Chris Powell pours praise on two-goal Jason Demetriou

Posted Sunday, February 18, 2018 by PA

Southend manager Chris Powell led the applause for Jason Demetriou after the right-back scored twice in the 3-1 win against Portsmouth at Roots Hall.

A brace from the Cypriot international saw unbeaten boss Powell secure a fourth win in five games since coming to the club.

And Powell was full of praise for the impact made by Demetriou.

“JD (Jason Demetriou) has got a couple of goals and I gave him a standing ovation which I thought he deserved,” said Powell.

“He’s been very, very good and he took his goals well although I’m told his second was actually an own goal but I’ll let him claim it.”

“He’s a good finisher and he’s helped win us the game but I don’t think we played well.

“That’s the strange thing about it but it’s the end of a three-game week.

“That takes a lot out of you so maybe that had something to do with how we started.

“However, we found ourselves 2-0 up after 12 minutes and managed the game well after that.

“Conceding like we did made it a bit edgy but Michael Turner and Anton Ferdinand played really, really well and were very clever with how they defended.”

The Shrimpers – who are now 13th in the League One standings – went in front after just three minutes when Portsmouth defender Matt Clarke thundered the ball into his own net when attempting to tackle Shayon Harrison.

A resurgent Southend doubled their lead in the 12th minute when Demetriou blasted home a Stephen McLaughlin pass from 20 yards but the visitors got back in the game in the 36th minute when Gareth Evans tapped home from close range after Brett Pitman had teed him up.

However, Portsmouth’s hopes of a comeback were hit midway through the second half when Nathan Thompson was dismissed for a late challenge on Ben Coker.

The Shrimpers stayed on top and sealed their win in the 84th minute when Dru Yearwood charged forward and teed up Demetriou to net with a calm finish from 12 yards

That made Demetriou Southend’s top scorer with eight goals and frustrated Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett, whose side have now triumphed just once in 2018.

“We were too brittle at the back and we are not keeping clean sheets like we were before Christmas,” said Jackett.

“The goals we are conceding are not great ones and we are now giving ourselves mountains to climb.

“I have no complaints about the red card to Nathan Thompson either.

“It was right in front of me and the tackle was high.”