Striker reveals the secret of his penalty success
Goalkeepers will often study the form of penalty takers to decide which way to dive.
But Matt Tubbs showed that strikers are also capable of doing their homework to help Pompey win 2-1 at Plymouth.
The striker netted just before the break in Devon, smashing his spot-kick down the middle after Enda Stevens had been fouled.
Gary Roberts added another penalty in the second half before Gregg Wylde’s late consolation.
And Tubbs – who topped the League Two scoring charts last term – was delighted to set the Blues on their way to a third straight victory.
He said: “Going through the middle is not what I usually do, but I know a couple of their lads and I knew they’d tell the goalkeeper where I normally go.
“I thought that he’s not just going to stand in the middle, so I decided that’s exactly where I would put it.
“I know that keepers often do their homework for penalties, but I wanted to show that strikers can do the same thing.
“As long as I hit it with enough power then I knew it was going in the net and thankfully that’s what happened.
“It’s a great result because this is a tough place to come. Lots of sides will visit Plymouth this season and go away with nothing.
“But we’ve come back with all three points thanks to a good, solid performance.
“It was tough towards the end, although we managed to see the match out and get the result we wanted.”
Tubbs will return to his former club Crawley on Tuesday night as Pompey look to maintain their impressive start to the season.
He said: “I don’t think there are many players left from my time there, but we’ll go there with the same mentality that we’ve had for every match.
“We’ll look to take the game to them and go there with plenty of confidence as we look to get another win.”