Eastleigh 0-1 Portsmouth
EASTLEIGH V PORTSMOUTH
WEDNESAY 18th JULY 2007
Pre-Season Friendly
Following Saturday's friendly packed with goals galore against Southampton, tonight the Spitfires welcomed fellow South Coast side Portsmouth, sporting several of their top Premiership stars.
Despite, Harry Redknapp's side playing just last night against local side, Havant & Waterlooville, the likes of Sol Campbell, Pedro Mendes, Niko Krancjar amongst others, and new signings Sunny Muntari and former Saint, Martin Cranie , were all on show this evening at the Silverlake Stadium.
For Eastleigh, Andy Harris was fielded as a centre half due to the current injuries to Chris Collins and Karim El-Salahi who is just coming back, meanwhile Warren Ryan reverted to left back at Ian Oliver's expense. The only other change from the weekend's pre-season encounter with Southampton, saw former Welling United winger Ellis Green in the starting line up.
Pompey's threat was there for all to see, from the first whistle. Merely seconds into the game, Benjani literally walked into the penalty area but as the forward bore down on goal, Ellis Green came to the rescue to avert the danger and scramble away for an early corner.
Still inside the opening stages, and Eastleigh looked to have no fear in taking on a very strong defensive unit with both wingers, Damian Scannell on the left and Green on the right - looking lively with constant probing and positive running, causing more than their fair share of problems.
Benjani proved to be the real test as far as the hosts were concerned, Rob Marshall finding this out the hard way as the Zimbabwean handful, flicked the ball over his marker before Danny Smith could intervene to concede the corner.
The goal threat continued, as James Pullen's wayward goal kick went completely wrong landing on a plate for Benjani once more, who had a golden opportunity to punish the mistake. However, trying to do too much by taking the ball wide, gave Eastleigh the opportunity to recover, and clear their lines.
Back at the other end of the park, for a brief moment - and Scannell was working his magic once more. Nutmegging the former Arsenal fullback Lauren, Eastleigh's wing sensation, delivered a telling cross, only for the Portsmouth keeper Azmir Berkovic to claim just ahead of an Eastleigh player waiting in the middle.
Cheekily, Eastleigh's first summer signing this campaign, Scannell tried his luck with Lauren further, in quick succession and again came out on top to make somewhat of a fool of his marker. Having been turned inside out on this occasion, Lauren recklessly turned on his heels before hacking Scannell to the ground just outside the area on the left hand side.
From this decent position however, Steve Watts scuffed his shot straight into the wall.
On 17 minutes, Portsmouth turned on the style with Pedro Mendes' audacious flick with the outside of his right boot, falling cleverly into the path of Krancjar inside the Eastleigh penalty area. But the Portsmouth man failed to take advantage, only finding the side netting.
Andy Forbes came closest for Eastleigh just three minutes later. Scannell was at the heart of it with neat footwork down the left before hooking into the centre where the emerging Forbes latched on to the pull back, hitting the target, and producing a smart save from Berkovic who had to change direction to keep it out.
The pressure was building now as the visitors' class shone through with Mendes and Krancjar displaying their flair, with flicks and tricks that Eastleigh could only admire.
Despite the talent and intricate one touch passing moves from Portsmouth, there was still to be no way through as the Spitfires stood firm and dealt with what was thrown at them.
It became evident that for the first time in the game, Eastleigh's brave fight began to falter, with a few panic-stricken errors, which in turn led to the opening goal of the game.
Rob Marshall, who had been faultless up until this point, opted to play the ball back into the danger area instead of clearing for a throw - under pressure, thus allowing Benjani to pick a telling pass. The ball sat up for Mendes, who struck on the volley with his left foot, flying just inches wide of the mark. This the closest the game had come to a goal.
Moments after the half hour mark, the deadlock was broken. Muntari played the ball through the Eastleigh defence and past Warren Ryan, who failed to cut out a relatively ordinary ball leading to the ominous opening goal for Portsmouth.
Martin Cranie squared the ball unselfishly into the centre, where BENJANI turned the ball home from within the six yard box, squeezing the ball past Pullen to find the net.
As if this wasn't bad enough for Ryan, another simple pass, this time from Krancjar, barely 60 seconds after the goal, again slipped the attentions of the Eastleigh full back. The sloppy defending presented Cranie with a one on one opportunity in front of goal, from which Pullen somehow kept out with an excellent stop.
A rare moment of Eastleigh in possession saw an opportunist run from Andy Forbes, who kept running, starting from inside his own half, before hitting a dipping effort as he neared goal. Deserving better, Forbes' determined run and shot was comfortably dealt with by the keeper.
Eight minutes before the break, Portsmouth went in search of a second goal with a devastating attacking move, that saw Krancjar's powerful drive produce a top save out of Pullen diving low to his right.
In the very next attack, Muntari linked with the lively Benjani, who made a great run down the left flank before coming inside and sending the ball across the face of goal for Cranie, who fired narrowly over.
Having been out of the game for a large chunk of the first forty-five, it was in fact Eastleigh who had the finished the half the stronger side.
The very impressive Ellis Green made yet another positive run before flicking to Scannell on the overlap. Getting the better of Distin with a lovely piece of skill, Scannell's weak left-footed shot flew comfortably wide of the mark.
Watts then came close from a Chris Piper free kick before Eastleigh produced their best move of the game yet. Piper played a good ball into the danger area to find Forbes unmarked at the far post.
Meeting the delivery to perfection, with a crisp right foot effort, Eastleigh's top striker looked to have found the equaliser, but somehow Berkovic kept it out to keep his clean sheet in tact.
In the dieing stages of the half, Forbes showed great determination and energy to beat Sol Campbell, getting his shot away but to no avail, bringing the half to a close with Eastleigh on the up.
One thing that was not so positive for David Hughes' side, was the fact that James Pullen limped off as the players walked back down the tunnel and failed to return for the second half due to a thigh injury.
The second half was much the same in many respects, with Portsmouth clearly the stronger side, looking good in possession but failing to penetrate the steel in the Eastleigh back line, with Andy Harris leading by example in an unfamiliar role.
Not to say that Eastleigh were not equally impressive in terms of defending, bravery and commitment, and indeed having their fair share of attacks too.
Ellis Green produced the first real shot of the second period, that arrowed upwards, stinging the hands of keeper with a good effort on 54 minutes.
A player who had a quiet first half, Anthony Riviere, all of a sudden burst into life with a tremendous run from the centre of the park, playing the ball to Watts up the front and getting the return ball, before narrowly firing over with a very decent attempt.
It wasn't too long before Portsmouth came knocking and testing again, however.
Young Johnathan Pearce, who had replaced the injured Pullen at the break, pulled off a wonder save to deny Krancjar's pile driver. The ball came back out to Benjani who blasted the ball at goal in similar fashion with the rebound, but again Eastleigh somehow survived the quick fire double from point blank range.
A good, quarter of an hour remained when the next chance came, this time falling for Eastleigh. Pearce's kick up the field found Watts who headed on to Forbes. Forbes nodded back to Watts first time with a cushion header, before Steve's neat footwork and pass looked to find Phil Cousins in front of goal. The move eventually died down, but it was promising all the while.
Next up, Danny Smith struck the woodwork. His header crashing against the cross bar from Ellis Green's corner on the right. Try as they might, the equaliser just didn't want to come for Eastleigh though it was probably the least they deserved for their efforts.
A very welcome return to action for Karim El-Salahi following his close season operation, came about towards the end to give the popular, talented centre back a run out as Marshall made way.
Portsmouth saw the game out, enjoying another period of 'keep-ball' before the full time whistle brought the affairs for the evening to an end.
The Spitfires can take heart from this very gutsy performance, certainly showing that they are no push-overs. To limit a Premiership side who are gunning for European football to just the one goal is impressive to say the least.
Damien Scannell was awarded man of the match.
JAMIE MONTIGUE
WEDNESAY 18th JULY 2007
Pre-Season Friendly
Following Saturday's friendly packed with goals galore against Southampton, tonight the Spitfires welcomed fellow South Coast side Portsmouth, sporting several of their top Premiership stars.
Despite, Harry Redknapp's side playing just last night against local side, Havant & Waterlooville, the likes of Sol Campbell, Pedro Mendes, Niko Krancjar amongst others, and new signings Sunny Muntari and former Saint, Martin Cranie , were all on show this evening at the Silverlake Stadium.
For Eastleigh, Andy Harris was fielded as a centre half due to the current injuries to Chris Collins and Karim El-Salahi who is just coming back, meanwhile Warren Ryan reverted to left back at Ian Oliver's expense. The only other change from the weekend's pre-season encounter with Southampton, saw former Welling United winger Ellis Green in the starting line up.
Pompey's threat was there for all to see, from the first whistle. Merely seconds into the game, Benjani literally walked into the penalty area but as the forward bore down on goal, Ellis Green came to the rescue to avert the danger and scramble away for an early corner.
Still inside the opening stages, and Eastleigh looked to have no fear in taking on a very strong defensive unit with both wingers, Damian Scannell on the left and Green on the right - looking lively with constant probing and positive running, causing more than their fair share of problems.
Benjani proved to be the real test as far as the hosts were concerned, Rob Marshall finding this out the hard way as the Zimbabwean handful, flicked the ball over his marker before Danny Smith could intervene to concede the corner.
The goal threat continued, as James Pullen's wayward goal kick went completely wrong landing on a plate for Benjani once more, who had a golden opportunity to punish the mistake. However, trying to do too much by taking the ball wide, gave Eastleigh the opportunity to recover, and clear their lines.
Back at the other end of the park, for a brief moment - and Scannell was working his magic once more. Nutmegging the former Arsenal fullback Lauren, Eastleigh's wing sensation, delivered a telling cross, only for the Portsmouth keeper Azmir Berkovic to claim just ahead of an Eastleigh player waiting in the middle.
Cheekily, Eastleigh's first summer signing this campaign, Scannell tried his luck with Lauren further, in quick succession and again came out on top to make somewhat of a fool of his marker. Having been turned inside out on this occasion, Lauren recklessly turned on his heels before hacking Scannell to the ground just outside the area on the left hand side.
From this decent position however, Steve Watts scuffed his shot straight into the wall.
On 17 minutes, Portsmouth turned on the style with Pedro Mendes' audacious flick with the outside of his right boot, falling cleverly into the path of Krancjar inside the Eastleigh penalty area. But the Portsmouth man failed to take advantage, only finding the side netting.
Andy Forbes came closest for Eastleigh just three minutes later. Scannell was at the heart of it with neat footwork down the left before hooking into the centre where the emerging Forbes latched on to the pull back, hitting the target, and producing a smart save from Berkovic who had to change direction to keep it out.
The pressure was building now as the visitors' class shone through with Mendes and Krancjar displaying their flair, with flicks and tricks that Eastleigh could only admire.
Despite the talent and intricate one touch passing moves from Portsmouth, there was still to be no way through as the Spitfires stood firm and dealt with what was thrown at them.
It became evident that for the first time in the game, Eastleigh's brave fight began to falter, with a few panic-stricken errors, which in turn led to the opening goal of the game.
Rob Marshall, who had been faultless up until this point, opted to play the ball back into the danger area instead of clearing for a throw - under pressure, thus allowing Benjani to pick a telling pass. The ball sat up for Mendes, who struck on the volley with his left foot, flying just inches wide of the mark. This the closest the game had come to a goal.
Moments after the half hour mark, the deadlock was broken. Muntari played the ball through the Eastleigh defence and past Warren Ryan, who failed to cut out a relatively ordinary ball leading to the ominous opening goal for Portsmouth.
Martin Cranie squared the ball unselfishly into the centre, where BENJANI turned the ball home from within the six yard box, squeezing the ball past Pullen to find the net.
As if this wasn't bad enough for Ryan, another simple pass, this time from Krancjar, barely 60 seconds after the goal, again slipped the attentions of the Eastleigh full back. The sloppy defending presented Cranie with a one on one opportunity in front of goal, from which Pullen somehow kept out with an excellent stop.
A rare moment of Eastleigh in possession saw an opportunist run from Andy Forbes, who kept running, starting from inside his own half, before hitting a dipping effort as he neared goal. Deserving better, Forbes' determined run and shot was comfortably dealt with by the keeper.
Eight minutes before the break, Portsmouth went in search of a second goal with a devastating attacking move, that saw Krancjar's powerful drive produce a top save out of Pullen diving low to his right.
In the very next attack, Muntari linked with the lively Benjani, who made a great run down the left flank before coming inside and sending the ball across the face of goal for Cranie, who fired narrowly over.
Having been out of the game for a large chunk of the first forty-five, it was in fact Eastleigh who had the finished the half the stronger side.
The very impressive Ellis Green made yet another positive run before flicking to Scannell on the overlap. Getting the better of Distin with a lovely piece of skill, Scannell's weak left-footed shot flew comfortably wide of the mark.
Watts then came close from a Chris Piper free kick before Eastleigh produced their best move of the game yet. Piper played a good ball into the danger area to find Forbes unmarked at the far post.
Meeting the delivery to perfection, with a crisp right foot effort, Eastleigh's top striker looked to have found the equaliser, but somehow Berkovic kept it out to keep his clean sheet in tact.
In the dieing stages of the half, Forbes showed great determination and energy to beat Sol Campbell, getting his shot away but to no avail, bringing the half to a close with Eastleigh on the up.
One thing that was not so positive for David Hughes' side, was the fact that James Pullen limped off as the players walked back down the tunnel and failed to return for the second half due to a thigh injury.
HALF TIME: Eastleigh 0-1 Portsmouth
The second half was much the same in many respects, with Portsmouth clearly the stronger side, looking good in possession but failing to penetrate the steel in the Eastleigh back line, with Andy Harris leading by example in an unfamiliar role.
Not to say that Eastleigh were not equally impressive in terms of defending, bravery and commitment, and indeed having their fair share of attacks too.
Ellis Green produced the first real shot of the second period, that arrowed upwards, stinging the hands of keeper with a good effort on 54 minutes.
A player who had a quiet first half, Anthony Riviere, all of a sudden burst into life with a tremendous run from the centre of the park, playing the ball to Watts up the front and getting the return ball, before narrowly firing over with a very decent attempt.
It wasn't too long before Portsmouth came knocking and testing again, however.
Young Johnathan Pearce, who had replaced the injured Pullen at the break, pulled off a wonder save to deny Krancjar's pile driver. The ball came back out to Benjani who blasted the ball at goal in similar fashion with the rebound, but again Eastleigh somehow survived the quick fire double from point blank range.
A good, quarter of an hour remained when the next chance came, this time falling for Eastleigh. Pearce's kick up the field found Watts who headed on to Forbes. Forbes nodded back to Watts first time with a cushion header, before Steve's neat footwork and pass looked to find Phil Cousins in front of goal. The move eventually died down, but it was promising all the while.
Next up, Danny Smith struck the woodwork. His header crashing against the cross bar from Ellis Green's corner on the right. Try as they might, the equaliser just didn't want to come for Eastleigh though it was probably the least they deserved for their efforts.
A very welcome return to action for Karim El-Salahi following his close season operation, came about towards the end to give the popular, talented centre back a run out as Marshall made way.
Portsmouth saw the game out, enjoying another period of 'keep-ball' before the full time whistle brought the affairs for the evening to an end.
The Spitfires can take heart from this very gutsy performance, certainly showing that they are no push-overs. To limit a Premiership side who are gunning for European football to just the one goal is impressive to say the least.
Damien Scannell was awarded man of the match.
FULL TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Portsmouth
JAMIE MONTIGUE
Comments
Post a Comment