Toast Season 5 #5 - away record blown away!

Quite an eventful afternoon yesterday at Upton Park in a game with seven goals, six booking and two sendings off but sadly despite fighting all the way Pompey were to come away with nothing.

Boss Steve Cotterill bemoaned the refereeing decisions that led to the dismissal of Liam Lawrence and the penalty when Lansbury flicked the ball onto Jason Pearce's hand. He summed things up as 'I`m very pleased with the way we played but really disappointed with the result`.

The stats back up the manager but the red cards will come if the disciplinary record is not improved quickly and that will always lead to trouble and results not going your way.

Wearing their new third kit of red and black halves and red shorts Pompey took and early lead through a deflected Luke Varney shot but Matt Taylor replied within a minute from a deflected free kick. After the break another deflected goal from Henry Lansbury put the Hammers back in front only for Chuck Norris to equalise with a header which Benjani making sure it crossed the line.

Then came the sending off of Lawrence for two yellows and the penalty given against Pearce. Carlton Cole added a fourth before home sub Freddy Piquionne was also given an early bath. Greg Halford netted Pompey`s third from the spot in the seventh added minute after Tal Ben Haim had been hauled down.

Eventful, yes but these are games wee need to get something from if we are to settle safely in mid table from where we can begin to build for better things.

Been to all 72?

Is you like to visit other football league grounds then why not join the Club 72 and record those trips. To sign up folks go to npowerclub72.

Award

Pompey's work in the community has received more recognition as the club scooped a prize at the Southern Business Awards this week. Well done to all involved!

Down in Darset

Toast has always trawled the globe for Pompey related stories and this week the take you to a new destination, Bridport in West Dorset!

We have commented on Pompey running the series 'my first game` in the programme three years after we ran it on Toast. The first in the series featured Alan Kidson whose first game was a seven nil thrashing of Everton way back in 1949. Now of course Alan is not a Vital Pompey member but in a pile of papers I was trawling through on the train last week I came across the free paper in Weymouth.

Looking through the pages I was surprised to see a picture of Alan in his Pompey kit. Proudly showing the programme in which his story had been published he told the paper how he was now the match day announcer with Bridport Football Club.

9/11

Today of course marks the 10th anniversary of a very sad day in world history but for Pompey fans at least we can celebrate the fact that Len Phillips is 89 today. Len was thought by most that saw him play to be the best player to wear a Pompey shirt with his skill and vision. Involved in the D Day landings he was spotted by Jack Tinn playing for the Royal Marines.

In the season 1948/49 when Pompey were to win their first championship every time that Len scored Pompey won! The saddest fact was because of the quality of inside forwards England had he was to represent his country just three times and also got a serious injury at one national training session which ended his England career.

Happy birthday Len.

Loan reports

Lewis Stockford has joined non-league Salisbury City on a month-long loan and Chix will be watching his every move for VP!! Well he lives in Salisbury.

Correction

For those who have to keep their records of every Pompey game up to date we have one correction to give you. The attendance for the game at Hartlepool on18 Aug 1979 has long been listed as 9,098 but I thought that was wrong and have tracked down the official crowd as 3,110. Pompeyrama will soon be updated and to complete the stats Pompey won the game 3-0 with goals from Steve Bryant, John McLaughlin and Colin Garwood. Pompey ended the season promoted to Division Three (just).

On the weirder stats front did you know that between 29 April 1978 and 24 August 1993 (5,600 days) only three different goalkeepers played in League and Cup games for Pompey? Peter Mellor, Alan Knight and who else?

Egg chasers

Are you watching the Rugby World Cup? Caught a bit of the England game yesterday with a full English breakfast in the local pub (with coffee and Toast of course!).

Breakfast waas great but England were poor until the Argentinean defence parted like the Red Sea to let replacement Ben Youngs strolled over.

Efforts rewarded

We told you how the Wrexham fans had raised large sums of cash to save their club recently and they have been rewarded for their efforts with the club sitting on top of conference.

Born to wear the shirt

Chix in his excellent 'Chew the fat` this Thursday had us all thinking about Pompey players who were bon in the City or very close by. In other words those with Pompey in their blood!

It was surprising how many names members came up with - and as a Toast service we will be producing a list of all players since the war to be born in the city in a later edition - but Chix has now whittled it down to his final eleven plus subs bench. I know you will all argue with choice but this column will always publish YOUR choice and YOUR reasons if you let me have them.

Right, Chix's team is in a 4-2-4 formation -

GK Phil Figgins

RB Phil Gunter
CB Steve Foster
CB Reg Flewin
LB Keith Viney

MF Paul Wimbleton
MF Joel Ward

RW Peter Harris
CF Ray Hiron
CF Steve Claridge
LW Albert Mundy

Subs
Paul Hardyman
Peter Ellis
Ron Newman
Lee Bradbury
Ray Crawford

No goalkeeper on the bench as with other positions the choice is limited whereas others have too much choice. Chix has gone for a very youthful midfield to allow the scoring machine that was Peter Harris play a little further forward.

Quite a sprinkling of players with international honours including two full caps and other at B or U23/21 level.

Let's have your views either below or on Thursday when you can discuss/argue your points with the man himself.

Norse antics

Picked up this quote from John Arne Riise apologising to Norway coach Egil Olsen on behalf of the national team's players who, along with him, stayed out to celebrate last Friday's Euro 2012 qualifying win over Iceland.

'[There] was alcohol on the table. We had fun and unfortunately I forgot the time. I drink very, very seldom, perhaps two-three times a year' the after effects did not wear off quickly as they lost a crucial game to Denmark four days later. My sources do not tell me whether of not Erik was involved.

PUP

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