Portsmouth Football Club News

Pompey Reserves 2 Chelsea Reserves 5 Goals from Danijel Subotic and Gautier Mahoto saw Pompey fight back from two-goals down, but Luke Wilkinson’s red card gave Chelsea the chance to take all three points at Westleigh Park. Guy Whittingham named a youthful side to face the Londoners - Angelos Basinas, Jamie Ashdown, Joel Ward and Mahoto were the only players with any first-team experience. The visitors who took an early lead when Jamie Ashdown came off his line to claim a cross, only to miss the ball completely and leave Adam Phillip with a simple finish. It was hard to identify the Chelsea players, who were wearing orange bibs over their shirts to avoid a clash with the referee’s black top. Wilkinson earned himself a yellow card for tugging one of those bibs on the edge of the Blues box. The centre-back was not punished further, however, as the resulting free-kick was blasted straight into the wall. Phillip came close to adding a second goal on 22 minutes, just failing to connect with Ben Gordon’s dangerous cross from the left. Instead it was his strike-partner Fabio Borini who doubled Chelsea’s advantage four minutes later, rifling a low shot into the bottom corner. But Pompey pulled a goal back on 30 minutes. Paris Cowan-Hall bulldozed his way past several defenders before finding SUBOTIC, who steered the ball home. A quick break presented the visitors with an opportunity to restore their two-goal lead but Borini blazed the ball high over the bar. Gael Kakuta then forced Ashdown to make a fine save with a thunderous shot from distance just before the interval. Half Time: Pompey 1 Chelsea 2 A touch of flair from Mahoto brought smiles to a crowd sheltering from the rain early in the second half. The midfielder found himself surrounded by four Chelsea players wide on the left but he somehow skipped into space to deliver a cross that was headed clear. Unfortunately he was not quite so impressive minutes later, over-hitting a cross as Subotic, Cowan-Hall and Eugen Bopp waited in the box. He more than made up for that on 61 minutes, however. James Hurst delivered a fine cross from the right that was flicked on by Cowan-Hall for MAHOTO to assuredly guide into the net. But the Blues had to play the last 25 minutes with just 10 men. Wilkinson received his marching orders from referee Warren Atkin after receiving a second booking following a late challenge on Kakuta. Chelsea almost capitalised immediately on their numerical advantage. Borini’s powerful shot rattled off the crossbar, before Michael Woods’ follow-up was spectacularly saved by Ashdown. But they did go back ahead from the resulting corner, with Borini finding space in the box to head past a helpless Ashdown. Borini was inches away from completing his hat-trick on 75 minutes. The striker let fly with a stunning strike from 35 yards that cannoned off the crossbar. Chelsea were well on top now and Phillip added their fourth with a low shot from the edge of the box after a neat move had opened up the Blues back-line. They had chances to extend their lead further but a mixture of last-gasp defending and good keeping from Ashdown was keeping them at bay. But Phillip was able to claim his hat-trick in stoppage time, firing into an empty net after Ashdown had collided with Dan Bennett. Pompey: Ashdown; Hurst (Gregory 71), Wilkinson, Ward (c), Sowah; Basinas (Bennett 68), Bopp; Cowan-Hall, Mahoto, Nlundulu; Subotic (du Chattelier 77) Goals: Subotic 30, Mahoto 61 Sent off: Wilkinson (second bookable offence) Subs not used: O’Brien, Stockford Chelsea: Taylor; Ahamed, Hutchinson, Gordon, Strickland; Clifford, Woods (c), Ofori-Twumasi (Clifford 38), Kakuta; Borini, Phillip Goals: Phillip 3, 78, 90, Borini 27, 68 Subs not used: Sebek, Hayden, Philliskirk, Lalkovic Referee: Warren Atkin Attendance: 292

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