Pompey striker tops Football League's match-winning chart

Brett Pitman enjoyed a superb maiden season at Pompey.
Brett Pitman. Picture: Joe PeplerBrett Pitman. Picture: Joe Pepler
Brett Pitman. Picture: Joe Pepler

The striker netted 25 goals in all competitions, becoming the first player since Svetoslav Todorov in the 2002-03 campaign to break the 20-goal barrier.

And if it wasn’t for Pitman’s heroics, the Blues would have finished closer to the League One drop zone than the play-offs.

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Throughout this season, the former AFC Bournemouth marksman netted six match-winning league goals – the joint-highest in the Football League, along with Accrington’s Billy Kee.

The 30-year-old bagged more crucial strikes than Spurs and England striker Harry Kane, Norwich midfielder James Maddison, Shrewsbury’s Stefan Payne, Uche Ikpeazu from Cambridge United, former Blues loanee Marc McNulty – now at Coventry – and Grimsby’s Mitch Rose (all five).

It total, Pitman grabbed Kenny Jackett’s men 18 points.

Take away his strikes and Pompey would have finished on 48 points – which would have seen them relegated from the division.

The first match-winning performance Pitman delivered was the Blues’ curtain-raiser against Rochdale, with the striker bagging a double in the 2-0 win.

Brett Pitman. Picture: Joe PeplerBrett Pitman. Picture: Joe Pepler
Brett Pitman. Picture: Joe Pepler
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The Jersey-born talent then delivered Jackett’s troops three points at Blackpool in on November 11.

In a thrilling second half at Bloomfield Road, Pitman netted a stoppage-time equaliser to clinch a 3-2 victory.

A week later, his second-half header clinched the Blues a 1-0 success over Southend at Fratton Park.

Pitman’s penalty against AFC Wimbledon yielded Jackett’s troops a 2-1 home win on Boxing Day, while his double at Oldham on March 17 saw the Blues return to the south coast with maximum points.

On the final day of the season, the ex-Ipswich man struck his eighth double of the campaign to seal Pompey a 2-0 success against Peterborough.