Once again another of those games when another defeat looked odds-on before kick-off but the team rallied to defy their critics. Fratton Park has been a great ground for visiting Charlton fans over the years and last night's victory was six-in-a-row!
Johnnie Jackson set-out his 3-5-2 formation once more but the message to the players was very clearly different from the over-cautious approach of recent weeks that has seen us coming up short. Our players appear to have been told to attack from the outset and to create as many shooting and heading opportunities as they could. he threw all caution to the wind last night and I wonder if we will see this spirit continue as we grab the points we need to safely finish mid-table. It made it a very open game with 15 goal attempts a piece. Pompey looked best in the first-half but still found themselves a goal down to a 31st minute tap in from Conor Washington who reacted first to a Bazuno save on his line from Aneke's header.
After that and until the last 15 minutes it was largely all Charlton. We were playing a very fast tempo and had players committing themselves to deep and supporting runs from all over the park. The midfield trio of Dobson, Gilbey and Morgan did very well to break things up and scuttle forward at every opportunity. Blackett-Taylor enjoyed his best game since signing a permanent deal and was Sky's man-of-the-match. He provided the highlight of the game with a surging run from the edge of his own area, weaving in and out of the blue traffic before taking aim and sending a screamer inches wide of the woodwork - it really would have made a stunning goal that we would talked about for years. Aside from that he was buzzing and a thorn in Pompey's right flank. Washington and Aneke give their backline a torrid time and it was Aneke diving in to a low right wing cross that lead to Robertson heading passed his own keeper for the second.
Pompey managed a consolation on 80 minutes and we then had to endure fifteen minutes on defensive panic as they threw everything at an equaliser. Whilst we had to suffer the roller-coaster, for once we continued to attack at will and might easily have made it 3-1 before the finish.
Inniss deserves special mention for a last-ditch tackle that might have been given as a penalty but which replays showed was not only very brave but also very good. The fans man-of-the-match was Sean Clare who was very well suited to the 'defend-and-charge' nature of the game. I have been a wee bit critical of his fondness for carrying the ball out of defence as the last man and trying to beat the first man rather than finding another red shirt, but last night he deserved all the plaudits.
Our travelling fans did us proud once again on a cold, dark Winter's night and after a long run of relatively poor away performances. 1200 of them gave the side full vocal backing throughout and helped make the atmosphere for Sky. The signing of Scott Fraser from Ipswich has also lifted spirits, even if it's been offset by the sale of the latest youngster to a bigger club - see Bye-Bye Burstow.
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