Bournemouth (A) The 82 mile away midweek "derby"
The theory: The league pair you with a local team so you can play midweek home and away games against them, preventing teams and fans having to travel long distances mid week.
The reality: Pompey end up paired with Bournemouth who now play in Weymouth, 82 miles & a 2 hour + drive from Pompey.
In fact out of the other 11 teams in Pompey's league, 5 of them are closer to Pompey than Bournemouth's home ground is.
Bournemouth are an ambitious club and having Premier League money behind you is normally always a positive thing.
Over the last few seasons they have built and developed a very strong squad and have
genuine WSL2 ambitions. I have been impressed with their development and growth which runs all the way from their youth set up and training facilities to the first team.
In the summer they moved their home games to the Bob Lucas stadium, I've followed the situation from afar but I gather their move away from the grass pitch at Ringwood was due to it not meeting WSL2 stadium criteria, perhaps even FAWNL tier 3 standards.
The move wasn't popular with a lot of fans, Bournemouth enjoyed healthy and passionate crowds at Ringwood and understandably moving 42 miles away to Weymouth was seen as a backstep.
The summer also saw the departure of a large number of players, including some big names. I can't find definitive reasons for this, nobody seems to agree on a singular reason.
They did make national media headlines when they drew Manchester City in last seasons FA Cup campaign, arguably the biggest game in the clubs history. Only to announce the game would not be played at the Vitality Stadium in order to "protect the pitch" for the mens team.
Bournemouth had enjoyed some very impressive attendances at the Vitality such as over 7000 for a game vs Bristol City. So they could have expected a very impressive gate for the Manchester City tie. However the game was played at the 3500 capacity AFC Totton.
Given all the good work done with their women's set up in recent season, that decision was ridiculous. Was that one of the reasons players left?
Given everything that had happened pre-season they have had a solid start to this season, sitting 1 place and 1 point above Pompey.
As it was half term we made our way to Weymouth for the day, visiting Nothe Fort. What a hidden treasure that is, even in the autumn months. Loads to see and a beautiful location.
After dinner in Weymouth we made the short drive to the Bob Lucas Stadium. The stadium was easy enough to find even if we did miss the turning twice. There was plenty of on site parking, which was free as was entry to the stadium. No match programmes though. This makes the game the cheapest away game possible, you can literally park and watch the game without spending a penny!
I can't get my head around why Bournemouth are not charging for entry. Perhaps they are trying to encourage people to their new home stadium but free entry is massively devaluing the product on display from their talented squad.
The stadium consists of a huge main stand with terracing all the way around the rest of the stadium.
You can't ignore the fact the stadium is dated in many areas, but you also can't argue with it's functionality. Fans were not restricted where they could watch the game from. I love moving around during matches so it was great to enjoy different angles to watch the action from.
Food and drink outlets were plentiful and there were toilets open on every wide of the stadium. This is not the norm at this level. Normally you are restricted to a single toilet block and 1 food outlet.
We put the Supporters Club flag up at the back of the stand and the teams made their way out.
I was a bit nervous going into the game. I expected it to be an even game. Two of the best tier 3 teams in the country going head to head in the "Mouth" derby. Ok I made the Mouth derby bit up, a little dig at the those on socials who in previous seasons had tried to make a rivalry with Bournemouth which simply doesn't exist.
Pompey have rarely faced Bournemouth in the last decade. Strangely missing each other in both teams movement through the leagues. They have faced each other a few times in cup competitions.
In the 21-22 season the teams played each other twice, once in the FA Cup and once in the Hamp Cup final. Pompey won both those games. There are 2 players who featured in those games for Pompey and are also members of the current squad, 1 having not left since. Who can name them?
In the 2022-23 campaign Bournemouth beat Pompey 1-0 in the Hampshire Cup final and they got the better of the Blues again in the following season knocking them out the FA Cup 1-0 at Ringwood.
Bournemouth kicked off and immediately launched the ball forward and gifted Pompey possession. I turned to my wife and said why on earth have they done that. Had they known that it would be a contributing factor in costing them 3 points, I'm pretty sure they would not have done it.
Having been gifted possession Suttie launched a long ball forward to Blades who twisted and turned her defender before swinging in a cross, Bournemouth failed to clear and the ball fell to Beattie who fired home with an excellent finish to give Pompey the lead just 57 seconds into the game. I'm pretty sure that's the fastest goal Pompey have scored in Sadlers 277 games in charge. A fantastic start for Pompey.
The first half was end to end. I was really impressed with the quality of football on display. Both teams were well up for the game and it was a lively encounter. The early lead was crucial for Pompey who could now dictate the game and didn't need to recklessly push forward.
There were plenty of opportunities, the woodwork was hit multiple times by both sides. Both teams showed a little bit more quality and organisation defensively than offensively and the half time whistle came with Pompey in the lead.
For the second half we made our way pitch side to enjoy an alternative view of the game. It was great to see so many Pompey fans all around the stadium.
Bournemouth came out with intent in the second half. They were never going to just roll over. There were chances at both ends. The ref was not having a great game, it was clear the Pompey bench were enraged about some laws and rules around head injuries and multi-ball that he was either unaware of or implementing incorrectly.
Pompey defended very well and should have wrapped the game up late on when Barrett missed a 1 on 1 with the keeper.
It was great to see a game where the opposition came at as, these types of games have been very few and far between this season. It made for an entertaining second half and when the full time whistle went it felt like a huge win.
These are the types of games you have to win in order to challenge for the title, they are also the games that test everything about you. Your character, your skill, your organisation and your determination. Pompey passed all those tests last night and it was the first win of it's kind for Jays new squad.
I struggled to name a player of the match. There were solid performances all over the pitch. I think maybe Reanna Blades, every time she got the ball she looked a threat. Players like her are crucial if you are challenging at the top end of the table.
We wrapped up the evening with a chat to a couple of players before Will grabbed a photo with Jay Sadler.
That's 11 games undefeated and 8 clean sheets in 12 games now for Pompey Women. Next up is a League Cup match vs Fulham, the only side to beat Pompey so far this campaign. The game will be held at the PMC Stadium.
