Barnard Silences Pompey Chimes

Bournemouth and Portsmouth slugged out an opening day draw in a steamy Fratton Park. A calamitous Jalal error had Pompey fans dreaming of a great start against the odds........but on loan Saints star Barnard was their pantomime villain with a late equaliser.

Groves rang the changes after the insipid defeat at Oxford. Arter, Tubbs and Zubar made way for debutants O'Kane, Barnard and Elphick respectively. It made little change though with Pompey, cheered on by a raucous large home support making all the running. Corner after corner rained in on Jalal but were well dealt with by the solid Addison and Elphick.

Bournemouth though had the best early chance when Thomas was played in by Barnard but his first time shot smacked back off the post when he should have buried it.

Thomas would have been rueing that miss when Portsmouth took the lead with a goal that Jalal will not want to watch back tonight. When MCCLEOD lined up a shot 30 yards out it should have caused no problem as it went hard and low straight at the keeper. To the shock of the 2800 away fans though it went through Jalal's legs as he got his dive horribly wrong and trickled over the line to make three quarters of the stadium explode.

Jalal was clearly shaken and moments later he dropped a Roger's cross at the feet of Mccleod but he fired over when it was easier to score. Portsmouth were fired up and Bournemouth could not keep the ball or muster any shape other than to play on the break with only Barnard looking lively out of the front six. There was a drastic lack of width and with Daniels and Francis pinned back by Pompey's flying wingers it was poor change for the travelling thousands. We deliberately condensed the game to play quick football but with Macdonald off the pace and Partington careless we got swamped - allowing Portsmouth to double up out wide. Strange that it took 70 minutes to spot.

Bournemouth rallyed before half time but once again the old weakness of finishing hampered their efforts. Thomas headed over at the far post from two yards - Macdonald fired over unopposed from 15 yards and Addison fired weakly at a defender on the line when he could have smashed it.

HT Portsmouth 1 Bournemouth 0

The second half started as the first half ended. Groves made no tactical or manpower changes and Portsmouth exploited us down the flanks as we tried to play through the middle with misplaced passing. Rogers fired wide with a golden opportunity to double the lead after one dreadful Partington back-pass and Mccleod fired over after a barnstorming run.

At the other end Thomas again missed a great headed chance from Francis's cross and O'Kane thumped a long range effort just wide but again it was all on the break and not the product of sustained football.

Eventually Groves made some changes and it paid off. Grabban arrived to give natural width on the right - O'Kane moving into the middle and Macdonald departing. Grabban then had an instant chance to be a hero but fired badly over with Pompey keeper Andersen stranded having beaten out Thomas's fierce drive. It was a golden opportunity and with Bournemouth now starting to find width and stretch Portsmouth's tired legs Grabban thumped another drive that was brilliantly tipped over by Andersen.

Arter then replaced Partington and Tubbs arrived for Thomas as Bournemouth threw the kitchen sink at it. Tubbs was first into the action missing a gilt edged header as Pugh's cross found him six yards out and it was beginning to look like the Cherries would never score. BARNARD had other ideas though. Barracked senseless throughout the match by unforgiving Portsmouth fans he produced the perfect answer as he rose to meet Francis's exquisite cross with a thumping header.

Portsmouth had a late rally but a tremendous Elphick block stopped Roger's in his tracks and Jalal saved brilliantly when Mcleod was clean through.

FT Portsmouth 1 Bournemouth 1

Jalal 5 - Nervy and costly. Kicking Ok.

Francis 7 - Main flank threat and great crossing. Solid at back.

Addison 7 - Dominant physical presence on the pitch.

Elphick 7 - Assured and comfortable some great tackles and blocks.

Daniels 6 - Quieter going forwards and some rushed distribution.

O'Kane 6 - Quiet on wing - looked great when restored to centre.

Partington 5 - Gave ball away too much and dominated by Howard.

Macdonald 5 - Stuttered before being removed - fully fit?

Pugh 6 - Kept drifting position and in and out of game.

Thomas 5 - Worked hard but finishing dreadful again

Barnard 8 - Industrious and goalscoring debut and my MOM.

Lee Barnard An optimistic view would be that if Jalal had made a routine save and we had taken our chances we would have won comfortably - expect this line from our management team.

In truth though this was not a great performance against a thrown together team. We seem to be in danger of being a team whose parts are better than the sum of their parts. Our management team have to take a long look at themselves. Today we lined up with a centre midfielder (O'Kane) out wide. He naturally drifted into the middle. Our other wide player (Pugh) comes in because he is playing on his wrong foot. This completely left us with no width going forwards and exposed defensively. It meant Barnard had to move wide so when the crosses came he was not in the box. Thomas was - but he is not a good attacker of crosses whereas Barnard is.

A 13 year old playing football manager could have worked this out so it was worrying that it took Macdonald to tire before we brought on width and restored O'Kane to the middle. The little Irish playmaker looked a different player in his natural position and having a winger and Barnard staying in the middle made us the draw.

For the majority of the game we played with no shape, poor set pieces and were generally second to most balls as the tempo was low. That's why I think the coaching team needs to have a big reassessment. It was the same at Oxford and the last ten games of last year. A narrow midfield only works if all of them are on their game and play at high tempo. We are not their yet and when it doesn't work its very congested and creates few chances. With Barnard in the team we have to get wide and keep the crosses streaming into him. With a right footed left winger who checks back and a playmaker on the other wing this will never happen.

Defensively we still look excellent and the bright spots for me other than Barnard were the assurance of Elphick and Addison and O'Kane's brief cameo at the end in his natural position.

We have some fantastic players (although the wage bill scares me to death) - we now need the coaching team to put them in the right positions and get them playing with passion and structure.

Report by Neil Dawson

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