Pompey lost their second pre-season match to Championship opposition after being beaten by Bournemouth in front of a meagre crowd at Dean Court.
Just 1,806 people (312 Pompey fans) turned up to watch this game after the Cherries' 6-0 defeat to Real Madrid on Sunday but having listened to the game on the radio it seemed like this was an improvement on Saturday's performance against Charlton from a Portsmouth perspective.
Darryl Flahavan and Wes Thomas featured against their former club in the first half as the home side took control of the game.
Pompey were solid but were not creating any chances with what was arguably Guy Whittingham's strongest team although David Connolly didn't start and came on late in the game as a substitute. New signing Ryan Bird didn't play at all.
The deadlock was finally broken when Mohamed Coulibaly rifled the ball into the back of the net from over 30 yards, giving Phil Smith no chance of saving it.
Thomas had a couple of chances in the first half to double the lead as he headed wide from close range and got his attempt at an overhead kick all wrong. The best Pompey could muster was a corner kick which was hacked clear.
The second half started in the same manner despite a whole host of changes from Bournemouth which saw Richard Hughes play against his former club.
But Pompey finally woke up and equalised through Andy Barcham's neat curling finish from around 25 yards and then began to play their way into the game.
Unfortunately Bournemouth got the break they needed late on when Harry Cormick's shot deflected off Sonny Bradley past Smith who could do nothing about the winner.
Even so, this sounded like an improved performance when Pompey eventually equalised although Yassin Moutaouakil's defending was suspect, as well as his shooting ability.
However, the main talk during the commentary was about a so-called mystery midfielder that Pompey have got lined up to sign. Apparently he's a box-to-box player who was released by a League One club in the summer and has Premier League experience.
We shall soon find out who this player is if the rumours turn out to be true and he may play some part in Pompey's final friendly against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday (2pm) so get to Fratton Park and see what our team is capable of against a very good La Liga outfit.
Source: Fratton Faithful
Source: FOOTYMAD
