Portsmouth vs Bournemouth- Reaction

Saturday was a day of mixed emotions for AFC Bournemouth and their 2800 travelling fans. Many (including myself) went into the game excited at the thought of watching our expensive squad line up for the first time. Thoroughly aware the game would be deceptively difficult, Portsmouth's new signings had been training together for 3 weeks, and both the players and fans would be very fired up.

Fratton Park is a very different football ground to Dean Court, it will appeal to some, and others will hate it. In my opinion, it's a bit of a dive, the whole ground is a tip and could do with a facelift, as could the surrounding area. However, one thing could not be questioned; the noise that the home supporters make. As the teams came out the home fans let out a roaring "Play Up Pompey", making our home atmosphere seem very quiet.

The game started out with Portsmouth understandably high on adrenaline, but Bournemouth rode out the storm and had the game's first chance. Marc Pugh played a perfect pass into the feet of Wes Thomas, who from 6 yards out could not use his outstretched limbs to get the ball into the back of the net. Just as we thought we had made it through the tough opening stages, Shwan Jalal pulled his best Robert Green impression and let Izale McLoed's 30 yard shot go straight through his legs. This changed the game, and Portsmouth remained in complete control through the first half, with Jack Compton in particular threatening down the right wing.

Bournemouth came out a changed side in the second half, but still survived another early scare from the dangerous McLoed. Slowly Portsmouth dropped deeper and the exhaustion kicked in. Grabban, Tubbs and Arter were brought on to strengthen the attack, which finally resulted in Lee Barnard (of all people) knocking in a header to bring the sides level.

Unfortunately the remaining stages were quiet, apart from youngster Ashley Harris hitting a swerving shot against the post right at the death.

In conclusion, I was annoyed after the game, our lack of desire to push for the win after equalizing showed an extreme lack of ambition. In perspective though, it was a decent away point against a revitalized Portsmouth team. In the next game I hope to see more from the midfield, the lack of energy and creativity certainly dampened the team's efforts in this game. The pressure is on to make these next two homes games count.