Mousinho’s half-time talk sparks up Pompey
JOHN Mousinho’s verbal volley at the interval hit its target for Portsmouth as Paddy Lane settled this top against bottom, third-tier clash against Carlisle at Brunton Park.
Boss Mousinho didn’t like what he saw during the first half but his strong words provoked the desired response after the break.
Lane netted his tenth goal of the campaign – his third in two games – after 62 minutes to stretch Pompey’s lead at the summit of League One.
“We had a pop at half time,”confirmed Mousinho. “We knew if we had more quality and took care of the things we needed to take care of we would go on and win the game.
“The performance for large parts was really positive apart from the start. We started like a side weary from the travel.
“But I am not giving the lads that excuse because we do things well enough for them to be at it from the first whistle.
“We dominated possession without creating a huge amount. Carlisle were decent in the first half and had a go.”
Lane was indebted to substitute Abu Kamara’s surging run and incisive through-ball minutes after coming off the bench.
Portsmouth’s victory completed a league double over Paul Simpson’s side and condemned their hosts to a sixth successive defeat.
It is Carlisle’s worst run in the league for more than two decades while United also set an unwanted club record of 25 games without a clean sheet.
The 46-point gulf between the teams wasn’t, however, always evident.
Portsmouth weren’t at their best, notably in the first half when Carlisle’s Jordan Lane went close several times. Tom Lowery almost broke the stalemate for Pompey, roared on by 1,848 fans, only to hit a post after 34 minutes, leaving Lane to finally settle the contest.
Despite his Carlisle side’s position in the league, manager Paul Simpson isn’t throwing in the towel yet.
“There is a definite disappointment we didn’t get anything out of the game,” he said.
“They know they did a lot of good things but unfortunately the good things counted for nothing.
“There are still plenty of games to go and people may think I am clutching at straws saying that. We have to finish this season much stronger than we have been so far.”