Dane Scarlett praised after deadly double for Portsmouth against Peterborough

Posted Sunday, September 04, 2022 by PA

Portsmouth head coach Danny Cowley saluted Dane Scarlett after the Tottenham loanee fired Portsmouth to a 2-1 comeback win over promotion rivals Peterborough.

Scarlett scored twice as table-topping Pompey recovered from falling behind early on to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

Cowley said: “It’s an important win. We started well, had the energy and the momentum from the off, then of course a mistake at the back gifts them a goal.

“But it’s the response you look at, and I thought the response from the whole group was magnificent, and the response to their goal from the crowd was probably the loudest I’ve heard Fratton Park.

“It meant so much to the players, and it helped them maintain their belief. I think we played some of our best football in the first half.

“Dane Scarlett is ruthless, he’s deadly, and he’s only eighteen years old. I’ve seen him score goals like that before.

“He is brave and will put his head in places others wouldn’t be willing to. What I love about him is that he just doesn’t get carried away with himself.

“Both he and Colby Bishop worked so hard for each other today. They are so selfless and team orientated and it becomes infectious.

“Our goalkeeper, Josh Griffiths, is sporting a shiner after punching the ball out. We’ve got a team photo on Monday, so not sure how we’ll deal with that one.”

Posh took the lead with just five minutes played when Jack Marriott fired home after Michael Morrison was robbed of the ball by Jonson Clarke-Harris

Pompey’s Owen Dale fired an effort wide in the 23rd minute before an unmarked Ronan Curtis put a sitter of a header wide eight minutes later.

The hosts drew level seven minutes before half-time when captain Clark Robertson crossed for Scarlett to head home.

Marriott came close with an overhead kick before Scarlett won the game on 69 minutes with a left-foot shot into the bottom corner.

Posh have now lost four times away from home this season in all competitions but manager Grant McCann felt his side deserved a share of the spoils.

He said: “A bit disappointed at the result. The front and high press we played right from the off served us well and we forced an error and scored from that.

“We could have been three up and out of sight by half-time but the ball just didn’t fall for us in the final pass.

“So, to concede an equaliser was hard to take.

“The cross should have been prevented and we knew Dane Scarlett was a danger, so we should have dealt with him better.

“The second half wasn’t much of a game to be honest. We never created much. They never created much.

“We had a couple of half chances but they had one good chance and took it. We started passing across and back instead of pushing forward as we did in the first half.

“But when you come to Fratton Park, you have to hurt them more. They had two chances in the game and scored with both.

“That’s what makes the difference between winning and losing. The league is our bread and butter, and the cup games give us a chance to play younger players. But we’ll pick ourselves up and go again.”