Gutsy Ronan Curtis puts aside personal heartbreak to star in Portsmouth victory at Fleetwood

The Blues triumphed 1-0 at Fleetwood this afternoon through Lee Brown’s 60th-minute goal.

Afterwards it emerged that Curtis featured for the full 90 minutes despite his partner, Maddie, suffering a miscarriage in the week.

It would have been the couple’s first child together.

However, Curtis wanted to fulfil his Pompey duties and insisted on joining the team travelling to Fleetwood on Friday for the League One opener.

And Cowley said he was proud of the Republic of Ireland international.

He told The News: ‘It has been a pretty tough week, quite a lot of adversity in the group.

‘Young Ronan, his partner Maddie had a miscarriage during the week and lost a baby, which is the saddest news and puts football in complete perspective.

‘I have spoken to Ronan, he is happy for me to share it and I wanted to. Firstly to send my love to Maddie and their families, but I also want to shout from the rooftops how proud we are of Ronan.

‘For him to play after what happened to him this week is incredible, to show his commitment to the club to the team and to the group.

‘We anticipated midweek that he wouldn’t play. They are people first, footballers second, so we are just going to give them as much support as we possibly can and send all of our love – and I know the people of Portsmouth will join me in doing that

‘He’s a great kid, he’s ambitious, he wants to play at the highest level he can. He has a good heart and we are really proud of him.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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