As the season draws to its exciting climax and the chasing pack are bearing down on the Clarets' heels, three points on the south coast would have eased our growing worries. The time seemed right to play a team that had just lost its manager and sold their free scoring striker to the Premiership, but then things never work out that way, do they?
The signing of Gazza has certainly drawn attention to the Clarets' push for the Premier League play-offs, but two points from the last four games is hardly the form you would wish to end the season with. The impetus that followed the Ian Wright signing two seasons ago has failed to materialise, and Gazza unfortunately looks to be a pale imitation of his former majestic best. The six teams now battling for the last three play-off places have closed to within three points of each other, making the season’s end just that little bit too close for the average Claret fan (well me anyway!). We seem to have lost that winning instinct and have now managed to throw points away with poor goals conceded against Bradford and again here. Those four points lost would have made the season’s finale a little easier and not given those pacemakers such a major workout.
Yet again the Clarets' impressive away following gathered in the cramped open air seating at Pompey to witness two more points that were lost. A bit harsh, you might say, but the game was there for the taking if we had really wanted it. Burnley began the afternoon in a confident mood and took the game to their southern mid-table opponents. However, Harper had the first chance for Pompey, but shot wide from an offside position early on. NTG started well by punching clear another Pompey breakaway attack.
Then on 20 minutes Arthur was fouled in the centre circle and, with a bit of quick thinking by Alan Moore, the free kick was taken swiftly to put DJ through into the Pompey box. He cheekily checked inside Wilson, the full back, on the left hand side of the area, before curling an unstoppable shot past Beasant into the opposite corner. His fourth goal in five loan starts has made him a firm favourite amongst the supporters; his pace and awareness could make him a valuable asset if we can secure his services in the summer.
Burnley, now in the lead, then seemed to hand the ascendancy back to Pompey and Prosinecki. He then started to dictate the game from midfield, and was the start of all that was good for Pompey. He freely sprayed the ball around the field with the ease of an established former international veteran. One cross on 32 minutes was headed clear by Mitchell Thomas, who belied his age with another solid performance. Two minutes later a pass to Vincent and subsequent cross was cleared from Todorov’s feet by a quality tackle from Briscoe.
Burnley did have several chances as the half drew to a close, but Beasant saved Ian Moore’s shot with some ease and DJ hit his attempt over the bar. The half finished with two Pompey free kicks, both orchestrated by Prosinecki: the first, lifted into the box, scrambled clear, and the second, hit wide to Harper, whose cross was caught by NTG.
Portsmouth were quick out of the blocks in the second half and nearly caught the Clarets napping as Todorov shot wide when well placed. The Clarets looked to be hanging on from the start of the half and did not offer much of a serious threat to the Pompey goal. Grant was taken off on 52 minutes to be replaced by the veteran Armstrong, in an attempt to bolster the ineffective midfield and hold what we had. Todorov, the recent £750,000 signing from West Ham, seemed to offer the biggest threat to the Clarets and was on the end of some promising moves.
The game seemed to be drifting towards a Clarets win, so Harry Redknapp then brought on two local lads - Stefani Migliaranzi and Leo Biagini - to try and add impetus to the flagging game. Stan responded by removing Ian Moore and Paul Weller and sending on Gazza and Glen Little (how good does that sound!).
Portsmouth began to show signs of wanting something from this game, something that at the time could not by claimed by an uninspiring Burnley side. Their reward came on 75 minutes when a cross into the box caught NTG and the Burnley defence flat footed, and allowed Todorov to waltz round the static players and slot the ball home to equalise.
Although towards the end the Clarets created the better chances, with DJ heading wide from a Briscoe cross and Gazza shooting wide following a defensive error, the game was finished as a spectacle. The other results around us meant that we are still fourth, but with Norwich seventh and with three relatively easy games left (Grimsby home, Stockport home and Barnsley away) and Birmingham sixth on 68 points with a game in hand and three home games left, it could all come down to the last game of the season. This will mean an exciting finish to our play-off campaign that really should have been over - but with Stan’s confident words on Easter Monday we can do it!
Scorers: Johnson (20) / Todorov (75).
Crowd: 18,020.
Referee: Steve Tomlin of the lovely town of Lewes.
Play Up Burnley!