'We all made a collective decision' - Portsmouth match-day sponsors shock club with unexpected decision after watching 3-0 defeat to Leyton Orient

Pompey’s match-day sponsors for their Fratton Park fixture against Leyton Orient defied convention on Saturday - and who could blame them!

After watching the Blues suffer a demoralising 3-0 defeat at the hands of the O’s in front of 19,477 spectators, the team from Silent Air and Sea Forwarding Services declined to name a man-of-the-match.

It’s tradition for Pompey’s main game-day patrons to pick out a Blues player who stood out for them over the course of the 90 minutes and have their decision announced over the ground’s PA system before the final whistle.

A post-match meet and greet with their chosen stand-out performer is also part of the package. But in this instance, the quality on show was so ‘poor’, that the Oakhanger firm decided against nominating a member of John Mousinho’s under-performing team.

Explaining their stance to the Bordon Herald, Silent Air and Sea’s Gary Magee said: ‘My father and I have been Pompey fans for over 40 years and very rarely have we seen such a poor performance. When we were asked to choose a man of the match, we all made a collective decision to not nominate anyone as it was so poor.

‘To be honest it would have been demoralising for any player to have to come to the lounge post-match to accept it. We did ask them to choose Pompey fans or a Leyton Orient player, but the club did not sanction this.’

Pompey lost the game against Leyton Orient  3-0, with first-half goals from Shaqai Forde (30 minutes), Jordan Brown (35) and Daniel Agyei (45) condemning the Blues to a third League One defeat in five games. A lot of fans failed to stick around for the final whistle to blow, while boos could be heard from sections of the Pompey fan base who decided to see the game out.

The Blues remain top of the table, despite their recent struggles - they’ve collected just five points from a possible 18 since defeat Shrewsbury pre-Christmas. However, their rivals are closing in on them, with Bolton, Peterborough and Derby all capable of leapfrogging them in the table if they win their respective games in hands.

Pompey are in action again on Saturday, when they travel to Fleetwood in League One. In fact, their next game at Fratton Park isn’t until Northampton’s visit on Saturday, February 3 - by which time the Blues and their respective match-day sponsors will be hoping the team will have recovered from their current slump in form!