THAT’S A BEAUTY BY THE BEAST!
FORMER FA Cup winners Portsmouth were knocked out of this year’s competition – and Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth wanted the result shouted from the rooftops.
A looping header by giant striker Adebayo Akinfenwa in the 83rd minute was enough for the away side to put their name in the hat for second round.
And Ainsworth was delighted with the result, and his match winner.
He said: “Don’t underestimate what a victory this is. Portsmouth have got a hell of a squad.
“I am really, really pleased. The first half we looked solid, the shape was good, and we looked solid throughout. It was a fantastic performance.
“Adebayo was a constant menace all game, and him and Paul Hayes, Paris Cowan-Hall and Dominic Gape all led the line really well.
“I’m really, really pleased with the players, hopefully we can carry this into the league.
“I set a challenge for the boys that they could have Monday off if they were sat at home watching the draw with our name in it, and they will now get to do it.”
After a quiet start the game suddenly sparked into life in the 16th minute with Matt Bloomfield rattling the woodwork from an Akinfenwa flick on, and David Forde saving superbly from Paris Cowan-Hall.
However, the away side didn’t have to wait long for a goal. On 25 minutes, Michael Harriman curled in a free-kick from the left-hand side, sparking panic in the Pompey box with Forde’s attempted clearance bouncing off Akinfenwa to Cowan-Hall, who nodded home.
Wycombe nearly doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime. Joe Jacobson floated in a corner, which Akinfenwa should have scored but sent his free header wide.
But whatever Paul Cook said at half-time worked, with Pompey scoring two minutes after the break. Enda Stevens worked some space on the righthand side and whipped in a cross that Gareth Evans tucked home.
The game then became scrappy, and it wasn’t until the 64th minute when an Akinfenwa volley was saved by Forde that the game saw its next chance. On 76 minutes Akinfenwa drew a save out of Forde again following an attempted lob, but with the game petering out the Chairboys shocked Fratton Park by scoring in the 83rd minute.
The ball was lofted into the area and Akinfenwa held off Christian Burgess to send a looping header over Forde. Pompey could have equalised in the last minute of the game but a diving header from Stevens sailed wide. Pompey boss Paul Cook said: “It was a disappointing performance. We were the second best team on the pitch, we never got to grips with the game. “All in all, congratulations to Wycombe, they deserved the win and to go through, we wish them well.
“The league is always our priority and we haven’t got a choice in that now. If we play like we did here it’s going to be a long winter.”