Fulham v Portsmouth: An opinion

I have never been to a match which featured two such contrasting halves of football. During the first 45 minutes I was constantly on my feet as David James was forced to pull off save after save. For most of the second I was slumped in my seat; unable to comprehend the horror show happening in front of my eyes.

Before the match started I had predicted a 1-1 scoreline, but after witnessing the flowing moves, the superb cross-field passes, the exquisite skills of Bouazza and the damage being inflicted by Dempsey, I revised that opinion to 2-0. Ironically I got the scoreline right - I just didn't believe it would end up being a home reverse.

Whatever Harry said to his boys in the dressing room did the trick. The Pompey side that emerged from the tunnel at 5.15pm was vastly different to the one that we had been turning inside out. After their second goal hit the back of the net you knew it was over. The players' reactions said it all. They were defeated and we would be leaving empty-handed.

Even Sanchez' s triple substitution had little effect. Seol, being used as a right winger, cut in well, but Kamara was contained and Murphy invisible. It was only thanks to some saves from Keller and some last ditch tackling by the ever-consistent Konchesky that kept the scoreline respectable - if that's what you can call a 2-0 defeat...at home.

For me, yesterday summed up our season perfectly: brilliant, exciting football, but an inability to kill off games and weakness in the defence and midfield which allows teams a route back into matches - no matter how undeserved. Lawrie can talk all he likes about how well we've been playing etc, but that doesn't matter a jot. All we should be caring about is getting points.