Portsmouth and ex-Norwich City midfielder Louis Thompson describes emotions after ending six-and-a-half year wait for a league goal since Swindon spell against Shrewsbury

The 27-year-old’s last strike in League One came during a loan spell for Swindon Town on November 28, 2015 – where he scored for Martin Ling’s side against Chesterfield.

But he hopes his classy winner against Shrewsbury this evening isn’t his last in front of the Fratton faithful.

After Aiden O’Brien had cancelled out Luke Leahy’s opener, Danny Cowley’s side were looking for an elusive second – before the ex-Norwich man grabbed the headlines with six minutes remaining.

And Thompson explained how he hopes it’s the ‘first of many’.

He told The News: ‘It was a huge goal for me, but even more so for the club. It was a massive win for us and it keeps the wheels in motion. We have some big games coming up and it’s important to win.

‘I was a bit edgy with it because I thought about crossing it. In the end I just thought about getting a good connection and see what happens.

‘Luckily for me, it dropped over the goalkeeper. I’m happy with it and I’ll take it and look forward to Saturday.’

‘It was an enjoyable feeling and hopefully there’s many more to come. I’m not sure when my last goal was, especially in the league!.’

In the 78 months between his last two league goals, Thompson had only netted in an EFL Trophy tie for Shrewsbury in 2019.

However, the midfielder explained how victory was all that mattered, as Pompey stretched their winning streak to three league matches.

After a miserable start to 2022, the Fratton Park outfit won their first third tier fixture of the new year against Burton earlier this month, before putting Doncaster to the sword four days later.

But disaster had potentially struck when they were forced into another prolonged break, after their clash with Crewe was controversially postponed three days ago.

And Thompson has also paid tribute to the 724 travelling Blues fans who trekked up to New Meadow on a Tuesday evening, following the Gresty Road cancellation.

He added: ‘The fans always travel in numbers, and they’re a massive privilege to this club.

‘It was a tough game tonight. It was one of those games where we had to be patient and sometimes you can score in the last minute and we scored late on. It was important to get the win.’

‘It’s not about the goal today, but more about the result rather than in my career. It’s a nice feeling to score. It’s a huge win and it builds momentum.

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