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Ipswich Town v Portsmouth FC


EFLT – Round 2

Tuesday 22nd November 2022 – 19:45

Portman Road







Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike



I'm starting to like these Sky TV appearances, not to mention ridiculous kick off times, suddenly nothing is too much of an ask for the Super Blues and all the superstitions seem to be disappearing, of course it has nothing to do with Superstition, it is nothing more than actually having a manager who knows what he is doing and a group of players who can actually play the game to a decent level, something that has been sadly lacking at Portman Road for many years.

The 2-0 win at Exeter City was about as comfortable as it gets, I felt we were in complete control throughout and even when they had their little patch prior to half time they really struggled to hurt us at all, yes they had One chance which drew a good save from the otherwise underworked Christian Walton but apart from that it was all Town, we scored two well taken goals, the first especially was a fab move, the ball from Sam Morsy over the top and on to the head of Marcus Harness was sublime and pretty much went unnoticed by many, add to that the knockdown by Harness and run and finish from Freddie Ladapo were all worthy of a goal. That is Five in Five for Freddie now and proof if any was needed that he can be the man to fire the goals we need to see us over the line, do we need another striker ? Not for me no, we have no less than Twelve different scorers in the league this season which to me is better than relying on Two or Three to get the goals.

The return to the defence of Cameron Burgess most definitely seemed to bolster the back line, albeit against a pretty limp attack, but the number of headers and blocks he got in was very impressive indeed and there is now a decision to be made not only in attack but defensively too but more options can only be a good thing. it wasn't just Burgess that turned in a good days work, Sam Morsy for me is brilliant and a seldom puts in an under par performance, I read so much about how good Barry Bannen is and that may be the case, but we most certainly have a player as good if not better and who better to help young Cam Humphreys learn his trade, the boy is getting better and better and I could not help but see the stats relating to when Humphreys plays, it is nigh on perfect which has really softened the blow of losing Lee Evans, in fact it is fair to say we haven't really missed him. I also thought the enigma that is Freddie Ladapo was one of the best players on the pitch, he led the line so well, linked up play, tracked back and won tackles and generally looked very sharp indeed.

Having a crafty look at the Exeter fans forum tells me everything I already knew, "the best team we have played by far" "we won't play anyone better all season" "champions in waiting" etc etc, pretty unanimous across the board, take a look, it's pleasant reading. Seven away wins before the end of November is some going and we continue to break records on a weekly basis, seeing the stats pre kick off on Sky has us virtually first in every category, if we can just cut out the silly errors and perfect the art of breaking down stubborn teams at Portman Road this will be a glorious season, let's just take it One game at a time.

Our attention turns to Cup action this week with Two home games in Two different cup competitions, first up is a tie against Portsmouth for a place in the last sixteen of the EFL Papa John's Trophy, a repeat of the result in the league a few weeks back will do very nicely and would see Town claim their place in the next round, but of course it won't be easy, with changes to the line up almost assured much depends on how seriously we take it, not to mention if our opponents deem it as a game where they go full strength too, changes are fine but we need to be strong enough to give ourselves a chance, i can see the likes of Hladky, keogh, Camara, Jackson etc starting which is fine, all very capable and doesn't really weaken us at all.

A positive result keeps the spirits high and momentum going, not to mention it takes us a step nearer a day out at Wembley which we would all enjoy for sure. Clearly the crowd will be greatly reduced to that of a League Fixture but we can still help get the Boy's over the line, not to mention give Cowley another slap in the face. it's a close fought Town win for me, 2-1. COYB'S



Portsmouth FC - Honours


League competitions


Portsmouth are one of only five English football clubs to have been champions of all four tiers of the professional English football pyramid, (after Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley, Preston North End and Sheffield United). In addition, Portsmouth are also one of only two English football clubs to have been champions of five professional divisions including the former regional Football League Third Division South championship in the 1923–24 season. Wolverhampton Wanderers also share this distinction, having won all four divisions, plus a Football League Third Division North title win, coincidentally in the same 1923–24 season as Portsmouth won the respective South division.


First Tier: Football League First Division (1888–1992) > Premier League (1992–present)

Champions (2): 1948–49, 1949–50

Second Tier: Football League Second Division (1892–1992) > Football League First Division (1992–2004) > EFL Championship (2004–present)

Champions (1): 2002–03
Runners-up (2): 1926–27, 1986–87

Third Tier: Football League Third Division South (1921–1958) > Football League Third Division (1958–1992) > Football League Second Division (1992–2004) > EFL League One (2004–present)

Champions (3): 1923–24 (South), 1961–62, 1982–83

Fourth Tier: Football League Fourth Division (1958–1992) > Football League Third Division (1992–2004) > EFL League Two (2004–present)

Champions (1): 2016–17


Cup competitions


FA Cup

Winners (2): 1938–39, 2007–08
Runners-up (3): 1928–29, 1933–34, 2009–10

FA Community Shield

Winners (1): 1949 (shared)
Runners-up (1): 2008

EFL Cup
Winners (0):
Runners-up (0):
Best: Quarter-Finals 1993-94, 2004-05, 2009-10

EFL Trophy

Winners (1): 2018–19
Runners-up (1): 2019–20

Hampshire Senior Cup

Winners (4): 1903, 1913, 1952, 1987
Runners-up (4): 1900, 1904, 1905, 1959



The Manager – Danny Cowley








Head to Head







Match Referee – Paul Evans



IPSWICH TOWN 1 PORTSMOUTH 0

A comprehensive preview, not only that the write-up could be more entertaining than the game itself. Don't take the voting option in games of this nature, seems a waste of choice when you can put it towards something substantial. Walton should be dropped / rested for this type of event and expecting Vaclav to feature here. That he will is no 100 per cent guarantee.

All right the nature of this 'tournament' is not far above immaterial and no sleep will be lost with an elimination but you view it as we're going for an automatic promotion and the door to FA Cup Third Round is just about ours for the taking. Old adage more competition you're involved in being good for morale may just mean something.

That's a strong side we've got out tonight, clearly taking it very seriously

Happy with the line up, wonder which of Humpreys or Camara are playing as a 10?

Have Pompy made many changes?

I think Pompey have made 8 changes from the team that played Derby on Friday night. Mingi, Dale in midfield and striker Scarlett are the three who kept their places.

The Harness injury does not look good in afraid.

Cabanas Blue wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:18 pm

The Harness injury does not look good in afraid.

Let’s hope it’s the only one we get tonight, if certainly didn’t look good.

That was nasty tackle on Keogh too.

We do seem to make hard work of scoring especially that chance just missed by Camara.

0-1, an Edmundsen slip?

That's the second bad mistake from Edmundson but this one cost us.

Another Woolfie c*ck up after the ball given away by Edmundson

Edmundson?

Town have been totally dominant and guess who fucks up. Edmundson. Should not be shocked really.

Cabanas Blue wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:34 pm

That's the second bad mistake from Edmundson but this one cost us.

I always thought he would be our Mr Reliable when he signed and eventually made his debut. It seems I was wrong, sadly.

Town had good shout for penalty for hand ball but of course waved away

Lots of passing about with little impact,after they scored fell apart a bit, Harness injury is a blow,Jackson needs to score or we are out of this.

Edmundson and Haldky are bloody liabilities in my opinion. I know it’s not our normal 1st eleven but we’re pants tonight . We won’t win this . How many shots in target have we even had? Our Pretty over passing game isn’t cutting it is it .

AzzurroMark wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:36 pm

Cabanas Blue wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:34 pm

That's the second bad mistake from Edmundson but this one cost us.

I always thought he would be our Mr Reliable when he signed and eventually made his debut. It seems I was wrong, sadly.

There’s a mistake nearly every game in either Edmundson or Woolfie . Burgess is a proper defender .

WHY do we never stick a man on the opposition GK? He had a free collect of that corner. We never mark the keeper !

Comedy of errors very disappointing

How p*ss poor has this been. Could have watched France v Aussies for nowt. Not sure I can face Buxton on Sunday.

Holy sh*t it’s 0-2 now.

I just hope we don’t have to rely on too many of these boys later in the season.

Very poor serving half. Portsmouth got everyone behind the ball and we were so slow. No imagination. No with until Burns came on which restricted our options

If that c*ck Cowley says his team deserved to win he is a bigger c*ck than I thought he was. Town need to learn how to shoot instead of trying to score the perfect goal.

Harness getting injured was a turning point, Jackson for me has never been the answer. Disappointing evening.

How many more times are we going to have to listen to “ Town punished by lack of clinical finishing”

Even with Messi in the line up,we would of still lost that.

Plymouth took care of Charlton after being a goal down. I don’t really care about this competition, but I do care about us showing inconsistency. Now Harness is probably done for a while. It makes it even more important to strengthen in January. It’s not KMs fault. We’re lucky to have him. Players have to perform and if they don’t they need to be replaced. In Ashton I trust, and I hope his words are true. The engine needs some work.

We always seem to get a lot of injuries but which are so bad that players are out for months as opposed to just 2 or 3weeks.