‘It was embarrassing to be fair’ – Portsmouth boss Sadler reacts to derby defeat | OneFootball

Portsmouth manager Jay Sadler was bitterly disappointed after his side fell to a 5-0 defeat to neighbours Southampton at Fratton Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Saints took the derby bragging rights thanks to Rianna Dean’s brace and goals from Megan Collett and Molly Pike. The other goal came in the form of a Portsmouth own goal.

Speaking to media after the match, Portsmouth boss Sadler admitted that the derby defeat was hugely disappointing and felt that his team lacked ownership on the pitch in a difficult second half.

He said “It was embarrassing if I’m being honest with you. Not Portsmouth at all.

“I thought we competed well in the first half, the goal was a difficult one to take; we worked on that, we knew they were going to play short corners and we needed to stay together. Unfortunately, it’s come off Riva [Casley].

“We’ve had chances in that game. It was a cagey first half and Eve’s [Annets] made some good saves. I always thought there was a threat in-behind that we could spin and play for Megan [Hornby], but second half, it was just unidentifiable in that.

“Three goals in three minutes, no leaders on the pitch, nobody taking ownership in a game of this magnitude against your arch-rivals at Fratton Park.”

Continuing on, Sadler stated that he felt there was an inability to take chances and attributes the team’s struggles to a lack of confidence.

He said “We are trying to find solutions to the problems that we’re facing and I felt we did that in the first half. I felt we didn’t allow them to play vertical through the half-spaces with the runners they had and every time they did play wide to put a cross in, I felt we had a body there to stop them.

“Second half, that moment where we brought off some players, and obviously with Emma Jones and Sophie Barker coming off, I feel we lost leadership in that group. I’ve got to take ownership of that because the players that were on the pitch needed to problem-solve together. I don’t think we did that and ultimately, they smelt blood and they punished.

“I think it’s a lack of confidence from a group of players that have scored one goal, and it was an own goal, all season.

“We’re not taking chances when we do create them and we’re shipping in a lot of goals, so it’s not like it’s one or the other. It’s an amalgamation of both and I think confidence is a fragile commodity. It’s very hard to build and it only takes one moment or a few moments to lose it and I think today, we just lost confidence and a lot of players instead of rising and taking ownership, they have gone the other way. That’s nothing against their character, that’s just a moment and occasion like this that sometimes gets to the best of us.”

A healthy crowd were in attendance at Fratton Park and Sadler admitted that he was gutted to send the majority home frustrated.

He said “It’s great to see so many of them and especially so many younger fans as well. We want to inspire the next generation, we want as many people from Portsmouth to come and be proud of their women’s team. Ultimately, to do that, you’ve got to have a good product on the pitch and we’re letting them down at the minute.

“I’ve never had to apologise to the fans and I feel gutted for them. I’m devastated that they’ve had to go away having seen us lose 5-0 to Southampton. It’s absolutely devastating. I’m not from around this area, but I know exactly how much it means, it really hurts.”

Portsmouth are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Bristol City in the Barclays Women’s Championship.