2011-12 Match Reports CCFC v PORTSMOUTH

21.1.2012

CCFC 3 v 2 PORTSMOUTH

Pompey. Not just any old fixture against one of the division’s also-rans. It inevitably carries with it the weight of bittersweet Wembley memories; what-ifs and if-onlys. It always will. What if Jones had had the good sense to play Ramsey from the start. And if only Enckleman hadn’t spilled the ball into the path of Kanu.

What was it with Jones and his bargain basement keepers? After Neil Alexander The Great’s  de-throning by DJ at the end of the 2007 season following an unnecessary dispute over a new contract, we had a succession of extremely Dodgy Keepers including lest we forget loanees Dimi Dropalotashots, the risible Stephen Bywater and the non-playing Jason Brown. Between them Enckleman, Dropalot and Bywater cost us a play-off position, a play-off semi-final and a Cup Final! If my memory serves me well, between Alexander and Heaton-Marshall we also had David Forde, Aaron Lee-Barratt, Ross Turnbull & Kasper Schmeical. 

When I were a lad our goalie WAS Fred Davies. And he stayed around long enough for the Grange End laureates to pen a song in his honour: ‘We all agree, Davies is better than Yashin , Toshack is better than Eusebio and (the opposition) are in for a thrashin’ (a note to the younger audience, Yashin was a Soviet-era goalie, voted the Best Goalkeeper of the 20^th century and known as ‘The Black Spider’ ‘The Black Panther’ or even the ‘Black Octupus’ due to his distinctive all black kit and the perception that he had eight arms.) There haven’t been too many chants in honour of the practitioners of the black art of goalkeeping so Fred Davies must have been something special.

Without doubt the best ever chant directed at a goalie was by Celtic fans after the Ranger’s keeper had been diagnosed as schizophrenic ‘Two Andy Gorams, there’s only two Andy Gorams...’

Footie Factoid Alert: The football chant 'Who ate all the pies?' dates back more than 100 years. Sung to the tune of 'Knees Up Mother Brown', it was directed at Sheffield United's 24 stone goalkeeper William 'Fatty' Foulke by his own fans in 1894.

Fortunately in David Marshall and Tom Heaton we have two quality keepers vying for the No.1 shirt who have the confidence of their defence and who you know are not going to let you down. Much.

Pompey’s star has fallen a long way since their narrow FA Cup triumph which former keeper David James has claimed was the root of all their troubles as they were in no position financially to pay the extortionate wages required to secure their Premier League status and make a challenge in Europe. If that was the case they could have saved themselves a lot of bother and handed the game to us. I’m sure we’d have been more circumspect with the spoils; after all we had the prudent and financially astute Thrifty Ridsdale in charge. Perhaps not.

We lined up with Darcy Blake continuing to deputise for the absent McNaughton who worryingly seems to be taking much longer than expected to recover from his injury. As well as his undoubted defensive and positional qualities we miss his regular charge up the flanks. A good move by Malky then to bring Conway back to replace Ralls and provide some width. From the start our midfield dominated with Whittingham collecting and distributing with a sense of freedom rarely afforded him this season. Perhaps Pompey hadn’t done their homework but it was gratifying, if surprising, to see him so in control of events. He regaled us with an assured and confident midfield masterclass; it was 40 minutes before a pass failed to find its target. On current form he’s just too good for this league. On 15 minutes his corner was intercepted but cleared back out to him; his probing cross was met by Miller whose powerful shot from the tightest of angles saw the roof of the net bulge in sublime surrender.  1-0.

We continued to exercise almost complete control against a dispirited outfit who seemed to have little to offer. We created chances but Miller and Mason (who was having an off day by his recent high standards) were unable to take advantage. Blake, probably under instructions to replicate the trademark McNaughton charge from deep, had one storming run that had the defence completely on the back foot but he stroked the ball just past the far post. We failed to add to our lead and Pompey began to assert themselves. It was still a major shock however when they pulled a goal back after a Marshall spilled the ball at the feet of a grateful Futacs to provide Pompey with our customary gift of a goalkeeping gaffe. An implausible 1-1 score line at half time but it was surely inconceivable that the match could end in anything other than a home win.

It was a real jolt to the system when, with the pith from the half time oranges still clinging to the teeth, Pompey went ahead following a scramble in the box. The balance of the game had now swayed to the away team who without looking threatening were suddenly at ease with themselves.

It was an odd substitution that seemed to change the game back in our favour as Benjani came on to replace Etuhu. Portsmouth were now defending their lead with three strikers, two of whom were pushed out on the wings away from the action. We began to assert ourselves once more and if the final ball, particularly from Cowie and Gunnarsson, had been more effective we would have got back on level terms sooner than we did. In the event it took some quick thinking from Conway who collected a short throw in and whipped in a cross towards a rampaging Hudson catching the Pompey defence cold to put us back on level terms.

There were 20 minutes left and it was to take all of this and more to force a deserved victory as time and again we carved out opportunities but to no avail. Or so it seemed. Two minutes after the board had gone up displaying the number 3, Conway collected the ball some 25 yards out, pulled back his right peg and launched a solid propellant booster missile of a shot through the helpless Pompey defence to exocet a measure of revenge for our Cup Final woes. 3-2. Ecstacy tempered with relief.

So we go into Tuesday’s 2^nd leg Carling Cup semi against Palace in good spirits, knowing exactly what we need to do to secure our place in another Wembley final where we cannot entertain the thought of another goal-keeping transgression. After the Heaton howler in the first leg and Marshall’s misdemeanour today the signs are not good! Perhaps it’s time to summon up the spirit of Fred Davies. All together now ‘We all agree Heaton is better than Yashin, Miller is better than Lionel Messi and City / Scousers are in for a thrashing.....’