John Marquis: You could see Portsmouth were off the pace in Stevenage win
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The Blues bundled past the side who finished bottom of League Two via a penalty shootout, after it finished 3-3 in 90 minutes.
Pompey were all over the place at the back and Marquis acknowledged they were below par in the first half.
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Hide AdBut the striker stated his side were confident Boro would tire.
He said: ‘Even though it’s a cup game it’s important to get the first win.
‘It took us 25 minutes to get going and you could see it was our first game for a bit of time.
‘They had a lot of energy and were probably looking forward to playing against Portsmouth, as most teams are when they play us.
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Hide Ad‘We knew they would tire. They’ve not had a competitive game for six months but they were good. They moved the ball well and had high energy.
‘They tired in the second half but they gave us a good game, as they showed by taking us to penalties.’