Modest Craig MacGillivray downplays late Portsmouth heroics at Oxford United

The Blues keeper had barely been challenged in Tuesday’s trip to in-form Oxford United.

Then, with Kenny Jackett’s men entering the 90th minute leading 1-0 through Harvey White’s goal, the Scot was asked to perform heroics.

During five minutes of time added on, MacGillivray firstly dived to his left to keep out Anthony Forde’s fierce strike, then blocked at the feet of Olamide Shodipo and later finger-tipped a header over the bar.

It was a remarkable late display from the ex-Walsall man – and good fortune he felt the Blues were due.

He told The News: ‘There’s a saying that you have to ride your luck at times. That’s the bit of luck we needed.

‘At the time I didn’t realise how quickly it had all happened, to be honest.

‘They’d had one shot in the entire game, with a free-kick pretty much straight at me, but all of a sudden every little thing seemed to fall for them.

‘It was literally minute, minute, minute.

‘It’s frustrating sometimes. In a couple of recent games, such as Plymouth, you don’t do a lot and unfortunately they have countered twice and put the ball in the net twice. You come away thinking “What has just happened there?”.

‘The last couple of minutes against Oxford it felt frantic, they were throwing everything at us. It was a bobbly pitch, a windy night, they had nothing to lose now.

‘But I can think of numerous times since I have been at the club where we haven’t had that luck, something doesn’t quite fall for us, or a decision goes against us and ends up costing three points.

‘It always comes back around. If you get bad luck, you always get good luck somewhere.

‘I am a massive believer in that.’

The fourth-placed Blues entertain Gillingham at Fratton Park tomorrow.

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