Sam Hudson bemoaned his Pompey Academy team’s “careless” performance in the FA Youth Cup at Eastleigh.
The young Blues were beaten 2-1 on a soggy evening on the M27, meaning they were eliminated at the first hurdle.
Maxwell Hurst’s header in stoppage time proved to be little more than consolation for the hosts, who took the lead with goals from Sam Godfroy and Lewis Colvin after the break.
And Hudson admitted that his side were just not good enough to hurt their opponents in the final third.
Pompey’s lead professional development phase coach said: “It’s extremely disappointing to be knocked out in the first round.
“For the majority of the game, we were second best in a lot of areas and that’s what is particularly frustrating.
“We were quite careless with the ball and inaccurate in our passing. There wasn’t too much rhythm and our positioning wasn’t great.
“They were getting in the way of each other at times and some of the basics of movement just weren’t there.
“If you’re not good in possession and don’t show fight or resilience, then it’s going to be difficult to beat anyone.”
The first half and the beginning of the second lacked “our press, our intensity, our sprinting, and our duels, which we pride ourselves on. It isn’t like us.
It’ll be challenging to defeat anyone if you lack tenacity, grit, and skill in the possession game.
Without the ball, Eastleigh was a well-organized team. They led 1-0 at halftime after having two shots.
We entered the penalty area more than 40 times in the interim, but we were unable to make any progress. In the last third, we were not ahead.
“Mitch Aston was the greatest player on the field and took the lead with his performance, which is the one minor positive I can draw from the evening.
He was the only one on our end that most likely left with credit because he never concealed. He has a good head for his age.
“We still have three cup competitions left, so we still have an opportunity to make amends, but this is the most prestigious, and it hurts to lose so early.”
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