New boss Danny Cowley gets off to flying start as Portsmouth overcome Ipswich Town in admirable fashion

Newly appointed head coach Danny Cowley got off on the right foot in his first game on Saturday afternoon, coming from a goal behind to beat Ipswich Town 2-1.

Marcus Harness completed Pompey’s comeback to bolster Portsmouth’s play-off hopes on the south coast. Harness fired home the winner after captain Tom Naylor canceled out Tractor Boys talisman James Norwood’s opener. It was the first time Pompey came back to win from a losing position since April 2019.

Yesterday, Portsmouth assigned Cowley as manager until the end of the season alongside his brother, Nicky. However, the pairing had 48 hours to prepare for the encounter, as they took their first training session on Thursday.

Before kick-off, Pompey occupied 10th place in League One having suffered four straight defeats. In short supply of preparation time, Cowley opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, a familiar set-up to the success he had at Lincoln.

He made two changes to the side which lost 1-0 to Peterborough midweek as Ben Close and Rasmus Nicolaisen dropped to the bench for Jordy Hiwula and Harness. Hiwula lead the line on his own while goalscorer Harness impacted the game from the number 10 role. Ronan Curtis, provider of both goals, occupied the left-hand side and Harness did the same job on the right. However, the three attacking midfield players were fluid in their positioning due to the high intensity press Cowley ordered.

From the off, the game had a different feel to it. There was a buzz around Fratton Park which wasn’t apparent in previous weeks. Both dugouts were barking orders and praise to their respective sides and even John Marquis, sidelined with injury, yelled information to his teammates from the stands.

In the opening half an hour, no clear cut chances were created by either side. The two half-chances came from long range free-kicks. Ambitiously, Curtis struck a 35 yard free-kick which was easy pickings for ‘keeper Tomas Holy. Ipswich’s Alan Judge finessed his effort towards the top corner which Craig MacGillivray dealt with, albeit being one for the cameras.

On the 30th minute mark, Pompey had their first warning sign. Midfielder Teddy Bishop slid Norwood in behind, catching out Sean Raggett on his blind side. The striker drilled the ball across the six-yard box but it was well defended to deny Keanan Bennetts a tap in.

A matter of seconds later, it looked all doom and gloom for the hosts again, reminiscent of recent cameos. After 32 minutes, Norwood found himself just inside the 18-yard box after a cute through ball from Gwion Edwards and fired an unstoppable strike into the top left, putting Cowley’s side on the back foot early on in the encounter.

What was different to recent weeks was Portsmouth’s character when going behind. They looked eager to get on with the game and respond, in which they did.

Skipper Naylor nodded his eight goal of the season to put Pompey level minutes before the interval. Wide-man Ronan Curtis, who didn’t really affect the game up until the 40th minute, swung in a delicious in-swinging corner for Naylor to rise above a cluster of players and head home.

Pompey started the second half the same way they finished the first. They posed threat from a set-piece again after Curtis swung another teasing corner into the area for Naylor to attack. Holy got something on it to divert it away from goal, but Raggett followed up and nearly capitalised.

The Cowley brothers altered the team’s personnel with a stroke of genius. Cowley gave Curtis the license to play more inside the pitch rather than left-midfield to cause Aristote Nsiala and James Wilson issues after teasing Luke Chambers all half. As a result, the 24-year-old assisted the winner moments later.

Curtis fizzed a low cross into the box which latched on to Harness to strike. The first shot was blocked, but the ball fell kindly to the former Burton Albion man and he made no mistake from 12-yards out, hammering the ball back across goal and into the bottom left corner.

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Harness’ seventh goal of the campaign brings him up to 15 goal contributions this season, and manager Cowley was satisfied with his showing:

”He’s a top player.

‘He’s a really good player. I love the way he moves. I think he’s bright, he’s intelligent, he’s good in a 1v1 moment, he’s got good end product… and he’s got the ability to score goals. You expect double figures from him and I think he can give us double figures.

‘It’s great to work with him, we’re just going to try and help him by getting him the ball quicker… and then we’re going to keep working on our combinations to then help him create more goals and score more goals.”’

‘It was never going to be perfect today… what can be perfect, always, is the attitude, the work ethic and mindset and we work really hard on those qualities. That was evident and I thought we sped up the play, but at times we forced it and didn’t quite understand when to play quickly and when to counter.

Marquis and co continued to roar from the stands, encouraging their teammates to maintain the relentless press. The shouts worked a treat, disrupting Paul Cook’s side from playing out from the back and through the thirds.

Cowley’s Pompey leapfrog Ipswich and Gillingham to 7th in the table and will look to make it two wins on the bounce next Saturday away at Shrewsbury Town.

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