'I would have taken any goal': Portsmouth fan basks in cherished moment after Nyewood Lane stunner

A Nyewood Lane moment for Harry Jewitt-White to savour – although he would gladly have accepted a scruffy tap-in.

On 38 minutes, with a Pompey XI trailing the Rocks in Wednesday evening’s friendly, Harvey Laidlaw swung in a deep cross from the left.

The delivery brilliantly picked out Jewitt-White’s far-post run, with the midfielder producing a controlled right-footed volley to level.

Left-back Laidlaw is a first-year scholar and the son of Joe, who captained the Blues to their 1979-80 promotion from Division Four under Frank Burrows.

While Jewitt-White is a former Oaklands Catholic School who claimed a treasured maiden goal in senior football in the 1-1 draw.

He told The News: ‘I would have taken any goal. The quality makes it better, but it didn’t matter how I scored it.

‘This is pre-season, yet it’s my first senior goal for the club, so means a lot to me.

‘Breaking the lines and timing runs is something I’ve been working on a lot with Nicky (Cowley). I wasn’t standing there waiting for it, I timed the run from the midfield.

‘Harvey got the ball wide and I know he’s pretty good at whipping set-pieces in, so I peeled off around the back, called for Dan Gifford to leave it and luckily he did.

‘With a volley, it’s just keeping your eye on it. I didn’t want to slice or overhit it over the bar, or perhaps strike it straight at the keeper, so instead I just kept it low. I side-footed it, a bit safe, but it came off.

‘To be fair, it was a good finish. Although I’ve scored better!

‘I’ve really enjoyed this pre-season, it has been my toughest but has been fantastic, and I’m definitely improving.

‘Being around the senior players all day, every day helps, you learn a lot from them, talking to them and watching them.’

Pompey have high hopes for Jewitt-White, who is presently a regular with Wales under-18s.

He scored three goals in 16 appearances for the Academy last season, while was handed a first-year professional deal in April.

He added: ‘I should have scored two against Bognor and was frustrated with that.

‘Their keeper messed it up and I was there waiting for it. I didn’t want to blaze it, so kept it low. It wasn’t the best finish and their player (Calvin Davies) blocked it on the line.

‘I should have smashed it!’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can support our local team of expert Pompey writers by subscribing here for all the latest news from Fratton Park for 9p a day, thanks to our 30%-off transfer window deal.