Harry Batterson's take on Pompey's 3-2 victory
Report by Harry Batterson (Year 2) – ably supported by his two assistants Mum and Dad.
It was a chilly autumn night and it felt like summer had well and truly ended.
Pompey really need to win this game.
The game started fairly evenly with nothing much between them. Both teams had their share of play, but then a corner for Stevenage followed quickly by another corner taken by Dean Parrett finding Dean Wells, who shot from the edge of the box to score the first goal of the game. GOAL… to Stevenage on 23 minutes. The loyal 163 travelling Stevenage fans tucked away up one end went bonkers!
Pompey needed to pick themselves up and shake themselves down, which they did. The boys did not give up. The fans did not give up on them either. It is so noticeable at Portsmouth that the fans consistently carry on singing and pushing the side on whether they are one up, one down or drawing in a match.
Jed Wallace with a super strike into the bottom left hand corner of the goal to make the score 1-1. GAME ON! They had a penalty appeal involving Jed Wallace turned down. But their hard work paid off on 34 minutes when GOAL!
Big appeal soon after for handball by the Stevenage goalie outside the box, but not given by the referee. Pompey still piling on the pressure and Stevenage really up against it.
First half ends and Dad is sent down to buy Bovril – yummy. Dad is a long time, we suspect he is having a sneaky pint.
The second half, about to start, the Pompey boys were ready for battle, but the Stevenage team were still practicing their drills. It did seem very strange. Portsmouth players in formation and ready, the ball on the centre spot and the Stevenage players are running around some cones on the side of the pitch. The ref soon sorted that out.
It’s a shame he didn’t sort out the extra yardage gained by Stevenage at each and every throw in! Perhaps another good use for the new foam that some referees carry. Give some to the assistant referees.
The second half begins.
Jed Wallace starts strongly and has a near miss on 48 minutes. Then on 56 minutes a powerful run by Chris Whelpdale of Stevenage through centre midfield sees his shot from well outside the box hit the post. Lucky for us, it does not deflect into the net.
Then… GOAL on 57 minutes, a great move involving an accurate long pass from Hollands to Miles Storey, who receives it superbly and delivers a great shot into the left hand side of goal. Fantastic! 2-1 to Pompey. The fans went bonkers… again! A really good tempo to the game.
Stevenage then responded well by putting on the pressure and Paul Jones had to make a couple of saves to keep them at bay. But then on 74 minutes GOAL… Stevenage get the equaliser when a pass back to Paul Jones, by Joe Devera, gets intercepted by Chris Beardsley and he goes on to net the ball. 2-2. The travelling fans went mad… again!
An awesome result, an awesome night. But this game was not over… and just in case we thought this was heading towards a draw, well on 79 minutes a match deciding goal was scored. Enter right of stage (guess who?) YES! Joe Devera who scored a cracking goal from the edge of the box. Amazing goal. The team went crazy, the fans went crazy and I went crazy (and my assistants Mum and Dad did too!) And so it was… 3-2 to Pompey the final result.
It was certainly a great result all round for Portsmouth FC. I loved it!