Segecic steps up to deliver big Portsmouth victory at Sheffield Wednesday
Adrian Segecic was the Pompey hero as they collected a much-needed three points towards their Championship survival total.
The Aussie’s 65th-minute finish via the post delivered a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in a largely uninspiring affair at Hillsborough, where it was points over performance which gladdened Blues fans.
John Mousinho’s side laboured for much of the game with new boy Millenic Alli one of the few players to offer any inspiration, but were very comfortable after going in front.
Alli provided the ammunition for Segecic’s finish with that goal breaking the home side’s brittle confidence, as they equalled the worst winless league run in the rock-bottom Championship side’s history. The win makes it 11 points from 18 from Pompey in the league.
John Mousinho handed Alli a bow amid three changes, with fellow new signing Ebou Adams on the bench.
Pompey fashioned an early chance when Alli helped the ball on in the box, but Murphy Cooper gathered Regan Poole’s header.
There was a huge Blues opening in the seventh minute, when clever play from Colby Bishop and Adrian Segecic freed Terry Devlin in the box. The right-back composed himself but then rolled a great opening wide from seven yards.
Blues old old boy Jamal Lowe fired wide from Svante Ingelsson’s cross in the 18th minute, before Nicolas Schmid saved superbly from Lowe’s header but the flag is up.
Devlin then played Ingelsson onside and he flashed an angled shot just wide as a home side bereft of confidence started to grow in belief.
Pompey had a decent opening eight minutes before the break when the lively Alli drove forward. The new boy slid the ball through to Adrian Segecic but his touch wasn’t tight enough and keeper Murphy Cooper smothered the ball.
Pompey simply had to up their game after the interval, but Conor Chaplin chose a cross instead of a shot in the 54th minute when driving forward and the home side cleared.
The opener came in the favour of Mousinho’s men 11 minutes later with Alli the architect. His cross was diverted behind Bishop by Gabriel Otegbayo, but into the path of Segecic who rifled home via the post.
That lifted Pompey’s confidence with Devlin firing over via his knee from Segecic’s lethal cross.
And the impact on Sheffield Wednesday’s wafer-thin belief was evident with Mousinho’s side comfortably in control through the finale - seeing out the win through five minutes of stoppage time.