After a surprisingly easy train journey to Fratton and a very pleasant Fullers London Pride lunchtime including a rare catch up with a Hatter's friend from the Weymouth exiles branch, it was off to the ground walking along the streets massed with supporters for a fourth tier of football match. Numbers of supporters in itself is not a qualifying entry requirement for promotion to L1 but surely such well-supported clubs as the two facing each other yesterday at Fratton Park had it not been for historic mismanagement by those that once ran the respective clubs.
The game, well a strange first half with Portsmouth pressing far more than us but nor really creating much in the way of efforts on goal apart from two headers from Burgess one of which he scored with and the other went wide. We were struggling a touch to pick Burgess up on those two occasions and the goal he scored was reminiscent of the ones Luke Wilkinson used to put away for us in his days as a Hatter. Should we have defended that goal better? Well, I think so: firstly O’Donnell should never have got into that mess that resulted in a free kick. He made a hash of clearing the ball and was then chasing back and the referee awarded the foul and from the free kick Burgess rose to head the ball into the net. The cross itself was well attacked by Burgess who beat our defenders and the Walton to the ball: not nice! So we reached half time with Portsmouth the more dominant side and the Hatters although doing some very decent defending, apart from the Burgess headers, generally looking a touch lethargic and not competing in the midfield in the way that we saw against Barnet on Saturday. Maybe some of our players were affected by the terrible injury to Cameron McGeehan who was replaced by Pelly; but a real spark was missing from our midfield and Glen Rea, a player I do rate highly had not had the best of the first 45 minutes, missing some tackles and giving the ball away. We did try very hard to redeem the situation in the second half. Jones made a couple of fairly early second half substitutions hooking of the ineffective pair Cook and Gilliead to send on Lee and Vassell. The Hatters really did up their game in the second period and pressed hard for an equaliser and came close with a lob from Hylton that hit the bar and also a miss by Smith from a cross from the persistent Hylton; I rather fancy had the injured Cam been in that position then he would have scored. Late in the game Portsmouth were awarded a penalty in bizarre circumstances. O’Donnell took a throw to Lee as he stood in the penalty area with a couple of Pompey players not that far away; Lee failed not make a rapid clearance, loses possession and brings a man down; penalty. A bit of a mess, and what’s annoying, a totally unnecessary mess and we can’t just blame Lee. Overall Impression: We were not anywhere near enough alert or up for it in the first half; how much affect McGeehan’s early injury had on the players, you can only speculate. The goal right from O’Donnell’s failure to clear before the free kick and the defending from the cross could have been better. In the second half, I again felt quite good about our side as they really upped their game and battled well and to my mind with just a touch of luck would have got a point. The first rant on 2017 In the main, I try to steer clear of criticising football officials. To be a referee or assistant is to my mind a thankless task; of course, mistakes are made but I usually feel that these things are more often than not balanced out over a season; ok, I forgot the York Wembley offside goal. However, yesterday's referee was simply poor and gave our players very little and Danny Hylton in particular no protection. Just how can a referee be so totally inconsiderate and stupid to book a player screaming in obvious agony having broken his leg. When you break your leg as Cam did yesterday, I can tell you it fecking well hurts like hell. So an exception from me that I doubt will be repeated frequently but Mr Robinson should not be refereeing at league level. When Jonathan Smith broke his leg at Barnet I remember walking back to the car thinking just about the poor guy’s misfortune and ours at the time in losing such a tough midfielder. I usually write some football notes whilst on a train journey home after the game but to be honest my mind was not on it yesterday; simply felt so sorry for the unfortunate young man Cameron and the disgraceful behaviour of the Portsmouth supporters. Ok, it’s competitive and they want to win but hell this is a sport, not a blasted Spanish Bull Ring. Where will we finish this season? Well, I am never one for New Year resolutions or predictions but I reckon we will either squeeze into the play-off’s of marginally miss out. For my money, Jones is doing a quality job in building a decent side at Luton but it takes time. Also, maybe a learning point for NJ is that he may have slightly underestimated the physicality of the world of L2, particularly in midfield. Some thoughts on individual player performances: Walton: some good keeping but not at his confident best in my view in the first half in my view. O’Donnell: NJ really needs to have a think about O’Donnell. There is a lot I like about O’Donnell; his strength and power going forward and some of his defending is absolutely fine but he has these slips that can just prove costly: can he eradicate those from his game? If he can then we have a decent player. Mullins: made some good tackles and gave real support to the attack late in the game. Cuthbert: top notch for most of the game but did struggle with the power of Burgess with those two headers one of which resulted in the goal. Justin: good second half getting down that left-hand side to support the attack. He also had a good shot at goal that the keeper turned away for a corner. Rea: I thought he was off his game in the first half making errors with his distribution and not really as effective on covering the back four as he has been in the past. Like others, his game improved in the second half. Smith: usual hard working ground covering effort by Smith but he should maybe have put that second half chance away. McGeehan: I am just so sad for him and the team: we will really miss his goals and bravery in the penalty area. Gilliead: can’t recall any real run that he had and physically got a touch bullied by the Pompey players. I really like the guy but can’t honestly say he is cut out for L2 midfield graft; surely far better out wide where he can do some damage? Cook: after a decent game against Barnet he failed to make any impression on the game in either attack or challenging for possession. To me, he is the sort of player that when the game is running for us and we are playing with a high tempo, he will deliver but maybe not the guy for a battle. Hylton: usual masses of effort and persistence and he was so unlucky with that lob that hit the bar. I feel he did well to stay on the field after some rough treatment from the Pompey players and of course next to zero protection from the referee. The Subs: Pelly: well now that Cam is out for 2017, Pelly has a real opportunity for a sustained run in the side. Yesterday, although there were a few nice touches we need more from him than that. He often lost control on the second or third touch on the ball. Maybe extra game time will get him there but he really needs to take this opportunity or his ship will sail without him as far as Luton is concerned. Massive talent and I have praised him lots in the past but how does NJ get him delivering more? Lee: one brilliant ball out to the wing, the sort of thing we know Lee is capable of but I don’t really like him in any defensive situation. Vassell: gave it everything, chased everything but no luck on the day. The Teams: Portsmouth: Forde, Stevens, Rose (Linganzi, 84), Clarke, Burgess, Baker (Hunt, 80), Doyle, Smith, Naismith, Bennett (Roberts, 68), Evans Luton: Walton, O'Donnell, Smith, Mullins, Cuthbert, McGeehan (Pelly, 20), Hylton, Cook (Vassell, 54), Gilliead (Lee, 54), Rea, Justin Unused subs: King, Marriott, Senior, McQuoid
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Hi there, welcome to my site where I chronicle various things about the Hatters, a team I have followed since the mid 60’sArchives
December 2017
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