The ACN Match Review – Portsmouth (a) | OneFootball

How did we play?

After blitzing the first 15 minutes, we did a decent job of retaining control, with Darling, Medic and Big Vlad blocking, heading, punching and booting out anything Portsmouth had to throw at us. Then Sargent went off in the 75th minute and everyone suddenly looked very, very tired. With no one to hold it up (I like Kvistgaarden, but he was never going to win any headers off the numerous long balls booted up to him) Portsmouth came at us again and again and we somehow managed to keep them down to one goal.

What was the best bit of the game?

The wild celebrations after scoring off a very un-Norwich-esque long throw to go 2-0 up inside 14 minutes at A Tough Place To Go. Absolutely not how I was expecting the afternoon to pan out but in a very good way.

What was the worst bit of the game?

The TEN minutes of injury time were utterly agonising.

What was the atmosphere like?

Helped by the stand’s excellent acoustics, the away end was rocking for 100 minutes. The home fans had their moments in the closing stages but were mostly kept quiet. Papa Diallo seems to have about five different chants already, but my favourite was on the concourse at half time: “Wake me up before you go-go, who needs Borja when you’ve got Diallo?”

Hero of the match

Big Vlad saved a penalty, made another stop from point-blank range, came for and claimed every cross, beat the badge on his chest and said it was a game he would remember forever. My hero.

Summary in Five Words

I’m feeling Vlad all over.