Butcher Claims Bragging Rights Over Osman at Portman Cup Monday, 23rd May 2016 15:50 Terry Butcher claimed bragging rights over his former central defensive partner Russell Osman as his side ran out 11-2 victors at the 2016 Portman Cup at Portman Road on Friday afternoon. Butcher and Osman - 35 years to the day since they helped the Blues to the UEFA Cup - took charge of two teams of fans who had paid for the privilege of gracing the hallowed turf, alongside ex-pros Jason Dozzell, James Pullen, Steve McGavin, Alan Lee and Simon Milton. The players arrived at Portman Road at 1.30pm to find their kit laid out in the dressing rooms, just as the real teams' would be on a Saturday afternoon. Prior to kick-off, the sides were introduced to their managers before taking part in a warm-up on the practice pitch and being given a team-talk. Butcher - whose team featured TWTD’s Phil Ham, the Portman Cup’s perpetual Jonah with a record of played four, lost four going into the match - said he was back in what was the home dressing room in his day, but which is now used by visiting teams, for the first time in almost 30 years and that the memories were flooding back.  Pointing to the rather dilapidated kicking block, he recalled Kevin Beattie taking bites out of it prior to games. Having made their way through the tunnel and out on to the Portman Road turf, man on the microphone Milton read out the players’ names as they waved to a somewhat below capacity crowd and hands were shaken with the opposition - and death threats issued by at least one ex-pro - and officials. The game started at a frenetic derby-like pace and Butcher’s side immediately took charge, quickly going into the lead via Andrew Seymour. Despite losing academy head of recruitment and legendary Colchester striker McGavin - who was operating in a rarely seen role as a Franco Baresi-esque libero - to a hamstring injury, the away team kept up the pressure and Seymour added a second.  The away side’s number nine added a brilliant third, curling into the top corner from the edge of the box, to complete a quickfire hat-trick - the first one scored at Portman Road during 2015/16 - before third-time, with the game being played in three chunks of 30 minutes, much to the relief of those players of more advanced years and declining fitness. Osman made what he hoped would be his game-changing substitution ahead of the second third, bringing on Dozzell to reprise his late eighties/early nineties role pulling the strings in central midfield.  However, the one-time Spurs man was given no time to settle into the game. Having received the ball from the restart, he was quickly closed down by away striker Chris Thompson and Ham - who Butcher had now switched to a number 10 role from what had proved an overly-taxing largely running-based left-sided position - who stole the ball from the former England U21 international. Ham brought the ball forward and fed Thompson, who curled home a brilliant strike of his own from the edge of the box. The same combination quickly made it 5-0 as Thompson crossed low from the right and Ham delicately scuffed into the net on the turn from the edge of the six-yard box. Blues U18s coach Lee sparked a brief revival from Osman’s side, rolling back to years to climb high to nod home from a corner to pull one back. But, after Dozzell had narrowly failed to exact his pre-match death threat on Ham via an X-rated challenge, normal service was soon resumed with Thompson netting his second and Seymour his fourth to make it 7-1 at two-thirds time.  Butcher’s team continued to show their ruthless side and in the final third skipper Paul Sparkes and Milton added their names to the scoresheet, Thompson joined Seymour in taking his tally to four, while Ramon Bak grabbed a second for Osman’s side with the otherwise largely untroubled Pullen, who is these days Town’s kit man, beaten from a tight angle. The match was followed by a penalty shoot-out to give everyone the chance to say they have scored at Portman Road with the away side again the victors.  Butcher’s victorious side were then handed the trophy - which had undergone extensive repairs since Zach Ward dropped it having won it the last time it was played for in 2014 - and celebrated on the pitch. In truth, it was one of the closer 11-2s you’ll ever see with the home side having plenty of the ball but finding it difficult to break down the away team’s backline with centre-halves Adam Dunn and Simon Aldred forming a resolute pairing after McGavin’s early departure. At the post-match presentations following a two-course buffet in the Sir Bobby Robson Suite, Osman said he felt Butcher’s team’s speed up front was the key to their victory: “We didn’t quite have as much pace in certain areas as the away team did.  “It’s the one thing that is very difficult to play against at any level of the game, professional, international, even non-league. If players have got pace against you and you’re on a big pitch like this, they can expose you time and time again. “Skilful players you can deal with, you can kick them off the pitch or something like that, but the quicker ones are very hard to deal with and I think that’s where we came undone.”  Osman named Zach Ward as his side’s man of the match, then picked the incident where Dozzell was robbed of the ball right at the start of the second third as the game’s Most Memorable Moment, his one-time Town team-mate accepting the award in the spirit it which it was intended, even if he claimed he had been fouled. Butcher agreed with Osman’s assessment of the game: “I think Russell summed it up perfectly, we had pace and when you’ve got two strikers who score eight goals between them then you’ve got a chance of winning the match. “After the second period when it was 7-1, the boys said they wanted to go for 10. I thought, do I say to them, ‘Come on, let the other team get a few goals and enjoy it’? “But I thought no, because if I’d have said that they would have lynched me, so they went for 10 and got more.  “I was very lucky to have such a great bunch of lads. Everybody played tremendously well.” Was he particularly pleased to put one over on his old mate? “That sort of thing doesn’t bother me, but it was nice. I just felt sorry for him because we had a really good team and it was difficult for him.  “I don’t think he could have done anything to stem the flow because we had some terrific pace in the team and even though we changed it around a few times we looked like we could have scored more goals than we did. “It was lovely to be back. I played a testimonial in about ’88 or ’89 before they reversed the dressing rooms. It’s changed for the better because it’s now bigger.  “I never actually brought a team here to play as a manager but I would imagine it would be nice because it’s a magnificent stadium, it always was but it is even more so now. Butcher said there were plenty of candidates for his team’s Man of the Match award but handed it to Seymour, whose early hat-trick was the foundation for the victory. Seymour’s third goal was Butcher’s pick as the Goal of the Match. He added: “It was lovely to come back today and meet up with my great pal Russell, Jason and Alan and everybody else.  “It’s a great stadium, a great occasion and I think today there was some lovely football played and I must credit the opposition because they kept going. They didn’t just chuck it in they kept going, wanted to score, left themselves a bit open and we scored one or two more. I thought it was a great game of football. “Thanks very much to my team for giving me such a special moment, it’s nice to be a winning manager again. I haven’t had that experience for about 10 years! “It was nice to win, but it didn’t really matter who won or lost, it was just a nice feeling to be in the dugout and encourage the boys who played for us. I was really delighted with my team.”  If you’re interested in playing in next year’s Portman Cup, send an email to the club’s commercial department. You can see more photos from the Portman Cup on the club’s Facebook page. Home team: Shaun Beadle, Chris Hodges, Jason Dozzell, Nick Sparkes, Ramon Bak, Kevin Boyles, Alan Lee, Michael Dove, Dean Smith, Craig Bacon, Jack Trorey, Malcolm Woolnough, Zach Ward. Away team: James Pullen, Adam Dunn, Phil Ham, Simon Milton, Jawa Tacey, Simon Aldred, Andrew Seymour, Chris Thompson, Connor Peck, George Ashford, Steve McGavin, Pat Lewis, Paul Sparkes. Officials: Colin Richards, David Sale, Jerry Thompson, Andy Wilding. Photos: Ruth Fawcett
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