SkyBet League 2
at Fratton Park
Portsmouth (0) 0
Mansfield Town (0) 0
Admission £20. Programme £3.
Attendance 16,210 (inc. 369 in away end0
Murphy, Davies, Burgess, Webster, Stevens; Hollands, Doyle (c), Boco (Atangana 56), Bennett, Naismith (Chaplin 56), Lavery (Tubbs 78)
Unused subs - Bass, Clarke, Tollitt, McGurk
Mansfield Town:
Jensen; Hunt (c), Collins, Tafazolli, Adams, Rose, Clements, Chapman, Lambe (Yussuf 86), Westcarr (Blair 62), Green (N.Thomas 78)
Unused subs - Shearer, McGuire, J.Thomas, Beardsley
And very tired too mind you, given the silly AM departure time, that afforded us ample time to masticate a substantial breakfast before getting into our pub base for the day at just before 10AM, but extremely happy that we made the effort to go.
Only a football fan could relate to those sentiments, so if the logic behind it went straight over your head... and you can't comprehend the unrestrained joy that a nil-nil draw can inspire, then you are probably better off looking elsewhere online, for something to read.
Adam Murray's side started the season as favourites for the drop, down from the basement division and back into the abyss of the National League, the murky depths of which they traversed not so very long ago.
But thus far, they haven't paid even the slightest heed to their detractors or the 'expert' predictions of doom and gloom... and have just quietly been getting on with business instead.
All torque and no talk, you might say.
He was magnanimous enough to give the Stags due credit today, after the final whistle, and as such his stock has soared no end in my book.
To think, the last time that I saw Cooky, I had failed to acknowledge his friendly greeting in a crowded bar and had pretended not to see him, because he was wearing a Chesterfield FC training top. Sorry Paul, but I have my reputation to think of... but I'm really pleased that he's escaped from his previous dead-end job and it's great to see that he's rebuilding his career at a far better club nowadays.
Halfway through the first half of today's game, one of the Fratton Park stewards beckoned me towards him and explained, in a friendly and very apologetic manner, that his superiors in the control box next to the away end had instructed him to tell me to stop taking photographs.
I complied with his request, the guy was only doing his job after all and it wasn't his fault that he has such a miserable set of gits in charge of him.
In lieu of his cheery demeanour and impeccable manners, I really hope that nobody took any unflattering pictures of this nice man, who was a credit to his vocation..
Pompey created around half a dozen first half chances, but Brian Jensen in the Stags goal was untroubled for the most part and he only had one shot to deal with before the interval, and even then, that was only when Enda Stevens aimed the ball straight at him.
Portsmouth were very lively and probably had the lion's share of the ball prior to the interval, but they came up against a very compact, committed and hardworking Mansfield side who were employing a traditional 4-4-2 (or possibly 4-4-1-1) system to good effect, with the midfield quartet playing deep to give their defence an extra line of cover.
Craig Westcarr came close to puncturing the home side's rearguard from a Matt Green cross, but in truth, clear cut chances were at a premium for both sides.
Subsequently I was a bit taken aback to read on Pompey's Twitter feed at half time, that Jensen had (apparently) made a string of saves. Over the course of the season he certainly has done, while picking up cult status and his own personalised chant along the way, but certainly not this afternoon.
My friend berated me for having turned down the chance to cover today's game, because I would at least have been more accurate with my 'unbiased' views. Truth is, when somebody from the press association rang me at approximately 2.20PM to ask if I could stand in to do a report, I'd laughed out loud and told them: "Not me! Not today! I'm on an all day sesh and I'm wankered! You'll need to find somebody else". It was probably for the best.
Subsequently I was a bit taken aback to read on Pompey's Twitter feed at half time, that Jensen had (apparently) made a string of saves. Over the course of the season he certainly has done, while picking up cult status and his own personalised chant along the way, but certainly not this afternoon.
HT: Pompey 0 v Stags 0
The Stags don't currently have the best record for having conceded the fewest goals in this division this season so far for nothing.
As the game headed into the final ten minutes Ben Davies fired the ball both wide and then high of the target, with two misplaced free kicks. "Come and sit up here youth!"
Adams cleared the ball off the line at the expense of a corner from a Conor Chaplin effort and Tafazolli blocked Burgess' shot that came as a result of the flag kick.
Right at the death, Michael Doyle tried his luck from long range, but the ball flew well wide of Jensen's net.
The Stags back four had been outstanding all afternoon, with Chris Clements, Adam Chapman and their midfield counterparts battling non-stop to shut Portsmouth out in front of them.
We would've been happy with a point before the game... and we sure as hell were when the referee blew for full time.
FT: Portsmouth 0 v Mansfield Town 0
Tactically, Adam Murray had got it spot on today, if you give a team like Portsmouth the room to create and pull you apart, then they will. But Pompey were barely given a moment to settle on the ball all afternoon and Mansfield deserved every single ounce of the generous applause that they got from their travelling supporters at the end of the game, for a job very well done.
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| Adam Murray |
The circuitous detour around Southsea as the 'Mad Pole' (he's Polish and he's mad) took a wrong turn on the way home, meaning that we spent ages trying to find where we were amongst unlisted roads on Google maps, didn't trouble anybody unduly.
Their unfashionable little team are holding their own at the business end of the table amongst the so called big guns, so nowt' else really mattered at all tonight.
Besides I have always really liked Fratton Park, so it was nice to get another look at the ground forty five minutes after we'd originally set off in a supposedly northerly direction from Frogmore Road.
Clear the roads... Galazka's mystery tours are on their way home, but don't wait up, we could be a while.
