more central midfield role so his loss for any prolonged period will be a blow.

Lawrence passed the captain's armband to Jason Pearce not by tossing it across the field but by walking over to him and putting it on his arm - this was good to observe, it showed some respect to the role.

Dave Kitson came on to replace Lawrence and the flexible Joel Ward dropped in to midfield.

HT: Portsmouth 0-1 Ipswich Town

Pompey had chances in the second half to salvage something from this game but it wasn't to be their night.

Kitson squandered a gilt-edged opportunity, shanking his shot in to the ground and seeing it fly away for a goal kick. If he'd made a better connection he surely would have scored.

Futacs also had chances: one shot flew over the cross-bar and a second effort from a free-kick, awarded in the 'D' after a foul on Greg Halford, went straight in to the wall.

Marko Futacs fires in his free-kick.

Tal Ben Haim had one of those mazy runs he sometimes produces to get himself in to the penalty area but he saw his shot fire across the face of goal and away to safety for the vistors.

Michael Appleton is never afraid to 'go for it' with his tactical changes and it was good to see him throw on Benjani in place of the hard working Etuhu in the second half to change the formation to 4-3-3.

The most controversial moment of the match came just after the hour mark. Greg Halford launched one of his long throws, from underneath the South Stand, in to the penalty area. The Ipswich defenders failed to deal with the ball, it took a deflection and went in to the goal. But the Pompey celebrations were short lived as the referee disallowed the goal apparently because he felt the ball had gone in directly without a touch.

With the change to Pompey's formation te game became very open and Ipswich started to create more opportunities, the best being a shot that was rifled against the upright.

Pompey received a further blow in added time when Greg Halford limped off with an injury to be replaced by Adam Webster.

With five minutes of injury time played the referee drew the onfield proceedings to a close.

FT: Portsmouth 0-1 Ipswich Town

A special moment
Pompey fans had been urged before this game to 'Pack The Pack'. The postponement of the Hull City game, the only other home fixture before Pompey's day in court with HMRC on 20th February, raised expectations of a big night a little bit higher.

But let's be clear, expectations in terms of fan turnout were not met. The crowd of 14,330 was disappointing but perhaps not surprising. The attendance figure was pretty much on a par with the rest of the season to date and who can blame those Pompey fans who didn't attend: they've had enough; we've all had enough to be frank.

Crowd size aside, the atmosphere created was excellent. With the Pompey Chimes ringing out from three sides of the ground on occasions and the incessant chanting of "We will never die!" (to the tune of Knees Up Mother Brown), nobody who was there could be any doubt that this was one of those special Fratton Park nights.

It wasn't 'a Stockport County' under Alan Ball (that night we were far fewer in number although arguably just as loud!) and it wasn't 'an AC Milan' under Tony Adams (that night Fratton Park was packed for a special one-off European night against one of the biggest clubs in World football). This will simply go down in Pompey folklore as 'an Ipswich Town', the night when the Pompey players and manager Michael Appleton in particular created their own special moment.

View of the Fratton End after the game, taken from the South Stand.

After the final whistle many fans in the Fratton End stayed on and continued singing in protest at what has happened to Portsmouth Football Club in recent times.

A view of the post-match protest after the game in the Fratton End from the Frogmore Road gates.

It went on (and on!) for around an hour despite the requests on the tannoy for fans to leave.

Pompey players and staff applaud the protesting Pompey fans after the game.

Joel Ward and Jason Pearce led the team out on to the pitch to acknowledge the protesting fans after the game.

With a great show of unity the players - led out by Joel Ward and Jason Pearce - and the manager, came out on to the pitch to applaud the fans under the reduced floodlights.

Michael Appleton salutes the Pompey fans.

Appleton had come out on to the pitch at the request of the fans. He punched the air in a defiant gesture to salute and acknowledge them. Pride, passion, unity, understanding and togetherness it all came out there and then 60 minutes after the final whistle. That was the moment when this evening really achieved its special status as it encompassed why we will never die.

Portsmouth versus Ipswich Town: Stephen Henderson, Tal Ben Haim, Ricardo Rocha, Jason Pearce, Greg Halford (replaced by Adam Webster in the 92nd minute), Kelvin Etuhu (replaced by Benjani in the 79th minute), Liam Lawrence (c) (replaced by Dave Kitson in the 44th minute), Hayden Mullins, Joel Ward, Erik Huseklepp, Marko Futacs. Substitutes not used: Jamie Ashdown and Aaron Mokoena
Attendance: 14,330
Pompey MOTM: the official award went to the Pompey fans and who could argue with that?
Next up for Pompey: Barnsley away on Saturday 18th February at 3PM in the Championship.

11/02/2012 Blackpool 1-1 Portsmouth: Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Picture of the match at Bloomfield Road under the floodlights

Match notes
A goal from Norwegian international Erik Huseklepp, just before half-time, was cancelled out by an excellent dead ball strike by Stephen Crainey in the second period giving both sides a share of the spoils.

Pompey were unchanged from the team that started against Peterborough United with Hungarian Marko Futacs once again preferred ahead of Dave Kitson. Former Blackpool player Luke Varney remained sidelined with injury.

The home team, flying high in the Championship and through to the 5th round of the FA Cup where they will meet Everton at Goodison Park, fielded former Pompey favourite Lomana LuaLua.

The game kicked off at 5:20PM in front of the Sky TV cameras but that didn't deter the Pompey fans from travelling with over 1,500 making the long trip to the North West; many making a long weekend of it and quite a few were in fancy dress.

There was a real party atmosphere in the East Stand which seems a strange thing to write considering all the off-field problems Pompey have suffered recently. But that is what it felt like.

With the temperature dropping quickly and the pitch cutting-up in places the playing conditions were tricky at times, with the ball bobbling around. However, credit where credit's due: both teams played their part in an enjoyable game of football.

Although Pompey were not over-awed they did take a while to get in to the game. Indeed they could have found themselves a goal down after LuaLua fired a free kick in to the penalty box which was deflected in to the goal. However, the home fans' cheers soon diminished when they realised that the referee's assistant had flagged for an offside decision.

Marko Futacs was looking quite lively up front for Pompey and was able to get off a couple of shots. The first was well blocked by a defender. The second, an ugly attempt, was skewered wide across the face of goal.

Both Lawrence and Mullins were having good games in the Pompey midfield and Huseklepp, who always springs in to life with the ball at his feet, started to come in to the game more often as the half progressed.

Tal Ben Haim puts the Blackpool defender under pressure in the first half.

Just before the half-time interval Pompey took the lead after some good work down the right hand side by Tal Ben Haim and Kelvin Etuhu. The ball was crossed in to the box for Futacs to get away his shot, which was parried across his goal by Matthew Gilks to Huseklepp who swivelled well in the six yard box to score.

There was a big celebration by the Pompey players in front of their fans in the East Stand.

The Pompey players celebrate Erik Huseklepp's goal just before half-time, in front of the Pompey fans.

HT: Blackpool 0-1 Portsmouth

Pompey had a number of chances after the break to extend their lead but all were spurned. Huseklepp in particular was profligate: losing control of the ball when one-on-one and in a good position; misplacing a pass and unable to find other Pompey players in good positions; and finally getting off a shot but it was just too weak to trouble Gilks.

Futacs also had a good chance but he saw his shot hit the upright and deflect away to safety.

Pompey defend a set-piece in the second half, Ricardo Rocha holds off the Blackpool attacker.

Ian Holloway made three substitutes in less than ten minutes in an attempt to liven things up for the home team - a ploy also used by Darren Ferguson at Peterborough in Pompey's last away match.

Blackpool free-kick in the second half.

The pressure was building and Pompey were coming under more and more pressure from their hosts it was therefore no surprise when they equalised.

Greg Halford, playing at left back, conceded a free kick just outside the penalty area to the right hand side of the goal and Stephen Crainey whipped in a terrific strike past Stephen Henderson and in to the top corner.

Crainey fires in his free kick that levelled the scoreline at 1-1

In his post-match comments Pompey manager Michael Appleton described referee Mr Madley's decision to award the free kick for a foul on Alex Baptiste as 'a soft one' - he wasn't wrong. Unfortunately, Halford had been under a pressure a couple of times in the match in this unfamiliar position and Blackpool were clearly doing their best to exploit that.

There was one other significant moment before the final whistle, Stephen Henderson again showed why he is attracting admiring glances from other clubs, with a fine save to deny substitute Ludovic Sylvestre. Henderson might yet make the Ireland squad to the 2012 European Championship on this form.

On reflection this was a good point for Pompey against a Blackpool team that is coming in to form at just the right time in the season.

Blackpool are not playing with the same attacking verve and panache that lit up The Premier League last season. However, Ian Holloway has got them in to contention for the play-offs at just the right time.

Blackpool have built up momentum and who's to say they won't be able to continue with that and go back up again following last season's relegation heartache?

At the other end of the table, Pompey's fate might eventually be sealed off the pitch but there is currently a real show of public togetherness on display between the players and the fans which is great to witness and be a part of.

The next few days will be pivotal.

FT: Blackpool 1-1 Portsmouth

Midfield action pictures

Midfield action I

Midfield action II

Midfield action III

Portsmouth versus Blackpool: Stephen Henderson, Tal Ben Haim, Ricardo Rocha, Jason Pearce, Greg Halford, Kelvin Etuhu, Liam Lawrence, Hayden Mullins, Joel Ward, Erik Huseklepp, Marko Futacs (replaced by Dave Kitson on 79 minutes). Substitutes: Jamie Ashdown, Aaron Mokoena, Adam Webster and Benjani.

Pompey MOTM: the Sky TV cameras gave it to Liam Lawrence, however I would have given it to Ricardo Rocha who was excellent at the back.

Attendance: 12,545 (over 1200 Pompey fans made the trip).

Source: www.portsmouthfc.co.uk

Next up for Pompey: Ipswich Town at Fratton Park on Tuesday 14th February 2012 at 7:45PM

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11/02/2012 Blackpool 1-1 Portsmouth: Pompey Fans At Bloomfield Road

Fans' Protest

Pompey fans at the start of the second half, turn their backs on the play for a two minute protest, chanting "Appleton's Blue N White Army!".

It Was An Evening For Fancy Dress!

A gorilla in a pink tutu.

The Smurfs!

Elvis is in the building.

Hello Elvis! Hello Elvis!

A conga of Elvis Presleys

A Mohican

May the force be with you.

Post Match

It was a good day for swinging comedy breasts above your head.

This Pompey fan typified the post-match atmosphere - I like the way he's swinging his scarf around his head whilst jumping up-and-down.

Singing went on for 20 plus minutes after the final whistle.

The players came over to the travelling fans after the match, a few shirts were thrown in to the crowd and Stephen Henderson's goalkeeping gloves.

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11/02/2012 Blackpool 1-1 Portsmouth: Jimmy Armfield and Stan Mortensen Statues

There are two statues at Bloomfield Road of former Blackpool players.

On my arrival at the ground, I walked from the Central Beach Car Park, the Jimmy Armfield statue is the first one you see. It stands there very proud on that corner of the ground and welcomes you in. On leaving the ground after the game it was nicely lit from small circular lights in the ground.

The Stan Mortensen statue - titled "Morty" - is on the other side of the ground, is smaller in size, on a brick plynth and is surrounded by fans' bricks a feature I've seen in a number of other grounds around the country.

Of course both players also have stands named after them as well at Bloomfield Road along with Sir Stanley Matthews.

These are both fine statues, quite different and great ways to acknowledge, commemorate and celebrate two of the finest players ever to wear a Blackpool shirt.

The pictures of Alan Ball and Colin Suddick plus the commemorative plaque in the main entrance to the Matthews Stand were an added bonus I wasn't aware of until I started looking around. See my previous blog article for pictures by clicking here ==> Pictures Of Bloomfield Road

Jimmy Armfield I/III

Jimmy Armfield II/III

Jimmy Armfield III/III

Stan Mortensen - "Morty" I/IV

Stan Mortensen - "Morty" II/IV

Stan Mortensen - "Morty" III/IV

Stan Mortensen - "Morty" IV/IV

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