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Colby Bishop’s treble helped
Pompey take a huge step towards Championship survival with a thumping win
on the road at Norwich. His opener was quickly cancelled out by Josh Sargent, only for Matt Ritchie to restore the lead on what proved to be a very Good Friday in Norfolk. Bishop then coolly converted a penalty just before the break and completed a first Blues hat-trick shortly after it. Jack Stacey came off the bench to fire the Canaries back into the contest, but Regan Poole settled any nerves before Emiliano Marcondes netted a late consolation for the hosts. John Mousinho made two changes from the side that drew with Derby on home soil the previous weekend. Jordan Williams and Adil Aouchiche were both restored to the starting line-up, with Zak Swanson and Christian Saydee dropping to the bench. The first half was an extremely open affair, with plenty of chances at both ends of the pitch – but more for the visitors. It was Norwich who first had an opening, though, as Nicolas Schmid dealt with José Córdoba’s early effort. Pompey were soon on the attack themselves and a Ritchie shot was blocked before Aouchiche’s ambitious curler was palmed away by George Long. Josh Murphy then recovered brilliantly to clear the ball to safety when Kellen Fisher appeared to be through on goal. But the Blues broke the deadlock on 15 minutes after Freddie Potts did well to find Ritchie wide on the right. He curled an excellent cross into the box and BISHOP stooped to expertly guide his header past Long’s dive and into the net. It almost got even better, as another fine Potts pass found Murphy on the left and he angled a low drive narrowly past the post. Instead it was the home fans celebrating an equaliser when Jacob Wright’s corner evaded everyone and headed towards the net. Potts was well placed to clear it from the line, but the ball only flew to Sargent, who rifled it into the roof of the net. Another Norwich corner soon caused problems, hitting Isaac Hayden and having to be punched to safety by Schmid. The action quickly switched to the other end of the pitch and a Murphy attempt took a wicked deflection and looped into the air. Long could only palm the ball against Bishop, but recovered brilliantly to stop the striker grabbing his second of the afternoon. Fisher should have done better when he was picked out in the area by Oscar Schwartau on 33 minutes, directing his header straight at Schmid. And the Canaries were made to pay for their profligacy when Hayden slipped a pass through to Murphy, who centred for RITCHIE to slot home. The mood among the travelling faithful improved further in stoppage-time after Aouchiche's shot was saved and Hayden was crudely brought down inside the box by Marcelino Núñez. There were no complaints from the hosts when referee Thomas Kirk pointed to the spot and BISHOP stepped up to send Long the wrong way. Half Time: Norwich 1 Pompey 3 With the form of the Blues on the road this season, nobody was in the mood to count their chickens just yet. However, the side went some way to settling any nerves by increasing their lead further within six minutes of the restart. Murphy was unable to beat Long at the keeper’s near post, but was first to the loose ball and cut it back for BISHOP to lift home a neat finish and complete his hat-trick. Hayden made way for Andre Dozzell on 55 minutes, as Mousinho added fresh legs to the midfield engine room. But the visitors kept attacking as they tried to put the contest to bed, with Murphy’s fierce strike blocked as the majority of the crowd grew increasingly frustrated. The Canaries had a lifeline just past the hour mark, however, as Wright found Stacey in acres of space on the right and the substitute fired home an angled finish. Pompey hit back, though, and restored their three-goal advantage on 71 minutes after taking advantage of some more generous defending. Aouchiche swapped passes with Bishop on the right and cut the ball back for POOLE to drill home his first goal of the season. Bishop was given a chance to put his feet up after collecting a knock and walked gingerly from the field to be replaced by Kusini Yengi. Pompey still had to keep their concentration and Schmid saved when a corner arrived in a packed box, while Stacey’s centre then flew invitingly across the face of goal. Terry Devlin, Marlon Pack and Swanson came on for the closing stages, with Aouchiche, Ritchie and Rob Atkinson given a breather. And even though Marcondes glanced home Wright’s corner late on, the Blues had already done enough to seal a valuable three points. |
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