Danny Cowley accepts the blame as Portsmouth suffer a home defeat to Cambridge
Posted Sunday, September 19, 2021 by PA
Portsmouth head coach Danny Cowley shouldered the blame after his side lost 2-1 at home to Cambridge to clock up a third successive defeat.
Goals from Joe Ironside and Liam O’Neil set Cambridge on course for victory and Ronan Curtis’ late strike provided scant consolation for Pompey.
Cowley said: “It is incredibly disappointing. As a manager you always take responsibility in these moments and rightly so.
“We were well short of the performance we wanted to put in. We did not have enough intensity to our play.
“The team we picked was not the right team so I will take responsibility for that. We did not have enough partnerships across the pitch.
“The players have to take responsibility as well but in these moments you can either look out the window or look in the mirror and I prefer to look in the mirror.
“It is only the second time in my 15 years as a manager that my team have lost three games on the spin and that is not good enough.”
Portsmouth were out to end a goal drought of three matches and dominated possession in the first half without ever really looking like scoring.
Cambridge took the lead against the run of play seven minutes before half-time.
Shilow Tracey combined neatly with George Williams whose sweet cross was headed across goal and into the far corner by
Ironside for his fifth goal of the season.
O’Neil volleyed Cambridge into a 2-0 lead with 21 minutes remaining after Pompey failed to deal with a corner.
Republic of Ireland international Curtis gave Cowley’s men hope in the 76th minute with a fiercely struck shot from an acute angle.
Cambridge manager Mark Bonner was delighted with how his side bounced back from last weekend’s 5-1 thrashing at home by Lincoln.
Bonner said: “We are delighted with the result but also the response from last week.
“We know it is another level and the test is big but to come here and take three points is major for us.
“It consolidates a fairly good start for us after seven games and we are starting to look, and feel, like we belong at the level.
“We know we are an underdog against most teams we play against, but we will try and embrace that tag and give the best of ourselves.
“It is really testing us, but we are really pleased with the level we found to win the game.
“To beat a goalkeeper of that quality is not easy but the two goals from us were brilliant and there were three great goals in the game.
“Their goal got the crowd going and made it a tough finish for us.”
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