Pompey earned a very creditable 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium yesterday despite finishing the match against Oxford with ten men courtesy of Adam McGurk's stunning equaliser.
The whole game ended up being a battle, especially in the first half hour with little created by either team and fouls aplenty. The only noteworthy actions of this period was Michael Doyle receiving a yellow card for a foul on Liam Sercombe and Conor Chaplin being replaced by Matt Tubbs because of an injury that the youngster claims is nothing serious, thankfully.
Oxford took the initiative after that change as Danny Hylton's shot was deflected behind goal. The following corner then resulted in a goal as the ball broke to an unmarked Sercombe outside of the box and he drilled the ball past Paul Jones for the opener.
The closest Pompey came to scoring in the first half was when Ben Davies curled a free kick narrowly wide but Oxford were well on top come the end of the half.
Jones did well to tip Johnny Mullins' header over the bar from Danny Rose's free kick and then in the last minute of stoppage time he somehow denied Kemar Roofe one-on-one as he just about parried his effort wide after the midfielder took advantage of some confusion at the back.
The second half saw Paul Cook's men improve slightly on their first half showing as Adam Barton came on for Nigel Atangana. They immediately created a good chance when Gareth Evans almost met McGurk's cross from the left but Sam Slocombe managed to prevent the ball being turned in.
That was as good as it got for a while, however, as any promising Pompey moves were thwarted by their own poor passing with the ball constantly finding the touchline nearest to the away supporters whose frustration was ever building, especially when Evans took a corner that rolled straight out for a goal kick for what must be the worst corner kick ever taken.
But that frustration soon turned to pure ecstasy as Pompey equalised with a goal from nothing. McGurk looked like he had nothing on when he picked up the ball from over 35 yards out and so he decided to run onto it before blasting it past the helpless Slocombe. It was funny to hear Michael Appleton say he was "extremely disappointed" that his goalkeeper didn't save the shot in his post-match interview as it looked like he had no chance of saving it!
That goal settled the visitors down and they began to play the better football in search of a winning goal. The only real chance they created was when McGurk produced another cross from the left only for Kyle Bennett's shot from the centre of the box to be blocked.
Any hopes of Pompey pinching the three points were dashed when Doyle was sent off with around ten minutes remaining for another foul on Sercombe.
Oxford began to toss balls into the box in hopes of nicking a late winner but the Pompey defence held firm, even if they kept lumping the ball long just to give it back to the hosts.
But they did their jobs well in the end as the final whistle blew to confirm a well earned draw for Portsmouth whose unbeaten league season still remains in tact.
The fact that this was Pompey's worst showing of the season and yet they still managed to earn a draw with ten men is further proof that this may well be our year. It was very satisfying to listen to the home fans squinny about "two points dropped" on the radio after the game as they blamed Appleton's negative tactics for their failure to beat lacklustre Portsmouth.
The performance itself was flat, especially going forward. It might be a good time for the manager to drop Bennett who once again lost the ball too often and wasted the one good chance he had. Evans on the other flank was just as useless going forward with his corner summing up his afternoon.
And as hard as Tubbs worked, he never had a sniff at goal and just doesn't look a threat in the 4-2-3-1 formation. This was a match that was crying out for someone of Gary Roberts' ability as his ability to create chances was certainly missed yesterday.
I'm probably in the minority when I thought Atangana's substitution was a little harsh. Whilst he was guilty of giving the ball away it was no more frequent than some of the other players in the team and he did make a couple of good challenges in the centre of the park.
His replacement in Barton is certainly techincally gifted but even he was guilty of losing the ball and playing Pompey into trouble on one or two occasions. That's probably due to lack of match practice but he now has a chance to stake his claim in the side with Doyle suspended next week.
There were positives to take from the game as even those who were disappointing going forward were still willing to track back. The defence were also fairly solid in the second half with Davies and Burgess particularly impressive whilst Jones made the biggest contribution to the Pompey cause with his two excellent first half saves.
But there's still work to be done to make this team the ruthless machine it needs to be to win promotion. However, as long as this side can pick up points in situations such as yesterday's game then it can only bode well for the future.
Pompey Player Ratings
Paul Jones: 8 - Kept Pompey in it with his saves and never looked like making a mistake.
Ben Davies: 7 - Tenacious and offered something when going forward.
Christian Burgess: 7 - Another confident showing.
Matt Clarke: 6 - A mixed afternoon.
Enda Stevens: 5 - Struggled at times.
Michael Doyle: 6 - Added (too much) steel to the midfield.
Nigel Atangana: 5 - Not as good as previous games.
Gareth Evans: 5 - Put a shift in but useless going forward.
Conor Chaplin: 5 - Never really in the game before injury.
Kyle Bennett: 5 - Nothing came off for him.
Adam McGurk: 8 - Ran himself into the ground and scored a stunner.
Substitutes
Alex Bass
Adam Webster
Adam Barton (Atangana 46): 6 - Will be a quality addition once he gets back into the swing of things.
Danny Hollands (Bennett 82): N/A - Smart tactical move to bring him on when down to ten.
Kal Naismith
Jayden Stockley
Matt Tubbs (Chaplin 30): 5 - Chased lost causes but was never a threat.