REPORT & REACTION: Portsmouth 6-1 Cheltenham Town
Portsmouth secured the League Two title with a 6-1 win over Cheltenham Town in the final game of the season.Paul Cook’s side were one up at half time thanks to Dan O’Shaughnessy’s own goal.
Pompey then scored five goals in the second half through Kyle Bennett, Jamal Lowe, Gary Roberts and a Kal Naismith brace - and James Dayton also scored a great individual consolation goal for The Robins.
The result means that Cheltenham finish the season in 21st place.
Billy Waters had the first shot of the game for the away side as he found some space in midfield and ran towards the edge of the box, but his effort flew over the bar.
From that moment on Pompey took control of the game and went in front on 13 minutes when a cross in from the left was sliced into his own net by O’Shaughnessy.
Harry Pell had a shot from distance well saved and James Rowe went close with a curling effort midway through the first half as Cheltenham tried to get back into the game, but it was the home side who were dominating possession.
On 37 minutes it then took a smart save from Scott Brown to keep out Bennett’s shot from just inside the area as Portsmouth looked to get a second goal before the break.
As the half drew to a close Conor Chaplin should have done better when he missed from just a few yards out, and Rowe was also unlucky to see his shot deflected over for Cheltenham, but it remained 1-0 at the interval.
Five minutes into the second half Cheltenham almost equalised when Dan Holman’s cross found Danny Wright, but his header went wide.
Holman then went close himself a minute later as it took a great save from David Forde to push his long range shot past the post.
Portsmouth were inches away from doubling their lead on the hour mark when Danny Rose unleashed a thunderous strike that came back off the crossbar.
Not long after they did get a second goal though, as Bennett’s run and eventual shot was deflected past Brown and into the back of the net.
And Pompey got their third and fourth goals within minutes as first Naismith and then Lowe converted with smart finishes.
Soon after they scored their fifth when Roberts squeezed his penalty past Brown despite the Robins goalkeeper getting a hand to it.
With just over ten minutes to go Cheltenham pulled a goal back when Dayton’s fantastic run and low shot beat Forde.
But it was Pompey who got the last goal of the game as Naismith completed his brace and rounded off the scoreline.
After the game Russ spoke to Robins TV about the performance, new contracts and the summer transfer window, and you can see it here: