Waddock draws line on ‘worst season’
PORTSMOUTH caretaker boss Gary Waddock says the future is bright at Pompey, despite ending their worst ever season with a draw at home to York.
Portsmouth took an 83rd-minute lead and had looked to have pulled off a deserved victory when Matt Tubbs placed his low drive into the bottom corner.
But just two minutes later the home defence switched off to allow Bradley Halliday to gorgeously curl his shot past Paul Jones to condemn Pompey to their worst Football League season – two points and three positions worse than last term.
Waddock placed his faith in five academy graduates – Jed Wallace, Adam Webster, Ben Close, Dan Butler and Conor Chaplin – before bringing a sixth, Bradley Tarbuck, on as a second-half sub.
The former Wycombe boss said:“You look at their age and you think ‘I’m not sure’, but if you take their ages out of it, you think that they are good players.
“If they are good enough I am all for playing them. Injuries have opened the door for them to get first-team opportunities and they have taken their chances.
“There are positives to take but there are frustrations at the same time.
“We have to draw a line after this season and look towards the future, and hopefully it will be a bright future.”
Minstermen defender Keith Lowe crashed an overhead kick onto the bar after Pompey failed to clear a fourth-minute free-kick.
Midfielder Wallace, who is being watched by Championship clubs ahead of a potential summer move, banged a back-post drive onto the inside of the right post.
Tubbs walloped the upright for a second time soon after, as the Minstermen’s goal lived a charmed life.
Goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik, on loan from Peterborough, stood tall to block out Adam Webster, when the centre-back fired a shot from inside the sixyard box.
But Tubbs and Middlesbrough loanee Halliday took turns to celebrate one last goal for the season to end miserable lower mid-table seasons for both clubs.
This time last season York were preparing for the play-offs, this time round their campaign has petered towards its conclusion.
And manager Russ Wilcox is already on the lookout for summer signings.
He said:“We will have a look at every position before next season and see what is required.
“We have a pretty strong spine to the team but we could improve the wide areas and the top end of the pitch – because we haven’t scored enough goals.”