Player Ratings: Bristol Rovers vs. Portsmouth (RESULTS)

Smith 3

Leadbitter 6
Lockyer 5
Craig  5
J. Clarke 6.5

Bennett 6.5
Upson 6
O. Clarke 7
Sercombe 5

Nichols 6.5
Payne  6

Subs: Lines 6
Jakubiak 6
Rodman NOLE

Crowd 8
Ref  5 
Portsmouth  6

Smith: 6.5. Did nothing wrong as such, although his kicking wasn't great again. In my opinion, not ready to be our no1 so an area we now need to strengthen if Slocombe is departing.

Leadbitter: 7. Tricky game against a decent player in Curtis. Possibly at fault when dragged out of position for the first goal after earlier warnings. On positive side, provided a threat down the wing in second half.
Lockyer: 8. Good solid performanace throughout and in my opinion benefits playing alongside Craig.
Craig: 8. Alongside Lockyer, solid as ever at the back. Reads the game so well.
J Clarke: 7. Also up against a good player in Lowe and overall did a decent job. Tried admirably to support the attacks in the second half too. Another area that needs a specialist left back on loan until THD is fit though.

Bennett: 8.5. Lively throughout and always a threat against his former club. Should have scored at the end though.
O Clarke: 8. Good game. That said, I don't think he an Upson are a partnership in a central two as there's nowhere near enough creativity. I think we need to find a way of playing Lines and Sercombe centrally with one of Upson and Clarke or only playing EU and OC together as part of a three.
Upson: 6. Scrapped for everything in first half but for me offers little that we don't have in Ollie Clarke.
Sercombe: 6.5. Goal threat in first half and looked from my angle that he should have buried the rebound after Nichols'shot in the second. The trouble with Sercs is that if he isn't scoring, he offers nothing.

Nichols: 8.5. Creative, intelligent, full of running, and a goal threat. Best game I've seen from him and great to hear the Thatchers End chanting his name. But, he has to start scoring soon if he is to keep Reilly and/or Jakubiak out of the side.
Payne: 6.5. Struggled to make an impact against a good centre half.

Lines: 5. Not sure what to say. Love Linesy, and would play him every week as I think we are a better passing side when he is in it, however it's difficult to give a higher mark after a red card. Accept the ban, move on without the silliness that folllowed his last one and get him back in the team.
Jakubiak: 6.5. Lightning quick and unlucky not to score with his first touch. That said, really should have rescued the point we surely deserved at the death.
Rodman: 5. Don't recall him being involved. Good player though.

Ref: 5. Better than the clown we had against Accrington, but that's about as positive as I can be about him. Fussy, yet missed lots of shirt pulls etc.
Crowd: 8. For once, a really good atmosphere at the Mem. Good support for Nichols when many crowds would have turned. Loud at times.
Pompey: 8.5. Very, very good side that I predict will finish top two this season. Solid defensively, intelligent in midfield and lots of pace and trickery out wide and up front. Good experienced manager too.

Overall, despite the defeat I feel quite positive that we will be fine this season and probably win as many as we lose, suggesting a comfortable mid table finish (which is fine!).

Smith 7 decent

Leadbitter 7 better 2nd half.
Lockyer 5.5 don't get it.
Craig 6 average.
J. Clarke 7 liking his forward play

Bennett 8 m o m tricky.
Upson 5.5 poor.
O. Clarke 7 better.
Sercombe 7 not wide right.

Nichols 6.5 good work rate but poor finishing.
Payne 7 worked a$$ off.

Subs: Lines 10 anyone that kicks a shithead in the head gets a 10 from me!
Jakubiak 7.5 where did he get that turn, ace and shot?
Rodman 5 not the rodman we know can hurt us.

Crowd 6 good numbers, mostly quiet and outsung.
Ref 6 average. missed alot.
Portsmouth 7 they'll be there or thereabouts.

Smith 5
Leadbitter 6.5
Lockyer 6
Craig 6
Clarke J 7.5
Upson 6
Clarke O.
Sercombe 6.5
Bennett 7.5
Nichols 7.5
Payne 6

Lines 5
Jakubiak 6
Rodman mole

Crowd 8
Ref 5 would be higher but surely the two footed high out of control tackle on Bennett merited the same as Lines tackle.
Portsmouth 6.5

Smith 6
Leadbitter 6
Lockyer 6.5
Craig 7
Clarke J 8.5 mom
Upson 6
Clarke O. 7
Sercombe 6.5
Bennett 8
Nichols 7.5
Payne 6.5

Lines 5
Jakubiak 6
Rodman mole

Crowd 8
Ref 3 The one thing you should expect from a referee is consistency for both sides
Portsmouth 7

Smith 6 Didn't look confident. No major mistake though.

Leadbitter 7 Did well, even put in a great cross at one point
Lockyer 6 OK, struggled with their number 9 (Hawkins)
Craig 6.5 Solid, reads the game well and uses experience
J. Clarke 7 Solid professional performance both defensively and going forward, thought he was going to score again at one point!

Bennett 8 (MOTM) Caused no end of problems, lively and looked our most likely source of a goal.
Upson 6 OK, been a disappointing signing for me though
O. Clarke 8 Back to his best so far this season, started the season more like 2 seasons ago.
Sercombe 6 Quiet ineffective game for a player of his class.

Nichols 7 Started the season well, was unlucky not to score again. Looks to be competing more this season and better alongside a big target man.
Payne 6 Very quiet and ineffective against a solid defence. Disappointing.

Subs: Lines NOLE Stupid
Jakubiak 6.5 Thankless task, up front on his own with 10 men. Was unlucky not to score. Haven't worked out what sort of player he is yet.
Rodman NOLE Didn't see him on the pitch.

Crowd 8 Great support, as it always is against the bigger teams.
Ref 5 Frustrating. Felt he didn't give us the rub of the green, despite not affecting the result.
Portsmouth 7 Solid outfit. Well organised. Could well go up this season. Hawkins caused all sorts of problems.

Smith 5

Leadbitter 6
Lockyer 6
Craig 5
J. Clarke 6

Bennett 6
Upson 5
O. Clarke 7
Sercombe 6

Nichols 7
Payne 5

Subs: Lines 4
Jakubiak 5
Rodman NOLE

Crowd 8
Ref 5
Portsmouth 6

Smith 4 If Rovers had swapped keepers it would have been 3-1 home win

Leadbitter 6 Decent game but needs a midfielder who will cover back for him
Lockyer 7 Steady game against a confident attack
Craig 7 In his best position
J. Clarke 8 If you thought we are missing LB think again

Bennett 7 Box of tricks but lacked a finish
Upson 4 Anyone remember Robert Quinn? well he's back
O. Clarke 6 Good game for 60 mins then he turned off
Sercombe 6.5 OK but still not wide midfield

Nichols 8 Most skilful player on the pitch, I hope the Pompey keeper hasn't wrecked his growing confidence
Payne 5 Expected a lot more

Subs: Lines 4 Red card cost Rovers 3 points,  I'm sure we had Pompey on the ropes
Jakubiak 6 Flashes of real promise
Rodman 4 Replaced Nichols? was like going down to 9



Crowd 8 Exciting game roused the crowd
Ref 5 Very lenient with the foul on Bennett. And the usual nit picky
Portsmouth 8 Strong team with good head of steam with 100% start, not sure they will last the pace.

DC 6 At last two up front. Should have brought Broadbent on when Lines got sent off if he wanted to preserve a point.

Smith - 4 - Couple of good saves but too often didn't come for balls that I thought should have been his and let's not even go there with his kicking...

Leadbitter - 6 - Did a decent enough job against a good winger and got forward well on the overlap but the final ball was missing and he didn't seem to want to take Browner on on the outside for pace.
Lockyer - 5 - Looked caught out for the second goal and he let their big guy get the better of him too many times for my liking (understandable maybe with the size difference?) but I thought his passing was better.
Craig - 6 - Can't remember him doing much wrong but nothing stand out either. Solid.
J. Clarke - 8 - Not a natural LB but does a far better job filling in there than Craig does in my opinion. Good in defence and got forward well to support attacks. Worked hard all game and played with passion.

Bennett - 9 (MOTM) - A constant threat and looked like he wanted to prove his old club wrong for letting him go. Looked to always take on his man, some great link up play and did his share of the dirty defensive work too. Only blemish for me was that he didn't score at the end. Yes it was a great save but he probably shouldn't have given the keeper the opportunity to make it.
Upson - 6 - Industrial enough without doing anything spectacular.
O. Clarke - 7 - Better last night from Ollie. Shielded the defence well and had a couple of decent long range efforts.
Sercombe - 6 - From where I was stood, it looked like he should have scored 2 last night and they were quite glaring misses. He is wasted out wide but showed some moments of quality when he came inside.

Nichols - 8 - Probably the best performance I can remember him having in a Rovers shirt. Worked hard, linked up with the other attackers well and was very unlucky with his curling effort. Surely a goal is coming for him.
Payne - 6 - Quiet by the high standards he has set himself in his first few games for us. Just never really seemed to get into the match.

Subs: Lines - 5 - Put a couple of good corners into the box and looked like he might have got us at least a point with the penalty but then undid all his hard work with a silly tackle at a time where we were the only side that looked like winning it.
Jakubiak - 6 - It was always going to be tough being the lone player up front after Lines was sent off but I thought he chased the defenders down well and came so close to getting us all 3 points after out-muscling their defenders and having a curling effort saved.
Rodman - 5 - Wasn't on very long but didn't seem to make us any more solid which is what I assume he was bought on to do after we went down to 10 men.

Crowd - 8 - Some quiet spells but at other times, was the loudest I have known it for a long time.
Ref - 6 - Probably got the big calls right (penalty and red card) but missed too many little niggly fouls and allowed Pompey to run down the clock.
Portsmouth - 6 - I expected much more from them with their start. Some flashes of quality from their wide men but generally just solid at the back and were kept in the game by blocks from their CBs and some quality saves by their keeper.