Harris joy at Pompey semi-final place

Nicke Kabamba and substitute Jamal Lowe each struck in the second half to claim a 2-0 triumph at Westleigh Park last night.

Both strikes were moments of stunning quality from the former Hampton & Richmond pair who arrived in January.

Now Pompey must wait to discover which of Reading, Swansea or Norwich they will face in the next round.

Almost 600 fans cheered on Mikey Harris’ side as their remarkable progress in the competition continues.

And the Academy under-18s coach was adamant victory was warranted.

Harris said: ‘They were two fantastic bits of quality from the Hampton boys again.

‘Nicke Kabamba continues his fantastic form in this competition and I’m getting bored of saying it. Not really!

‘I’m absolutely delighted for all the boys, they thoroughly deserved it, it was a very professional performance.

‘They showed work-rate and desire throughout – then a little bit of quality with the two goals.

‘It was a big moment in the first-half with Liam O’Brien making a penalty save, fair play to him for that after watching clips on them.

‘After that he didn’t have too much to do, we looked very, very comfortable.

‘We should have had a penalty ourselves when Nicke was clean through and the lad rugby-tackled him. But the referee gave it the other way. Then Conor went through and the linesman admitted there was contact – but added Conor knew what he was doing!

‘That’s all irrelevant now because we have managed to get through and must now try to get another win to reach the final.’