You know what last night (by which, for those not reading this as promptly as they ought to have done, I mean Cambridge at home, August 16, 2022, FT 4-1) reminded me of, at least in places? Bolton at home, August 26, 2003, FT4-0 to be precise.

In particular I was put in mind of it when, during a frankly breath-taking second half, Marlon Pack had a shot from just inside his own half. Back on that similarly balmy 2003 night Amdy Faye tried the same trick. Both efforts, 19 years apart, drifted high or wide, or was it both? But I realised later it was not just these long-range attempts that bracketed the two occasions together in my brain.

This time, as was the case 19 years earlier, we had all traipsed along to Fratton on a Tuesday night hoping to see a win but not really knowing whether we'd see something memorable or miserable. Both times we were treated to a scintillating Blues display that yielded so much hope — and more than hope in fact: sheer anticipation and excitement for the season ahead.

In 2003 we were at a different level — Premier League level — and as it turned out, that first season in the Prem provided plenty of highs, even if we did not retain for long the top spot secured by that win over Bolton - in which, by the way, Nigel Quashie gave a Marlon Pack-esque display.

Come to 2022 and we are beginning our sixth straight season in League One, but thanks to what we've seen so far, we have done so with genuine hope that the run in the third tier might not have to stretch to seven years.

There is a powerful feelgood factor about the place at the moment. It was there for the opening home game but failure to break down Lincoln tempered it somewhat. But when Cambridge came to town, this exciting new team — new squad, I should say, because it's clearly not just about 11 players any longer — clicked beautifully and gave us something to be truly optimistic about.

I'm trying -really, really trying — not to get carried away. We know from bitter experience that when Pompey fans get ahead of themselves they usually get overtaken by reality and there's a cruel or forgettable ending to something that's started well.

And it is of course quite possible that Bristol Rovers this week, and Newport and Port Vale next week, will bring us crashing back down to earth. You have to keep that possibility in the back of your minds, I'm afraid.

But, and it's a big but, what a squad Danny and Nicky Cowley appear to have built. It comprises some key men from last season — the final three months of which, I will point out again, contained promotion form — and some additions who are better than those they have replaced.

The new goalie looks solid both as a shot-stopper and high-ball gatherer (although the increasing tendency for him and his defenders to pass it around in front of the opposition is still making me nervous and, as a Pompey fan, always will); the defence looks settled and commanding (and can still call upon Clark Robertson, Zak Swanson and Denver Hume if it needs to); and then, then... there's the midfield.

Pack could turn out to be the best signing of the Eisner era so far. He looks a class above most of what League One has to offer. I've already heard one or two suggest he could be as influential to this team as Paul Merson was the one of 2002-03. I think it's far too early for such claims but clearly he is going to be the lynchpin of this promotion bid.

Alongside him and around him, use whoever you like from Louis Thompson, Joe Morrell or Tom Lowery; then add two from Ronan Curtis, Michael Jacobs, Owen Dale and Reeco Hackett on the wings and /or behind the strikers; and pick two from Colby Bishop, Dane Scarlett and Joe Pigott up top - and you have an XI that will surely have more good days than bad days, and you're still left with a bench that — as we saw against Cambridge — can be used mid-game without weakening what's on the pitch. Sorry if I've forgotten any others who will also be champing at the bit to get in that side.

We are pretty much at the point where we have two very good players for each position, which of course means few are guaranteed their starting spot.

Bishop has hit the ground running and could easily top 20 goals for the season. Two or three of those other attackers look capable of getting 12 or 15, and maybe even one of Pack's 50-yard attempts will go in at some point.

The team looks strong and feels like it will be one that will entertain - and the crowd are responding to it. The atmosphere on Tuesday night was one of the best Fratton has witnessed in recent years even before the Blues recovered from being 1-0 down to make the game safe with a bit to spare.

The way the ground has been tarted up has helped, I think. It feels a little bit new, like when seats were added to the North Terrace in 1996 or when the new Fratton End was opened in 97, and fans are coming in decent numbers — numbers which will only keep creeping up once word spreads about the level of entertainment on offer.

My pre-season prediction was that Pompey would finish in the play-off zone. Four league games in, that's what I'm sticking with. It'll take us being 15 points clear in the top two in mid-March for me to revise that upwards, not wanting to be one to tempt fate.

In my weekly chat with TV and radio legend Tommy Boyd this afternoon for Pompeysound.com (and if you have not tuned into Pompeysound yet, please do when you get the chance — it's online and on DAB locally and smart speakers) he asked me for my highlight of the win over Cambridge.

I opted for the fourth goal — the Connor Ogilvie smash that finished off a swaggering spell of passing that had the crowd greeting every completed pass with 'ole' (the last time I can recall such a long spell like that actually ending in a goal was Gary Roberts' effort against the Cherries in the FA Cup in 2016). That strike, the last goal of the night as it turned out, was one of those hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck moment.

Had I had longer to think, I'd have mentioned Pack's halfway line shot and would also have picked out something else that was special — the ovation that three sides of the ground gave to Scarlett when he was subbed. It was remarkable.

He had not done anything particularly influential (though had run his socks off) before being subbed, yet the crowd entered into the spirit of the occasion and their hailing of the young striker, who must have high-fived more than 100 young fans on his walk round to the dugout, showed that there is a real bond developing between crowd and team — the sort of connection that has not been evident too often since promotion from League Two was achieved.

As things stand, the crowd know they could be about to witness a memorable season, and you sense that the players realise what could lie ahead too. So let's enjoy it while it lasts ... and even if Joey Barton and John Marquis come along on Saturday and burst this early-season bubble before it's had a chance to float up to a point where all at PO4 can marvel at it, know that there's plenty of time for another bubble to be formed.

PUP.

Photo: Action Images

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