'My Portsmouth pride': Blues boss hails kids after inflicting eye-catching cup upset over the Hawks
Pompey’s kids claimed an impressive 3-1 win against the Hawks in the Portsmouth Senior Cup
Sam Hudson has spoken of his Pompey pride after shocking the Hawks to reach the semi-finals of the Portsmouth Senior Cup.
The Blues were missing key men George Wilson, Ashton Sizer, Oscar Glover and Brandon Downey for last night’s Westleigh Park clash.
Tayo Singer and Harry Clout, both with first-team experience under John Mousinho, did feature, however, while 16-year-old Elisha Pfupa lined up on the left wing.
Yet the sides couldn’t be separated until the 62nd minute, when Pompey centre-half Ciaran Martin opened the scoring with a left-footed shot from the edge of the box.
The visitors ran out 3-1 winners, with further goals from Jermaine Osifo and a Tayo Singerr penalty, while Ethan Giwa-McNeil responded for the Southern League Premier South side.
‘We deserved the win’
And Academy lead professional development phase coach Hudson is adamant the Blues kids thoroughly deserved it.
He told The News: ‘We deserved the win, everything we asked the boys to do, certainly from half-time onwards, was really, really pleasing.
‘In past games, when teams put it on us a bit more and go a bit more direct, we might not be able to handle that. But certainly last night everyone on the pitch showed they could handle that part of the game.
‘That’s really important at any level, that’s why we like playing these games, it gives you such a different physical challenge compared to our normal fixtures.
‘I am massively proud to see them handle that, while a couple of players got some stick from the crowd and there were a few late tackles every now and then. The ref lost a bit of control for about 10 minutes.
‘Part of that is about managing your emotions and managing as a group as well. They didn’t really need much help from us on the sidelines to do that.
‘In the past that might have been the case, but we showed real maturity to see out the game and build on the good stuff which happened before.’
Defeat at Romsey Town in September
The Blues went out to Romsey Town on penalties in the Hampshire Senior Cup in September, while Moneyfields beat them 3-0 in last season’s Portsmouth Senior Cup.
Now they have conquered a Hawks side which contained nine changes from the team which drew 0-0 to Basingstoke at the weekend.
Hudson added: ‘I’m certainly pleased with the second half especially. We weren’t bad in the first half, I thought we started well, then we lost our way a bit, they had too much of the ball, the press was probably a bit isolated at times and people jumping on their own rather than a collective.
‘One of the big messages we said at half-time was that when we do win it back, those first 2-3 passes were really crucial. It felt like we’d work really hard to win it back and then give it away again, chasing our tails.
‘I spoke to Nat (Chioma), Ciaran (Martin), Jermaine (Osifo) and Harry (Clout) on our left side to get more players forward on that flank in particular. That combination was then really good, with Jermaine getting this goal being proof of that.
‘I was really pleased with the second half and how we saw out the moments where we conceded.
‘Then the last 5-6 minutes they’re going to be a bit more direct to chase the game. They put bodies in the box and were rough and ready around our penalty area - and our boys handled it well.’