FAN’S VIEW 22/23 – No.47 – PORTSMOUTH AT HOME

OXFORD UNITED 1 PORTSMOUTH 1

How’s this possible? We’ve now not won in 16 games. We’ve scored one goal from open play during the six games Liam Manning has been in charge and yet I left the Kassam at full-time feeling absolutely elated.

It doesn’t make sense but often supporting a football team to your very core doesn’t.

I’d definitely have felt very different if we’d had the lead then let it slip. I’d definitely have felt different if the other teams at the bottom scrapping for survival that played on the night had not all been beaten. Then my outrage at our zero out of ten mark for finishing other than from set pieces would have known no bounds.

When we went behind in the 26^th minute that put us “as it stood” in the bottom four. Cambridge were drawing, as were MK Dons and Port Vale. Accrington though were losing.

There was dramatically quite a turnaround in the next few minutes in our favour. With 33 minutes on the clock Wycombe scored at Cambridge. Four minutes later we equalised. By half time Cambridge were two down, as were Accrington. Vale though, who I like to think could still be sucked into the mire, went a goal up at Ipswich in added time. With the second half not long underway Ipswich equalised then close to the end took the lead. With an hour gone Charlton went ahead against MK Dons. Both Cambridge and Accrington pulled a goal back.  When the final whistle went in Oxfordshire none of the other results had FT against them. At that latest of stages each of our rivals was only one goal behind but as “it only takes a second to score a goal” there were many Oxford fans staring nervously into their phones awaiting confirmation that it had been a rather pleasing evening results wise. That was bad enough but just imagine how high the level of tension could go as the few remaining fixtures become even fewer.

In all my years – and we’re talking huge numbers here – of watching OUFC I cannot recall us being this bad at putting the ball in the back of the net.  Putting any debate about Matty Taylor to one side, we’ve known for a long time that we have not got a natural striker / finisher in our ranks. Nevertheless you’d expect others who have scored a few in the past to still be getting one or two now and again – like a bowler at cricket adding a few runs as a tail ender.  Even by the law of averages one of our not technically well struck efforts should somehow find its way in shouldn’t it?

This time it wasn’t shooting from distance with not even a cat in hell’s chance of scoring or banging the ball at a marker a few inches away. These were proper chances we’d created that we squandered. It wasn’t just one player that was at it, there were lots of them.

Not for the first time I’m going to fall back on quotes from the iFollow commentator, a neutral.

In the first half after a strong run by Marcus McGuane our young 18 year old forward swung round and put the ball wide. “A big chance for Oxford. Gatlin O’Donkor surely must hit the target.”

In the second half O’Donkor headed wide a superb ball into the box from Sam Long. “He steers his header wide. He has to score. These are big opportunities.”

“Oxford have had so many good opportunities. Big chances to win the game. They’ve not taken those chances”.

“A hugely frustrating night for Oxford United”.

“Lacking clinical quality in the final third”

“Oxford are wasteful”.

If we’d put just one of those many chances away, all the misses and hopelessness would have been forgotten. I really thought that moment was coming when the returning Billy Bodin was set up after a good passing move. He side-footed it over the bar.

Other than that we were very good. In most else there was little that could be criticised.

Before the game, in conversation I’d said our saving grace may be that when we do let a goal in we don’t fold and let in loads more, if any. We’re not a Leeds United – all over the place; clueless with no shape or understanding how to defend after they’ve been breached once.

Our goal difference is basically worth a fraction of a point when compared to the other strugglers. We’re on minus 11. Accrington -37, Morecambe -32, Cambridge -27, MK Dons -21, and Port vale -22.

So it has to be said that our defenders are doing a good job and now the midfielders and forwards are performing their defensive duties too. Against Pompey it was Marcus Browne running from one Portsmouth defender to another as they moved the ball to and fro in rather aimless fashion. The away crowd grew to dislike this. It was going nowhere football. They booed and at the end let their displeasure be known. I thought they were a poor side, one of the worst I’ve seen in a while. So all the more annoying that we didn’t beat them. No Mous magic but, like Manning, he could only work with what was there when he walked through the door at Fratton Park on 20 Jan with not much of the transfer window left.

If you’d asked me what the possession stats had been I’d have said with our second half dominance we would have clocked up at least 60% but no, it was the visitors who registered that figure.

It’s often not the case but we did start the game positively although it goes without saying that this front foot stuff isn’t very likely to bring us a goal. Which of course it didn’t.

To be fair to Portsmouth their goal was a very classy free-kick into the very top corner of Simon Eastwood’s goal. I doubt there are (m)any keepers around who would have kept it out. We gave that free-kick away after allowing Portsmouth to have a bit of freedom to play the ball around not too far from our box. That’s always a dangerous game to play.

Having gone behind in that way we learned our lesson, never let our heads drop and levelled eleven minutes later. A goal is a goal whether it is from a set piece or not and what a well-placed header it was from Long. The damage he does occasionally do in such situations is usually done at the far post when corners are taken from the left. After all he is the right back. It’s not as though Portsmouth don’t know how to defend. Since our ex-player took over they’ve kept nine clean sheets. Perhaps Long being closer to the near post confused them into not marking him.

Our no.2 had a good game as did Elliott Moore. I thought he was immense at times. Winning everything in the air and when danger wasn’t evident brought the ball down to ensure his team kept it. Ciaron Brown too and after a bit of a dodgy start, Stuart Findlay improved. So well done the back four. Other than the goal and a bit of a scramble in the second half Easty didn’t have a shot to save that I can remember.

Our next opponents won’t be as poor as the ones we faced on Tuesday. Barnsley are already assured of a play-off place and although it is a very long shot, won’t have totally given up making the top two.

It’s going to be emotional one way or another.

I’ll end by saying I’d be astonished if all the other results fall so kindly for us again this season.

It’s down to the team. They need to win a game of football sooner rather than later.

We have the foundation to do that. Only four teams have let in fewer away goals than us. We’ve kept clean sheets the last two times we played away and in the previous four only conceded one each time. Keep that up and scoring one will bring at least a point and if there were to be a miracle and we were to get two the three points would be ours.

So, 4-3 or 5-0 either way then at Oakwell. Funny old game. No-one really knows what’s around the corner and that’s what makes it interesting.

They weren’t happy