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Rams 2-2 Portsmouth
Rams 2-2 Portsmouth
Sunday, 12th Aug 2007 09:44

So here we are then; back in the big time and a tough test to start the season off at a blisteringly hot Pride Park.

The Rams 2-2 Portsmouth
Oakley 5, Todd 84; Benjani 27, Utaka 83

Pompey, as with any side managed by Harry Redknapp, featured plenty of continental flair coupled with a vastly experienced and powerful looking defence, marshalled by David James and Sol Campbell – a test of such magnitude that Steve Howard is unlikely to have faced before.

Billy Davies, absent from the touchline because of the FA's idiotic ban, included four of his new signings in the starting eleven as Claude Davis, Andy Griffin, Andy Todd and Rob Earnshaw made their bow for the club. Todd lined up in the unfamiliar holding role which hypothetically allowed Matt Oakley and Stephen Pearson to basically do what they wanted going forward.

 

 


Bywater

 

 

Mears

Moore

 

 

Davis

Griffin

Fagan

Todd

 

 

Oakley (c)

Pearson

 

Howard

 

 

Earnshaw

 

Portsmouth included some new faces of their own with Hreidarsson, Distin, Utaka, Muntari and old friend David Nugent getting the nod from Redknapp who has spent £23 million this summer in a bid to push the south coast club into European contention. Nugent arrived from Preston in a £6 million move, finally getting the promotion that Preston could not deliver; it's interesting to note that this time around, the striker's comments regarding his former manager have been a bit more respectful.

Now I consider myself the optimistic sort, sometimes ridiculously so, but I've been, and still continue to be, extremely concerned over this squad's ability to maintain its Premiership status past a single season; three minutes into this game however, those fears were eased ever-so-slightly as the Rams got off to the best possible start.

It was simple and not in keeping with the total football devastation that we'd all figured the country's top flight to be; a straightforward long ball was flicked on by Howard, finding Matt Oakley in a ludicrous amount of space given the ability of the opponents and he strode forward and lashed a shot hard and low to send Pride Park ecstatic. The finish was sublime and the flick on by Howard, who beat the highly regarded Slyvain Distin in the air, was excellent although questions must be asked of the Pompey backline and how they could allow the Rams' captain so much room to pick his spot.

Craig Fagan was having a fine old time of his own down the right wing and giving Herman Hreidarsson a torrid time with a series of surging runs that suggested that the glimpses of talent we saw from Fagan at the back end of last season were more than just a mirage.

The Rams were making all the early running and Andy Todd nearly got off to a dream start for his hometown club when a poor clearance from Mendes fell to the gritty stopper but as you would expect from a career defender, the shot was high, wide and not particularly handsome. There was another close call for the visitors as David James made a hash of Earnshaw's deflected cross; Oakley was on hand but Distin did just enough to get the ball clear.

At the other end there was little for the visiting supporters to cheer about; Pedro Mendes hit one of his drives that Bywater saved comfortable and on a swift break David Nugent could do nothing more than hit a tame shot wide from 20 yards when he should have done better.

However, this mattered little as on the half hour mark the game was level as the Rams, and in particular Stephen Bywater, shot themselves in the foot. Utaka broke well down the level and was allowed to exchange with Mendes under too little pressure, the ball broke to Benjani who shimmied away from Griffin before poking a weak shot that went straight through Bywater.

We cannot afford to make these sort of mistakes and we've come to expect better from Bywater, who made no more than two mistakes all of last season; the shot from Benjani was weak and should have been stopped – hopefully this wouldn't be a distraction to the Rams whose tremendous start to the season had been undermined in the worst possible way.

Fortunately, it appeared not to affect the Rams as they continued to play with the same sort of passion and desire that had seen them boss the majority of the play. Portsmouth certainly had the class but the Rams were more than making up for it by throwing every bit of energy they had into the game.

As time wore on it appeared that Davis and Mendes were getting a better foothold in midfield although the Rams' lead was so nearly restored just before the break; the lively Fagan used the overlap of the superb Tyrone Mears to create the space to put in an excellent cross for Howard whose header flicked onto the base of the post with James well-beaten; we could do with those going in but the signs were encouraging and as the half drew to a close the general feeling was that perhaps a side made up of organised determination could hold its own against more talented opponents.

Half time: Rams 1-1 Portsmouth

The second half started with the Rams immediately on the back foot and they had £3 million defender Claude Davis to thank for keeping the scores level as he twice cleared inside the box with Benjani lurking menacingly. Pompey had a good chance from a free kick after a marauding Sol Campbell was brought down by Howard but John Utaka's effort was never close to troubling Stephen Bywater.

Craig Fagan, quieter for much of the second half, had a glorious chance to put the Rams in front when great pressure fro the Rams forced Muntari to pass the ball straight into the path of the Derby wide man who burst forward seemingly alone with David James; the shot was hard and low but James was relatively comfortable and a superb opportunity was wasted.

The game was getting very stretched and had the intensity levels to challenge those at Wembley as neither side was prepared to back off and settle for a point. Portsmouth made their first change on 70 minutes when Nugent was replaced by the ever-entertaining Kanu to chants of “What a waste of money” from the Derby faithful; some have considered this sour grapes because we didn't sign him – fact is, we never went for him and we simply don't like him.

Matt Oakley went into the book for a deliberate handball and Sean Davis followed him for hacking down Craig Fagan in the centre circle. Ned Kelly used the break in play to replace the ineffective Earnshaw with Gary Teale; it wasn't Earnie's day today but I'm certainly not writing the man off; I think he's played no more than two games alongside Steve Howard so that's a partnership that still has a lot of developing to do – Teale meanwhile has a point to prove after being written off by the majority of the home supporters.

A surging Mears run saw the young fullback beat three players on his path to the penalty area and there were half-hearted claims for a penalty as Mendes came in with a challenge but the replays show the ball was one, and in much the same vain as Mears' tackles on Jason Koumas at Wembley.

Jay McEveley replaced new-boy Andy Griffin with ten minutes to play, the debutant still short of match fitness, and not two minutes later the game appeared lost. Distin's long free kick was powered down by Hreidarsson who won the aerial challenge with Jay all-too-easily and when the ball bounced over Andy Todd we knew we were in trouble; Utaka was on hand to sweep the ball past Bywater and for a moment it seemed our terrific performance was going to be for naught.

Fortunately it wasn't.

Stephen Pearson made another fine run forwards and after a bit of the olde pinball action in the box Oakley's cheeky flick found Teale who shimmied past Matt Taylor and delivered a wonderful dinked cross right onto the head of the flying Andy Todd who scored with a flourish, powering his header past James to give the Rams the point they thoroughly deserved.

Full time: Rams 2-2 Portsmouth


Daniel's Man of the Match: Tyrone Mears.


Derby County: Bywater 6; Mears 8; Moore 7; Davis 7; Griffin 6 (McEveley 5); Fagan 7; Oakley 8; Todd 8; Pearson 8; Howard 7; Earnshaw 5 (Teale 6).
Subs not used: Price, Jones, Macken.
Booked: Oakley.

Portsmouth: James; Lauren ; Distin; Campbell; Hreidarsson; Utaka; Davis; Mendes; Muntari (Taylor); Nugent (Kanu); Benjani (Pamarot).
Subs not used: Ashdown, Hughes.
Booked: Lauren, Davis.

Referee: M Dean (Wirrall).

Attendance: 32,176.


Portsmouth Club Fanzine


Next up: Manchester City (away).

Photo: Action Images



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