FAN’S VIEW 21/22 – NO.40
PORTSMOUTH 3 OXFORD UNITED 2
Portsmouth is not a place where I’ve ever visited a handful of pubs before a match. I’d not realised before this trip that there are so many real ale pubs within two and a half miles of Fratton Park. The Good Beer Guide (GBG) lists seventeen but given their location, or where I thought their location was, I wasn’t really tempted.
Instead we opted for Thatchers Bar on the London Road, a place I’d been in quite a few times before because it is just over a mile from Pompey’s training ground and that is where pre-Saturday match walking football has taken place. Thatchers used to be in the GBG. The last time I had a beer in there it wasn’t and I could see why but nevertheless it was still drinkable. I wish I could say the same about Tuesday.
I think the four of us were the only punters who were not part of a wake for a 50 year old regular whose funeral had been at 10 o’clock. We arrived sometime between half five and quarter to six and I think it would be fair to say he was being given a good send off. We sat away from them but one of the party, a woman, wandered over to us placed herself down next to Steve, put her arm around him and asked “do you know where your mother is?” or words to that effect and then just stood up and slowly wandered off again. In the circumstances it wouldn’t have been appropriate to have complained about the ale. There were three hand pumps and between us we had a pint pulled from each. I wasn’t the only one that left a lot of their drink and I have not done that for ages, with the consensus being that was the best option all round.
CAMRA GBG app to the rescue. It informs not only of all nearby pubs but also of those listed in the guide of which there were two close by. We wrote one off because it had Greene King IPA down as a regular beer and headed for the Winchester Arms.
Quite a large pub but nevertheless clearly a proper back street local. Fair to say it wasn’t dripping with modernism. A wind up telephone on the wall, Air Raid Wardens’ hard hats on a shelf and moving on through the years a stack of CDs on the bar in the back room. I like a variety of drinking establishments and this place really did it for me.
There were only two real ales on but both were really well kept and washed away the lingering taste of the Thatchers. There were only two other people in there, a guy sat at a table with a pint and a woman nearer the bar. She walked the other side of it and served us. A proper barmaid and well tattooed at that. It was impossible not to engage in conversation. She’s from Bridgend, moved to Pompey in 1982, supports Arsenal because as an eight year old liked the kit around the time Charlie George was playing for the gunners. I asked what trade was like. We just about keep ticking over she said and explained that the old locals come in at 4 o’clock when it opens and had all gone home for their tea just before we arrived. She then added they’re mad (in a nice way). Shame we didn’t get to meet them.
A rep from Stowford Press had left some pint glasses in the pub but they weren’t wanted and she asked if any of us wanted one. I said yes as my son is a cider drinker and that’s what he’s currently drinking. I was given the glass and placed it on the table next to the pint I was drinking. Five minutes later she came a glass collecting and thinking I’d drunk from it took it back to the bar. Pure instinct from someone in the trade. I did get it back and I also got a brief rundown of the other sixteen GBG listed pubs. The good ones and the bright and shiny ones.
It was a pity we couldn’t stay longer but as ever with a football match to attend we had to depart. I know where I’ll try and head for next time we’re down that way.
As usual our driver had the magic touch when it came to parking very close to the ground even at such a late hour so we were inside the ground well before kick-off.
1,370 was a decent turnout of the Yellow Army on a wet Tuesday night particularly given there has been so many games recently. Pockets are not endlessly deep and with rising prices a refund of tickets purchased for when the fixture was originally scheduled to take place may have been a logical option for some.
Every one of that number was in raptures before the game hardly started. It was a footballing goal of absolute quality that brought this about. Herbie Kane picked up the ball just inside our half and his forward pass was flicked on by Matty Taylor to Nathan Holland who in turn sent Marcus Browne away. Facing Sean Raggett, a quick step over had the Portsmouth captain rooted to the spot as MB went on the outside taking him within a few yards of keeper Gavin Bazunu and the target which was duly hit as a left footer thrashed the ball home.
If we had continued to play like that throughout the evening it would have been one of the best away days ever. Trouble is football is about defending as well as attacking and there was a long long time to go before the final whistle.
On EFL on Saturday when one of the guests was freelance broadcaster and Oxford Utd fan George Elek, host Colin Murray reeled off the scores of our games the last four times George had been on the show. Needless to say there had been a lot of goals involved. They discussed what great entertainment we currently provide but then Murray added I bet there are some older supporters moaning about letting in so many goals who want to see clean sheets being kept. I yelled at the TV, “Yes there bloody well are, I’m one of them”. Is moaning the right word? Possibly.
Marcelo Bielsa has gone from Leeds, yes he was unlucky this season with injuries (Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford etc.) but with his attitude to defending they were never going to kick on once they got back in the top flight. Just saying.
The home side were never out of the game and as the half progressed looked more and more threatening. However as the forty minute mark came and went I began to think we might well get to half time still ahead even though as anyone who reads these Fan’s Views will know I currently have little faith in us defensively.
To go in at the break a goal behind was unthinkable. But the unthinkable happened.
Pompey had kept possession for quite a while a few yards midway inside our half passing the ball cross field and then Denver Hume running with it back again the other way before finding an unmarked Joe Morrell who was able to cross with no pressure whatsoever. That was met superbly by Raggett giving Jack Stevens no chance. No blame going his way on that. Sam Long didn’t really get a jump in. I’m not saying we’re watertight when Elliott Moore plays but we miss him. If Soccerbase is to be believed we’ve won 47% of matches played this season when he’s started but only 38% when he has not. I have other gripes about this goal. Nathan Holland’s attempted tackle looked quite weak to me and the amount of space Mahlon Romeo and Louis Thompson had as they were knocking the ball about was criminal.
We nearly went behind immediately instead of lasting a whole five minutes level. Browne just fired an attempted clearance at Connor Ogilvie leaving George Hirst to hit a snap shot just wide. It was Hirst who put his side ahead in the second of the added minutes. Having been unable to keep control of the ball in their half they were straight through us. This happens way too often. I’ve heard claims that the scorer was off-side but playing it back frame by frame I think he was marginally on. Soon issues like that will be sorted out by VAR lite (as long as the operators are not as incompetent as some of those in charge of the fully blown version). Again I make JS blameless.
Quite early on in the second half we were not given a penalty when it looked like Taylor had been sent to the floor after he’d taken a touch near goal. Sam Allison has refereed very few games at L1 level and it showed. I’d call him a random ref, one that at times seems to give decisions by the toss of a coin in his head. He didn’t do us any favours and was one of those who failed to do anything about shirt pulling or players making no attempt to play the ball but instead just ensuring their opponent couldn’t get in a clean header or make a clean pass by making contact that wasn’t always that subtle.
Before the hour mark had arrived we were two goals adrift. It was a superb Hayden Carter strike from 30 yards that found the back of our net. At the time from my position on the terraces I questioned whether Stevens should have done better. Others that were viewing it from different angles said not, but having seen the replay I’m not so sure at all. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t see it all the way. The scorer had no-one closing him down at all but it’s not as if one would expect him to register from there. I’ll also throw in the fact that Ryan Williams clearance had gone straight to Carter. But perhaps I should just accept it was an excellent goal and that these things happen. These things like conceding three again.
We continued to try and play our football with Long forcing Bazunu to push a decent shot round the post following a corner.
The deficit that we got round to reducing in the 81st minute was very close to growing in size before then. Stevens kept out a Hirst header from point blank range. Again I’d very much criticise our defending. Blue shirts were going past white shirts far too easily. Hirst wasn’t really marked and I’d ask yet another question of our keeper – should he have come for it? It has been called “an excellent stop” but the effort was straight at him.
Our second was another quality goal from our perspective but I bet Pompey fans will be looking at it through a similar critical eye to the one I’ve cast over the three we let in. having picked up a clearance we played the ball around neatly with many players involved before Luke McNally finished in the fashion of a striker.
We gave it a bit of a go to try and salvage a point but balls into the box were not of sufficient quality to make that happen and whilst we can be aggrieved that Allison didn’t even play the full “minimum” I left feeling that we had not quite deserved to take anything from the game.
The stats show that we had more possession (57%), made over a 100 more passes than Portsmouth and were more accurate with those passes in all areas of the field, but tellingly we only had three shots on target from 13 attempts. The number of home attempts was nine but five of those were on target. That tells me they close down better than we do and of those on target they had a 60% success rate.
When we lose it takes me a day or two before I can face looking at the league table. We’re still fourth but every team in the top half of the table has played fewer games than us. It varies by the week but again our top six position looks a lot more precarious. Pompey if (and it is a big if) they win their games in hand will be just two points behind us. We had a chance to just about see them off here and a draw would have greatly helped but we failed.
Portsmouth played well and on another day if we performed as we did in this against teams that are not as good we will win. But will that be enough to get us into the top six and beyond? Top six, possibly. Beyond, very unlikely.
We’re still top of the goals per game rankings and are extending that lead but remaining only ninth when it comes to goals conceded per game is severely holding us back if we want to get to the next level. I can’t help but feel what we saw here and at home against Bolton is more the norm than against Charlton and Crewe when we managed to ensure our opponents registered no goals.
On Saturday Burton come to the Kassam. In their last eight games they’ve won one, drawn two and lost five. Their defence is performing worse than ours. In those games they’ve let in 18 and scored only nine. I’m fully expecting to feel a lot happier about my football team at five o’clock on 5 March. But in a way I feel a little guilty getting wound up about such matters given what is happening in the Ukraine and the threat the world is facing.
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