'Boro win best of the season so far' - analysis
- Published
Matt Ritchie scored twice on Saturday as Portsmouth beat Middlesborough
Saturday was probably Pompey's best win of the season so far.
We've had a 3-0, a 4-1, even a 4-0, but Saturday tops the bill.
And my reasoning being the calibre of Pompey's opposition on the day in Middlesbrough; the fashion of the win in terms of overturning a deficit; and the style in which 'Super' Matt Ritchie took his goals.
It almost felt like a demonstration to ourselves that we do have it in us to beat some of the best that this division has to offer.
Michael Carrick's Boro have been off the boil and there is a bit of a transfer window cloud looming over them, but they have an abundance of top-end Championship operators.
They also have one of the country's young stars in Ben Doak and a serial goalscorer in Emmanuel Latte Lath - who could be on the move in the January transfer window.
There were probably eyebrows raised all around the ground at the news of the inclusion of full-back Jordan Williams in head coach John Mousinho's starting line-up.
Fast forward to full-time and that looked like a shrewd and calculated call, Williams probably had his best game in a Pompey shirt to date.
The aforementioned Ritchie was the headline act for Pompey this weekend, but who I deemed to be the hero of the hour is the man who replaced Williams in the 81st minute.
Zak Swanson came on and inside 60 seconds crafted the goal that simply doesn't happen without him.
It's his exemplary tenacity to win the ball, play in Callum Lang, and allow Ritchie to do the rest which forges the winner. What a fantastic moment for him.
As I write, it is two years to the day since Pompey took a risk and hired the then Oxford United first-team coach to take over at the club.
That will be looked at as arguably one of the most impeccable judgement calls of Richard Hughes' career, but reflective upon the football club as a whole.
An immeasurably good decision, who needs Jose Mourinho!
And to the friends and family who so sadly lost a loved one at Fratton Park on Saturday, my thoughts are very much with them.