'I've always dreamed of this': Portsmouth's hero achieves ambition 35 years in the making after destroying Newcastle rivals Middlesbrough
Matt Ritchie finally toasted the achievement of an ambition 35 years in the making and insisted: I always dreamed of this moment.
The midfielder had never previously scored a senior goal at Fratton Park, although did register for Swindon against the Blues in September 2012.
However, the Gosport lad today netted twice in the second half against Middlesbrough to inspire Pompey to a 2-1 success.
Ritchie came through the youth ranks to make his Pompey debut in April 2010 against Aston Villa - now, almost 15 years later, he finally has his first Fratton goal.
He told The News: ‘As a kid, scoring at Fratton Park was something I dreamed of.
‘I once scored a few goals in a charity game for Kanu when I was a kid. It was a great game, I loved it. Great memories.
‘I scored here once for Swindon against Pompey, my boyhood club. I scored against Bournemouth for Newcastle, it’s a strange, strange feeling.
‘A feeling of joy because you are working for the football club and you have a huge feeling for the team - and I’m a winner, I want to win.
‘To score against Pompey was not a nice feeling. To score for Pompey at Fratton Park, that was very enjoyable.’
The Blues had fallen behind to Emmanuel Latte Lath’s 30th-minute opener, ensuring they went in at the break trailing.
However, Ritchie levelled in the 54th minute with a classy finish from a wonderful Freddie Potts pass, before securing victory 82 minutes from time with a right-footed shot.
It represented a fifth home win in six matches, the other being a goalless draw against Norwich last month.
Ritchie added: ‘It’s fantastic to get the win, but I’m a realist. We are in the bottom three, it’s a step in the right direction, it’s three more points, and there is a lot more hard work to be done.
‘We have to recover and go again on Wednesday. It’s part of the process of where we want to go, it's what we want to achieve. We want to solidify our status as a Championship football club, we have to perform and win home games.
‘We have done that, but we can’t get carried away. We have to keep calm, level headed and continue to perform in a consistent way home and away.’