Sunday, 23 October 2005
Pompey away. What was the score? Won 2-1
There were signs of hope in the last 15 minutes of the first half. After being outplayed for half an hour and a goal behind we slowly started to string some passes together and Ambrose gave us a taste of what was to come when he was foiled twice by good saves.
Curbs said that "I think I gave them a rocket," at half-time and while I sipped my tea I hoped that we would come out and impose ourselves on the game. The thing with this team is that I am starting to believe we can change and dominate passages of games, and with our patient build-up create and score goals.
And we did. I thought Kish was excellent today, he broke down attacks and moved the ball forward well. Murphy made two killer passes for the goals. I like Thomas because he wants to entertain but he has a tendency to hug the touchline, whereas Ambrose and Romm like to get in the box, find space and both can finish chances.
Rommedahl's goal was a peach. He cracked the ball so hard I initially thought it had come off the angle. Bent was back to his best today, he was a constant menace in the 2nd half.
Ambrose was my MoM but Young was a calming influence in defence, particularly in the first half when at times we were at 6 and 7's. Spector was a worry but it was his first Premiership start for over a year and we should be patient because the Chicago boy has a influential fan club and they can't all be wrong.
Perry had a tough game but came through it with a distinction but the Herminator didn't. He was at fault for Silva's goal and his positioning was often poor.
Finally a word on Andersen. If he feels under pressure because of Kiely's presence on the bench, then he never showed it. He made a superb save from Vukic and looked very assured and what was noticable to me again today was how often the back four and Kish use him to start or continue possession. His kicking and throwing gives him a huge advantage over Deano whose kicking invariably ends attacks and not starts them.
It's great to see us back in 2nd. I wrote yesterday about the Di Canio inspired game 2-years ago. I'm as happy tonight as I was then but this team is in a different class.
Reports from those that were there: The Sunday Times; cafc.co.uk; BBC Sport; The Observer. ¶ 01:01
There were signs of hope in the last 15 minutes of the first half. After being outplayed for half an hour and a goal behind we slowly started to string some passes together and Ambrose gave us a taste of what was to come when he was foiled twice by good saves.
Curbs said that "I think I gave them a rocket," at half-time and while I sipped my tea I hoped that we would come out and impose ourselves on the game. The thing with this team is that I am starting to believe we can change and dominate passages of games, and with our patient build-up create and score goals.
And we did. I thought Kish was excellent today, he broke down attacks and moved the ball forward well. Murphy made two killer passes for the goals. I like Thomas because he wants to entertain but he has a tendency to hug the touchline, whereas Ambrose and Romm like to get in the box, find space and both can finish chances.
Rommedahl's goal was a peach. He cracked the ball so hard I initially thought it had come off the angle. Bent was back to his best today, he was a constant menace in the 2nd half.
Ambrose was my MoM but Young was a calming influence in defence, particularly in the first half when at times we were at 6 and 7's. Spector was a worry but it was his first Premiership start for over a year and we should be patient because the Chicago boy has a influential fan club and they can't all be wrong.
Perry had a tough game but came through it with a distinction but the Herminator didn't. He was at fault for Silva's goal and his positioning was often poor.
Finally a word on Andersen. If he feels under pressure because of Kiely's presence on the bench, then he never showed it. He made a superb save from Vukic and looked very assured and what was noticable to me again today was how often the back four and Kish use him to start or continue possession. His kicking and throwing gives him a huge advantage over Deano whose kicking invariably ends attacks and not starts them.
It's great to see us back in 2nd. I wrote yesterday about the Di Canio inspired game 2-years ago. I'm as happy tonight as I was then but this team is in a different class.
Reports from those that were there: The Sunday Times; cafc.co.uk; BBC Sport; The Observer. ¶ 01:01
