View: Hudson comments justified after Portsmouth Academy setback
Sam Hudson made his frustration clear after Portsmouth Academy were beaten by their Plymouth Argyle counterparts on Saturday.
While the senior side were firing on all cylinders with an emphatic 4-1 win over Coventry City, the youngsters were falling to a 2-0 loss in the Youth Alliance League.
Jared Rendle and Jensen Ireland were on target for Plymouth in the first half and Pompey had no response in the second 45 at Millennium Fields.
Speaking to the club’s website [22 December] after the match on 21 December, manager Hudson said: “It was a disappointing result considering that it was actually a very even game.
“We conceded an early goal after losing the ball in midfield and then getting opened up, which was frustrating.
“The weather played quite a big part in proceedings and the quality of the pitch was terrible. It meant that it was quite a bitty game.”
Portsmouth youngsters beaten by Plymouth Argyle
Hudson was right in calling out the quality of the pitch, which was clearly not helped by the poor weather last week, but the bigger frustration is with his players.
In fairness, Michael Ani and Harry Clout were both part of the senior squad, so some Under-15s players had to be called up by Hudson.
Still, conceding twice in the first half to Plymouth and failing to offer a response is not the way the youngsters envisioned 2024 ending, coming on the back of a cup loss to Leeds United at Fratton Park.
There were some positives to take from the contest, though, as Dimani Kearney, Lucas Blake and Billy Gilhooly all made their debuts for the Under-18s.
Hudson’s charges now have some time to reflect on the year, ahead of resuming action in around a month’s time.
And Hudson will be eager for a response when the game with Forest Green Rovers comes around on 25 January.
In other Portsmouth news, Pompey deleted a post on X at the weekend that appeared to mock Coventry boss Frank Lampard.
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