Pompey couldn't secure thewin that Paul Cook had said he'd wanted at Havant, but no-one will be reading too much into the 1-1 draw in their pre-season opener as the Blues used 24 different players.
It was a useful exercise - up to a point - as Cook, his staff and a decent number of fans got to see the squad plus a few trialists in match action for the first time.
Two of the new signings - Adam Barton (groin) and Adam McGurk (thigh) - have minor injuries and were left out but triallists Connor Randall, Gareth Evans, Ben Davies and Theo Robinson were all given time on the pitch.
Havant went ahead midway through the first half as Adrian Clifton headed home Ben Swallow’s free-kick.
Cook brought on ten substitutes after the break, with Christian Burgess the only player to start both halves.
Gary Roberts went close to an equaliser but Michael Doyle soon pulled Pompey level when he shot home from 18 yards after a corner was played to him by Kyle Bennett.
Doyle and Bennett went close to putting Pompey ahead, as did Gary Roberts, but the rash of changes by both sides meant the game slipped to the usual disjointed spectacle these pre-season games can so easily become.
Pompey: Poke (Jones 46); Randall (Davies 46), P.Robinson (c) (Webster 46), Burgess (Nilsen 77), Haunstrup (Stevens 46); Evans (Chaplin 46 (Tollitt 86)), Atangana (Doyle 46), Hollands (Close 46), Naismith (Bennett 46); Stockley (Roberts 46), Tubbs (T.Robinson 46 (Hassan 86)).
Pompey's next games are at Bognor on Friday and Gosport on Saturday.
| Advertisement |
|
|
Click here to sign up for an account and reserve your username! You can then post on the Forum and add your comments to articles