Pompey take win thanks to double strike for Bishop
HEAD coach Wade Elliott is confident that fortunes will change after his Cheltenham Town side were beaten 2-0 at home to Portsmouth after a goal in each half from Colby Bishop.
Bishop struck in the 30th minute after the unmarked Michael Morrison headed the ball back across the Robins’ penalty area, and he then stepped up to convert from the spot 10 minutes into the second half after a foul by Ryan Jackson.
Taylor Perry and Elliott Bonds shot narrowly wide towards the end of the first half but Josh Griffiths enjoyed a quiet afternoon back at the club he helped win the League Two title two seasons ago.
Sean Long headed George Lloyd’s cross wide at the far post and Alfie May forced Griffiths into a comfortable save right at the end as Portsmouth claimed their first league victory at Cheltenham at the fifth attempt.
“The message to the players is don’t get despondent, don’t let your chins hit the floor, all you have to do is keep delivering performances,” said Elliott.
“You can’t do anything about where the ball breaks or bounces, but scrap, fight, stay in games. We’ve had similar runs before and we are three games in.
“We have had similar runs where we know in this league we might go spells without wins. All you can do is concentrate on performances, stay in games and what we’ve done in the past is slowly turn it around.
“There has been a big turnaround on and off the pitch, but we only look 48 minutes at a time.
“I am not thinking eight or nine games and runs and what’s gone on.”
Elliott asked for a response after last week’s crushing 7-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Exeter – with only goalkeeper Luke Southwood and midfielder Bonds surviving from that starting side.
“The players had to show certain things after the other night. It’s a different group of players, but collectively they had to show fight, spirit and resolve and they delivered that,” said Elliott.
“They were pushing to the end in 34 or 35-degree heat. They left absolutely everything on the pitch, so in those terms I am happy with them.
I don’t think in terms of chances there was very much in the game. I don’t remember them really opening us up, or making many clear-cut chances.
“If you put yourself in their shoes, that’s a good performance because they have got in front from a set play and what they have got is good experience in the backline to be solid and not give a lot up.
“First goals are massive in the flow of the game and the momentum of the game.”
Elliott was not happy with the goals his side let in. On the first, he said: “We know (Connor) Ogilvie, the left-back, is going to be a first contact, so when you realise he is not going to be in the box, you probably need to switch on a little bit quicker that they are trying to work something.
“From their point of view it’ll be a very good goal and something they have spotted and exploited.
“From ours, it’s disappointing because if you take a set play and a penalty out of it, there wasn’t a lot in the game.
“I think that’s the first from a set play this year, so it is an area we knew we had to get better from last year. We conceded way too many last year.”
On the penalty, he added: “Jacko (Ryan Jackson) has dangled a leg and whether that’s lack of sharpness, the heat or whatever else, Jacko is a better defender than that.”
Striker Dan Nlundulu was booked early on and the Southampton loanee was getting abuse from Portsmouth fans, and Elliott also felt Pompey boss Danny Cowley was trying to get the player into more trouble.
There were cross words between the pair before a half-time hug, and Elliott said of the dispute: “They were trying to get Dan in trouble and I was defending Dan.
“A lot of it is theatre because he’s trying to put pressure on the referee and I am trying to defend my player.
“We’ve both been around the block long enough to know what’s going on there.
“That was obviously a concern at half-time because he plays on emotion and he’s an emotional character.
“If I was their two centre-halves with the experience they have got, I wouldn’t want to play Dan in a straight up game either.
“I’d have done what they did and tried anything they could to knock him off his game.
“He is a real threat and you saw that in the first half. That’s a big learning curve for him because teams will try different things to stop him and foul him, niggle him and play on his emotion. Second half he handled it well.”
Cheltenham: Southwood, Long, Taylor, Freestone, Jackson (Norton 84), Sercombe, Bonds (Adshead 68), Perry (Lloyd 78), Williams (Ferry 68), May, Nlundulu. Subs not used: Raglan, Brown, Macdonald.
Portsmouth: Griffiths, Rafferty, Morrison, Raggett, Ogilvie, Hackett-fairchild (Dale 67), Thompson (Lowery 70), Pack, Jacobs (Curtis 71), Scarlett (Pigott 67), Bishop (Mingi 87). Subs not used: Swanson, Oluwayemi.