Pompey's unlucky Lane streak

[Coily]

1986-7: this game has come up recently on this board: 4 sent off (all in the first half) for the first time since 1955, resulting in the farcical second half. Mind you, whilst the referee (Kelvin Morton) was certifiable and prone to controversy - he once awarded Palace 8 penalties in 3 games, for example - I remember thinking at the time that all the sendings off were fair enough.

As I recall, there wasn't any issue with the sendings off, though due to my Dad and his friends having their usual 'one last pint' at around 2.55 we were only making our way onto the Kop to see Billy Gilbert walking off while turning round and giving the ref a fair old dose of Anglo-Saxon.

From there the tone was set, and I think Kevin Ball went next for a bad challenge, followed by Peter Beagrie and Mick Tate who had a punch up. I remember the Pompey players being counted back onto the pitch for the second half which raised a laugh, as did Paul Mariner's own goal that won it. It made the national BBC News too, which apart from our game with Brentford the week after Hillsborough must have been the only times that decade when we were.

 

[Revolution]

Swindon 2-1 9/2/70
Bristol R 3-2 18/12/76
Bournemouth 1-0 15/8/87
Southampton 2-0 24/8/91
Southampton 2-1 29/9/07
Plymouth 1-0 24/11/07

Bristol City's record at the Lane is terrible too - no win since the 1950's I think. And Plymouth's previous win was in 1939!

Conversely, Bristol Rovers is our worst away trip (no win in 11 games) and our record at the other places is none too clever, except for Bournemouth where we are unbeaten and have won 4 in a row.

From there the tone was set, and I think Kevin Ball went next for a bad challenge, followed by Peter Beagrie and Mick Tate who had a punch up

the bad challenge was on Martin Pike, who was sent flying. I thought that was the last sending off, actually, and Beags and Tait was before that, not that anything turns on it. That was a fantastic game, a real collector's item.

 

[Silent Blade]

As I recall, there wasn't any issue with the sendings off, though due to my Dad and his friends having their usual 'one last pint' at around 2.55 we were only making our way onto the Kop to see Billy Gilbert walking off while turning round and giving the ref a fair old dose of Anglo-Saxon.

From there the tone was set, and I think Kevin Ball went next for a bad challenge, followed by Peter Beagrie and Mick Tate who had a punch up. I remember the Pompey players being counted back onto the pitch for the second half which raised a laugh, as did Paul Mariner's own goal that won it. It made the national BBC News too, which apart from our game with Brentford the week after Hillsborough must have been the only times that decade when we were.

After Billy Gilbert's sending off, Mick Tait and Peter Beagrie got sent off. Shortly before half time it was Kevin Dillon that became the 4th player to be sent off. The Kevin Ball sending off was in October 1989 after he had elbowed John Gannon. we won 2-1, both goals being Peter Duffield penalties

 

[Silent Blade]

Since the incident of Currie giving him some back and sitting on the ball he never had a good word to say on Sheffield Utd and the feelings were mutual not many united fans had anything good to say about him.

Ball's dislike of the Blades was further back than that. After we beat Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup tie in January 1970 he said that we were a "glorified 3rd division club". Probably because we were a 3 sided ground at the time?

 

[Silent Blade]

Great stuff, but I am afraid your memory of 70-71 is wonky. We lost 2-0 at Portsmouth in the 3rd round of the cup on 2/1/71 and then beat them 2-0 at the Lane in the League the following Saturday.

I remember these matches well. My dad and I went on a Train Special to the cup tie. Ray Hiron and Mike Trebilcock (who was Everton's 2 goal hero in their 1966 FA Cup final win against Wendy) were the scorers. In the following week John Tudor (in his last home game for us) headed an early goal. In the 2nd half we got a 2nd with the papers crediting the goal to TC but Eddie Colquhoun made a strong claim for the goal insisting that the shot hit his leg before it went into the net

 

[Sheff de party]

Does film footage exist of the Dellas goal? I seem to remember that it wasn't included on the season review video. If I remember rightly a video came out which took up from the beginning of Warnock's incumbency but clipped a few of the preceding games out.

i was there that day and 40 yards is extremely generous. Wikipedia says 30 yards and that too is generous. it was less than 25, but it was a great strike. any closer he might have actually broken the crossbar.

 

[Revolution]

Well, they took the record back, 23 games and counting....

Here's a list of (I think) all the teams who haven't won at the Lane in 10 or more league games. We still have to play 3 of them this season:

Portsmouth 23 games (plus 2 cup defeats, 1 in each cup) - last victory 1955-6
Bury 22 games (plus no victories in 5 cup meetings) - last victory 1924-5
Preston North End 14 games (plus 1 defeat in league cup and 1 playoff game defeat) - last victory 1978-9
Swansea City 14 games (though they won in 2007 in the FA Cup) - last victory 1938-9
Bristol City 13 games (plus 2 defeats in league cup and 1 draw in playoffs) - last victory 1957-8
Swindon Town 11 games - last victory 1969-70
Crewe 10 games - never won at the Lane

 

[Ballinpigpubs13]

The Tri Dellas goal against em'
Hell of a goal !

 

[William Large]

I seem to remember winning 4 - 1 against pompey some years ago, towards the end of the game, Glyn Hodges just decided that he'd had enough and ambled across to the dug out from the other side of the pitch. Didn't even shift out of the way of his own players who had to dribble round him!

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

We won then.... Phew!

 

[lawlessdan]

I remember being gutted we didn't eat them in the triple assault season. Bloody Deon Burton.

 

[Deleted member 875]

I think there is something in that. The teams from the far south and south west hardly ever win at the Lane.

If we take Plymouth, Exeter, Torquay, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Yeovil, Swindon, Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Southampton, that lot have only had 6 wins in (I think) 103 games league and cup games going back to 1960.

Swindon 2-1 9/2/70
Bristol R 3-2 18/12/76
Bournemouth 1-0 15/8/87
Southampton 2-0 24/8/91
Southampton 2-1 29/9/07
Plymouth 1-0 24/11/07

Random fact, but on the game against Plymouth in 2007, i was in Prague with my ex-wife as part of my 30th birthday present, and walking over Charles Bridge, i became aware of some television camera's filming someone, and the heavies barging people out of the way, and it was non other than one David Cameron being filmed.