Article body analysed
Football
Portsmouth
vs Derby County. Sky Bet Championship.
3: 00pm, Saturday 12th April 2025.
Fratton Park Attendance: Attendance20, 412.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Portsmouth and Derby County at Fratton Park on Saturday; Rob Atkinson scores twice at right end and one own goal as he earns Pompey a point. Saturday 12 April 2025 18: 13, UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Rob Atkinson scored an unusual 'hat-trick' as he earned Portsmouth a dramatic 2-2 draw against relegation rivals Derby at Fratton Park. The centre-back had cancelled out Jerry Yates' opener before putting through his own goal in a manic five minutes of a crunch encounter. Pompey had seen Colby Bishop's early penalty saved but secured a point when Atkinson found the net for the third time in stoppage time. County had only picked up 11 away points all season while Pompey had won 10 of their last 14 at home - but there was nervous energy on the south coast. Matt Ritchie found himself clear behind the Derby defence in the fifth minute but was taken out by goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom. Zetterstrom escaped with a yellow card but Pompey were awarded their sixth penalty of the season - more than any other Championship club. Bishop - a Nottingham Forest fan who played for Derby from the age of seven to his release at 15 - stepped up but his powerful strike was saved by Zetterstrom.
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The ball bounced from one end to the other as things went from frenetic to frantic, with Craig Forsyth blazing over the bar for the Rams after being teed up by Matt Clarke in the box. Marcus Harness then attempted an in-swinger which caught keeper Nicolas Schmid out and came back off the crossbar and post. At the other end, Ritchie clipped a free-kick onto the roof of the goal before Christian Saydee bulldozed his way into the box before his low piledriver was kept out by Zetterstrom. Harness, against his former club, was lively and created the greatest moments of quality. He had a point-blank range header caught by Schmid before firing over after a one-two with Yates. Plenty of late tackles, by both teams, could have seen a red card while Josh Murphy managed to clear the Milton Road End stand with a wayward effort. If anything the second half was more bonkers as it added goals to the mix. Forsyth had twice forced saves out of Schmid, and Murphy had blasted into the side-netting, before three goals came in five minutes. Derby struck first as Forsyth pinged a perfect cross from the left for Yates to power in for his ninth goal of the season. But seconds later Pompey were level as Murphy's corner was diverted in by Atkinson. Yates managed to head wide of an open goal but minutes later Derby reclaimed the lead when substitute Kayden Jackson drove down the left and smashed a low cross into the middle, which Atkinson could only slice into his own goal. The points were eventually shared when Schmid's long ball forward found the head of Atkinson in the first minute of added time. Portsmouth's John Mousinho: "Rob is a player who has had two years of serious injuries at Bristol City. We have managed him back into the fold since he arrived in January. "There aren't too many players with five games left of their loan who would have risked what Rob risked today. "He's going to go back to Bristol City after his loan but he played like he had a four-year contract with Portsmouth. "I am pleased we have characters like him in our dressing room. He was pencilled in to play 60 minutes and he went beyond that and left everything out there. " Derby's John Eustace: "I think it is an excellent all-round performance. I don't think many people would have expected us to get a result here. "I think the effort and desire and commitment was there for all to see but when you go into the last five or six minutes 2-1 up I expected us to see it out. "We were under a lot of pressure and they put a lot of good balls into the box but overall we defended it well, just not well enough to get the three points. "I thought it was a really good Championship game where both teams wanted to win the game and went toe-to-toe. To come away with a point is pleasing but it is disappointing not to get all three. "We are just taking each game as it comes now. " The £250, 000 is up for grabs with Super 6, and as always it is completely free to play. Entries by 3pm Saturday.
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