Gaffer: Portsmouth will complete unprecedented Wembley double following Checkatrade Trophy glory against Sunderland

Gaffer for a Day, Asa Harding, aged 17 from Havant, gives his thoughts after Pompey’s thrilling Checkatrade Trophy final triumph over Sunderland.
What a day for Pompey. Picture: Joe PeplerWhat a day for Pompey. Picture: Joe Pepler
What a day for Pompey. Picture: Joe Pepler

Fancy another trip to Wembley then?

I’m backing Pompey for an unprecedented Wembley double now.

The Checkatrade Trophy final win against Sunderland gives a great platform to kick on from now.

And this will bring more positives which we could take into the play-offs, with a potential Wembley date on the horizon again.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Until it’s mathematically impossible you cannot rule out automatic promotion, but Sunderland and Barnsley are both brilliant teams.

It was such a great day out and long-awaited after such a long time away from Wembley.

Although it was nail-biting stuff at the end but the finale was brilliant.

I couldn’t believe it when Sunderland equalised in the last seconds.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Yet we got there in the end, but Pompey never do it the easy way.

How emotional was that!

The whole day nearly brought a tear to my eye, really.

It was just amazing to see.

Everyone was buzzing with the victory.

The backline were immense and full credit Christian Burgess and Matt Clarke.

They put a right shift in over the 90 minutes and extra-time.

When Jamal Lowe scored that goal, everyone was ready to celebrate.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Then Sunderland lumped one in late on and we’re all thinking, ‘what’s going on here.’

Penalties are always fun and it was just a brilliant day out.

What drama then...

We couldn’t really deal with Aiden McGeady, he is Championship quality.

He showed that for Sunderland but other than that Pompey were the better team.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We were all over them in the second half and after that - I think the best team won at the end of the day.

Everyone was just loving it in the penalty shoot-out.

It was high end emotions everywhere.

Everyone was buzzing.

Either way the result would have gone, it would have been a brilliant day out.