Reserves: Portsmouth 4 Leicester 3

Last updated : 29 March 2005 By Keith Allman

A tiny crowd were treated to an exciting match this evening as a young Portsmouth team overcame a far more experienced Leicester side. As a measure of the gap between the two, the Portsmouth starting eleven had a combined total of forty-seven league appearances - all but three of them accumulated on loan, Shaun Cooper the only person to actually play for the first team at Fratton Park - whilst the visitors in comparison fielded the likes of Nathan Blake and Jason Wilcox, a combined total of over six hundred games and a fair few internationals too. But a boggy pitch and fantastic spirit made a mockery of those stats.

It was light when the game kicked off at seven, but it was certainly no summery affair as the rain lashed down at West Leigh Park. Even before scoring the opening goal Pompey could've taken the lead after a scramble, but Leicester managed to hoof (surprisingly) the ball clear. But it wasn't long before the deadlock was broken; a ball was played through and although the keeper gave a clear shout, the covering defender decided to nick it away anyway. The ball fell kindly to HORSTED and with an open goal from six yards out he made no mistake.

And if the visitors thought it would get any easier they were mistaken. HORSTED was again the scorer as he outpaced the visiting defence before finishing with aplomb into the far corner. And with only quarter of an hour gone two became three; a shot seemed to be saved easily by the keeper but somehow it slipped out of his grasp. James Keene stole the ball, smashed it against the keeper's face, and again Lady Luck smiled on Pompey as the ball fell to COOPER for an easy tap-in. Despite our position near the bottom of the Reserve League South, we were making light work against an uninspired Leicester team who failed to create a chance of note in the first forty-five. And it was to get even worse; after a great run down the right by Callum Angus, he whipped in a wicked cross which FORDYCE bundled home. All this within half an hour and it could easily have been five, Fordyce lobbing a chance wide after being set up by Keene.

When the teams came out in the second half, you'd be forgiven for thinking they'd swapped shirts. Leicester staged an impressive comeback and could possibly count themselves unlucky to go home empty handed. After the defence backed off, a shot across the goal got Leicester - courtesy of former Leeds midfielder WILCOX, who was starting to run the show - a quick consolation. Callum Angus then handled a cross and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, O'GRADY doing the honours and sending Guatelli the wrong way. The pressure was all Leicester's and after O'Grady was dragged down by Gary Silk in the area, he had another chance to score from twelve yards. He picked the same side of the goal but this time Guatelli was equal to the challenge, also making a fantastic save from the rebound. But from the resultant corner he undid all his good work - after going walkabout, LYCETT rose unchallenged to make it 4-3. And there wasn't even an hour played by this point!

From there on in it was pretty much all Leicester as they desperately searched for an equaliser. Gemmill curled a shot over the bar and some other hoofer missed a header from all of six yards out. But although they had the lion's share of possession, it was left to Pompey to have the two best chances to make it 5-3; Horsted and Keene both firing wide of the right post when put through into promising positions. Despite bringing on the shortest player I've ever seen in the shape of Levi Porter, it wasn't enough and the Foxes went home empty handed. Yes, you heard me. We actually beat Leicester for once.

All in all a fascinating game and a lot of positives to be taken. Despite the opposition featuring the likes of the aforementioned Blake and Wilcox, not to mention others with good experience like Matt Heath, Tommy Wright and Scott Gemmill, our practical youth squad got a good win. Admittedly the defending at the start of the second half against a side who had clearly had a rocket up their arse at half time left a lot to be desired, but all in all a good night's entertainment - Horsted and Keene linked up well up front and Callum Angus also had a good game on the right, a player who seems to be improving every time I've seen him - but all the lads can give themselves a pat on the back this evening.