Fans’ favourite Evans joins Taylor and Kanu in six of the best club

GARETH EVANS has drawn himself level with Kanu and Matt Taylor after netting in six successive Pompey seasons.

But he still has some way to go to match Alan McLoughlin’s remarkable feat.

Evans’ penalty in first-half stoppage time at Stevenage on Saturday provided Kenny Jackett’s men with a vital lifeline in the battle to avoid an abject Carabao Cup exit.

It ensured they headed in at the interval trailing 3-2 – subsequently overhauling that deficit to progress on penalties.

For Evans, that goal represented his 38th in 216 appearances since arriving in the summer of 2015.

The former triallist under Paul Cook has now netted in each of the last six Fratton Park campaigns as he continues to demonstrate his first-team worth to Kenny Jackett after he was handed a surprise start at Stevenage.

Kanu previously registered the goal-scoring achievement – nine years earlier.

In the August 2011 visit of Cardiff, the timeless striker appeared as a substitute and scored an 80th-minute leveller to claim a 1-1 draw.

What proved to be his last Blues goal would also mark netting in six-straight seasons, totalling 28 goals.

Kanu’s scoring affiliation with Pompey began on his debut against Blackburn in August 2006, when he netted twice.

It would have been a hat-trick had the second-half substitute not missed a penalty in the 3-0 Fratton Park victory.

During his six-season stay, Kanu scored in each, including the 2008 FA Cup, although tallied just three times in his final two campaigns.

Overlapping the Kanu era was Matt Taylor, who also netted in six campaigns in a row before sold to Bolton in January 2008.

The attacking left-back played 203 times, scoring on 29 occasions, with a season’s best haul arriving in 2006-07, when he struck nine times.

Topping Evans, Kanu and Taylor is Gary O’Neil, who registered in seven consecutive seasons from 2000-01 until 2006-07.

He was denied the opportunity to stretch that scoring streak after being sold to Middlesbrough on deadline day in August 2007. O’Neil, who hit 17 goals in his Pompey career, had made three appearances in 2007-08 at that stage.

However, in recent times, nobody has managed to catch Pompey Hall of Famer McLoughlin.

The Republic of Ireland international scored 68 times for the Blues – and remarkably in all nine of his seasons spent at Fratton Park.

The midfielder reached double figures on four occasions, before sold to Wigan in December 1999.

- NEIL ALLEN

Times Gareth Evans has struck in his 216 appearances since arriving in 2015