Matchday Memories: On This Day 2011 – See Thorn’s Sky Blues Punish Pompey In Portsmouth
CCFC gaffer- Andy Thorn,
On this Thursday (12th April) in 2011 the Sky Blues were struggling in the Championship and had seen ‘gaffer’ Aidy Boothroyd depart in mid March after a dreadful run of one league win in sixteen from mid December. Results under caretaker manager Andy Thorn (now a CCFPA member) had initially seemed similar but since a 2-0 home win against Watford and a 2-2 draw at Derby County things seemed to be improving and that continued today with an exciting 3-0 evening win at Portsmouth.
The 415 members of the Sky Blue Army present were well chuffed! The victory over mid-table Pompey left the Sky Blues five places above the drop zone – a dozen points ahead of third-from-bottom Scunthorpe United. The win also gave them a double over the south coast side as they had seen them off by two clear goals in the season’s opener at the Ricoh thanks to a Freddie Eastwood brace.
Marlon about to put one of his pens away.
Marlon in the Sky Blue
City were able to capitalise on the award by Hampshire referee Dean Whitestone of two penalties (19 & 71 minutes) against Pompey, both put away by the Sky Blues striker Marlon King and these sandwiched a headed goal from our ‘Cov Kid’ forward (and now fellow CCFPA member) Gary McSheffrey two minutes before the hour mark.
Marlon’s first followed Ricardo Rocha‘s foul on ‘Sheffers’ in the box. The second and decisive penalty award also resulted in the red carding of Pompey’s Haydn Mullins for handball in the penalty area to stop a Lukas Jutkiewicz goal-bound shot enter the net. Marlon’s penalties became part of a personal goal burst of six in four successive games!
and here’s another King penalty!
Gary McSheffrey in Sky Blue action
Portsmouth felt themselves unlucky whens David Nugent had a first half ‘goal’ ruled out for offside after he turned in a Mullins deflected cross! Sky Blue ‘keeper Keiren Westwood also needed to make some smart saves to prevent a Pompey score. City also had chances to extend their lead. After the break, for example, Sky Blues Icelandic midfielder Aron Gunnarsson (now a CCFPA member) hit the bar with a powerful header from a corner. All in all City’s 3-0 win chimed in a miserable night for Pompey.
The main match details are provided in the graphic below (sourced by former CCFPA committee member Dean Nelson):-
Of the Sky Blues players who got onto the pitch nine have since become CCFPA members:- Kieren Westwood, Richard Keogh, Chris Hussey, Nathan Cameron, David Bell, Marlon King, Aron Gunnarsson, Gary McSheffrey and Carl Baker, as did unused subs. Gary Deegan, Clive Platt and Roy O’Donovan.
You can watch nearly six minutes of City’s win by clicking on the link or image below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgPciv8jNs8
Hermann in the Sky Blue
On as sub in the Pompey side was their loanee Carl Dickinson who became a Sky Blues loanee in 2013 and in starting line up was Hermann Hreidarsson who got a couple of games for CCFC in 2012 before being injured and released.
The team ultimately ended up their 2010-11 season safe in a lowly eighteenth spot but a full thirteen points clear of the relegated trio, Preston North End, Sheffield United and, at the very bottom, Scunthorpe United. Pompey were two places and three points better off than the Sky Blues.
CCFC 2010-11 (under Aidy Boothroyd)
Queens Park Rangers (Champions) and Norwich City got the automatic promotion spots and were Premier League bound along with play-off victors, third placed Swansea City.
Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for sourcing the images.
