'Two Pompey games left to bask in glory'
- Published
Yesterday John Mousinho cemented himself as my favourite Pompey manager in living memory.
His back-to-back triumphs of promotion from League One with a handful of games to spare, twinned with surviving this season, with some of the biggest challenges imaginable thrown at him, are two truly remarkable accomplishments, achieved by a truly remarkable man.
I would argue that survival in the Championship for Pompey is just as big, if not perhaps a bigger achievement, than the title-winning success last season.
To back that up, I'd point to the luckless injury run which has seemingly plagued the campaign, some of the run of games and fixture list (or lack thereof given postponements!) and a number of officiating calls to our detriment as some of the salient undertones to a turbulent first season in the second tier in over a decade.
It feels fitting that Colby Bishop was ultimately the man to provide the goal that retained Pompey's divisional status for at least another season - a player whose contributions since his timely return in November have played a critical role in the survival effort.
During the second half against Watford the pressure of what was at stake wore on our faces - the longer the lead remained at a slender 1-0, despite multiple Pompey opportunities, the more pressure seemed to mount.
Watford demonstrated a real elegance on the ball and looked capable of hurting Pompey at any given moment - yet it was only really a world-class tip onto the crossbar from Nicolas Schmid that properly moved him all afternoon.
The 10 minutes of stoppage time seemed never ending before Sam Allison blew the all-important full-time whistle.
Pompey now have two games to bask in their glory, full in the knowledge that they will be competing at this level for at least another season.
Post-match comments from both Mousinho and Regan Poole regarding "finishing strong" will chime well with supporters - there's a very plausible argument to be made that when all is said and done, Pompey's ultimate final league position could look incredibly comfortable.