Blues beaten by Oxford despite brave fight-back
Pompey Academy’s long unbeaten run finally came to an end as they were beaten 5-4 in a thriller at Oxford.
The hosts stormed into a four-goal interval lead following strikes from Jordan Graham (2), George Jeacock and Robbie Cundy.
But the Blues were much stronger after the break and reduced the deficit when Kaleem Haitham (pictured) was first to a loose ball.
Snorre Nilsen and Brandon Haunstrup then both bundled home efforts from close-range to move Pompey right back in contention.
But Josh Williams stopped the revival by netting Oxford’s fifth before Conor Chaplin grabbed a late consolation.
Academy coach Mike Harris said: “We told the boys at half-time to take responsibility for their performance and that we wanted to see a response.
“That’s exactly what we got and it’s just a shame that we couldn’t get it back to 4-4 because I believe that we would then have gone on to win the game.
“But it’s a useful part of their learning game because that’s not something you can really replicate on the training pitch.
“We’re disappointed that our first half display didn’t reach our normal levels, but there was still plenty for us to take from the match.”
Pompey: George; Davies, Field, Nilsen, Haunstrup; Rwakarambwe, Granger (Oxlade-Chamberlain 71), May, Haitham (Sayers 76); Chaplin, Gill (Joseph-Buadi 54)