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02 02 2008 Portsmouth 1 Chelsea 1
Pompey away has to be one of the most beautiful journeys by train from London to a football match, followed by visits to
some of the better away pubs, but ended with a visit to Fratton Park which is the biggest deathtrap in the Premiership.
Ok, so we have a roof at least this year, but to have an away end with only one area to go to the bathroom and a small
hut that has run out of hot food before the end of the first half is simply a disgrace. It took twenty minutes to get from my
seat to the toilets, and then back again... and that was with leaving my seat before the end of half time! I suppose at
least it's not one of these unoriginal, soulless matchbox stadia that tinpot clubs like Arsenal build. Portsmouth are still
not used to the number of fans visiting them since the days that they only attracted 10,000 or less to their ground - the
sooner they modernise the away end, the better.
It was not as demoralising an away trip as last year though, when it pelted down for most of the game with no cover
overhead. Portsmouth fans were very quiet - perhaps they were a little shell shocked at how loud away fans can really
be when their chants and songs do not disappear into the night sky, as has happened previously. For us, it was almost
like visiting a new ground as we could test the acoustics of the newly refurbished away end.
The result was fair. Both sides had equal opportunities to score, and Chelsea eventually took the lead in the second half
after Malouda made his only telling contribution to the game - a well placed cross to Joe Cole who set up the excellent
Anelka for a deserved goal. Pompey fans decided to blame the Chelsea goal on the referee (as they always do!)
I have never quite understood why Chelsea fans sing, "you are shit", to the opposition when we only lead by a goal, but
we got our just desserts when Portsmouth equalised following an error by Belletti. I was expecting it to be the fault of Ben
Haim, but he actually had a pretty solid game for once.
Soon after, both Chelsea and Portsmouth should have scored. You have to heap praise on David James - what a
'keeper. When he needed to make great saves, not only did he stop the ball going into the net, but he held onto it as
well. He is, as the adage goes, worth a point every game on his own, and it was nice to see our fans applaud him when
he took his place in the goal in the second half.
No real complaints. We still have many key players missing from the squad. The only disappointment was not being able
to close the gap against Manchester United to just two points after Spurs did us a favour earning a draw against them.
Oh, and no match report from Reading - had no time... we dominated that match and had only one goal to show for it. In
the end we sweated out for a result, but again a win is a win is a win.
The nine match winning streak that was ended against Portsmouth is probably one of the least remarkable run of
victories that i can recall, but with our depleted squad we should be counting our blessings.
some of the better away pubs, but ended with a visit to Fratton Park which is the biggest deathtrap in the Premiership.
Ok, so we have a roof at least this year, but to have an away end with only one area to go to the bathroom and a small
hut that has run out of hot food before the end of the first half is simply a disgrace. It took twenty minutes to get from my
seat to the toilets, and then back again... and that was with leaving my seat before the end of half time! I suppose at
least it's not one of these unoriginal, soulless matchbox stadia that tinpot clubs like Arsenal build. Portsmouth are still
not used to the number of fans visiting them since the days that they only attracted 10,000 or less to their ground - the
sooner they modernise the away end, the better.
It was not as demoralising an away trip as last year though, when it pelted down for most of the game with no cover
overhead. Portsmouth fans were very quiet - perhaps they were a little shell shocked at how loud away fans can really
be when their chants and songs do not disappear into the night sky, as has happened previously. For us, it was almost
like visiting a new ground as we could test the acoustics of the newly refurbished away end.
The result was fair. Both sides had equal opportunities to score, and Chelsea eventually took the lead in the second half
after Malouda made his only telling contribution to the game - a well placed cross to Joe Cole who set up the excellent
Anelka for a deserved goal. Pompey fans decided to blame the Chelsea goal on the referee (as they always do!)
I have never quite understood why Chelsea fans sing, "you are shit", to the opposition when we only lead by a goal, but
we got our just desserts when Portsmouth equalised following an error by Belletti. I was expecting it to be the fault of Ben
Haim, but he actually had a pretty solid game for once.
Soon after, both Chelsea and Portsmouth should have scored. You have to heap praise on David James - what a
'keeper. When he needed to make great saves, not only did he stop the ball going into the net, but he held onto it as
well. He is, as the adage goes, worth a point every game on his own, and it was nice to see our fans applaud him when
he took his place in the goal in the second half.
No real complaints. We still have many key players missing from the squad. The only disappointment was not being able
to close the gap against Manchester United to just two points after Spurs did us a favour earning a draw against them.
Oh, and no match report from Reading - had no time... we dominated that match and had only one goal to show for it. In
the end we sweated out for a result, but again a win is a win is a win.
The nine match winning streak that was ended against Portsmouth is probably one of the least remarkable run of
victories that i can recall, but with our depleted squad we should be counting our blessings.
