by Mark Storey at the RFK Stadium
No training, no sleep, no kit – no big surprise Pompey got drubbed at DC United.
Danny Allsopp’s hat-trick put the knife into the leg-weary Blues, who could not have arrived in worse shape for this friendly in the United States’ capital.
A cancelled flight – blame a lightning storm – left the Blues stranded at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Friday night.
The players got just four hours sleep and were unable to train in preparation for the game.
In fact, they didn’t kick a ball from Nadir Ciftci’s winning penalty in Edmonton, Canada, on Wednesday night until stepping out for a warm-up at the RFK Stadium in Washington three days later.
It took the Blues 27 hours to get from Edmonton to Washington, wrecking training plans.
And then 14 bags went missing en route, including the ones containing Pompey’s kit.
It meant Steve Cotterill’s side had to borrow DC United’s change strip of all-white.
All this after a trip which began with a 42-hour journey to San Diego, California, from Britain.
Pompey, backed by about 100 fans, tried as hard as they could in the sweltering heat – at 105 degrees Fahrenheit, Washington’s hottest day of the year.
And they had their strongest side yet on tour with Tommy Smith, Richard Hughes, Jamie Ashdown and Hayden Mullins all back from injury.
But they looked exhausted from the kick-off and were carved open by a side currently bottom of the MLS with three wins in 17.
Allsopp’s first came on 21 minutes when he got between two white shirts to nod in Branko Boskovic’s cross.
Worse followed on the half-hour when Allsopp, a 31-year-old Australian who spent several seasons in England with Manchester City, Notts County and Hull, took advantage of sluggishness in Pompey’s defence to prod past Ashdown.
The only bright note of the night was that the Blues could have been level with better finishing.
Matt Ritchie capped a brilliant run down the left with the perfect ball for David Nugent. But the striker, having got in front of his marker, side-footed wide.
Nugent then swapped passes with Ciftci but was denied from close range by keeper Troy Perkins.
Both sides were reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Mullins and Santino Quaranta saw straight red for an off-the-ball incident that no-one in the stadium except the referee appeared to see.
The misery piled up for the Blues when substitute Junior Carreiro and Boskovic combined to give Pablo Hernandez a tap-in on 56 minutes.
Allsopp squandered two great chances for his hat-trick before finally delivering with 25 minutes left, racing onto a through ball to slide home past Ashdown.
The Pompey keeper and team-mate Joel Ward collided, leaving Ashdown needing treatment.
He struggled on but was eventually replaced by Liam O’Brien – sparking more injury worries for the Blues.
Julius James was sent off for fouling and then pushing Michael Brown in the last minute, before Ritchie had a free-kick superbly saved by substitute keeper Bill Hamid.
But it was all an irrelevance given the larger picture.
Pompey: Ashdown (O’Brien 79); Mullins, Ward, Wilson (Martin 69), Ritchie; Pack (Gregory 60), Brown (c), Hughes; Ciftci, Smith, Nugent (Ryan 83)
DC United: Perkins (Hamid 46); Talley (King 60), Rice, James, Graye (White 75); Khumalo (Carreiro 46), Simms, Quaranta; Boskovic (Morsink 60), Allsopp (Najar 87), Hernandez (Rivas 67)
Attendance: 8,987