Cowley's Key Role

ACADEMY midfielder David Cowley made his first start for the Reserves at Portsmouth and played a key role in the 3-1 win.

Playing in an advanced midfield role, David pulled the strings as Kevin Keen's men fought back in the second-half, while playing some excellent football.

The 17-year-old Second Year Scholar was delighted to have played a part in such a good team performance.

"It was a good win and a strong performance in the second-half," he said. "Kevin changed things around at half-time and pushed me further forward behind Bobby Zamora, which worked well.

"We created some chances in the first-half, but at half-time Kevin told us that we needed to up it and he motivated everybody in the right way because in the second-half everybody upped their game and played with a lot more confidence.

"My favourite position is tucked in behind the front man and I thought that the team benefited from it tonight.

"Everything seemed to come off for us in the second-half. We were passing the ball around well and we all seemed to be linking up nicely. We also made the most of our chances, which we hadn't done in the first-half, and we were delighted to get the result."

David was due to figure in last week's Reserve game against Cyrstal Palace, but was forced to pull out through injury. So the midfielder was determined to put on a good show when he was named as a late inclusion in Kevin Keen's line-up for the Portsmouth game.

"As soon as I heard that I was playing I got myself focused on the match," he explained. "I didn't play last week because of an injury so I was really pleased to get the chance against Portsmouth and I just felt raring to go.

"Hopefully I can push on from here and play more Reserve matches this season. That's my aim and if I work hard then hopefully I'll keep my place in the team."