Plymouth’s party will have to wait

HUNDREDS of mobile phones were being refreshed, reloaded and refreshed again for good measure. The days of relying on the crackle of a transistor radio for news from other grounds may have passed, but modern technology doesn’t alleviate the crippling suspense.

Not one Plymouth supporter left the away end at Fratton Park. Nobody wanted to miss the possible promotion party.

And for about 10 delirious irious minutes, celebrations were re in full swing as news spread that hat Leyton Orient had taken a 21 lead at Luton Town. As it t stood, Argyle were going up to League One there and then.

But the mood would soon deflate. A late Luton equaliser meant the promotion party would have to wait. An eerie silence replaced joyyous chants of ‘The Greens are going up!’ When the final whishistle sounded at Kenilworth Road, about 30 minutes after the concluonclusion here, they vacated the away stand quickly and quietly.

But Plymouth will go up, there’s almost no question about that. They need just one point, ideally at home to Newport on Monday.

Portsmouth, too, are on the brink of leaving the fourth tier. They might even do it on Monday, when they will be backed by more than 4,500 fans at Notts County.

Sky Sports coverage was the reason for the 2.30pm kick-off and the half-hour of nail-chewing suspense as 3pm games caught up. Those who tuned in or packed Fratton Park were rewarded with an entertaining contest and both these sides will look the part in League One. Pompey boss Paul Cook had bought two bottles of champagne for Plymouth counterpart Derek Adams, but they will remain on ice for now.

Adams said: ‘We came here to do a job and we did that, we came away with a point. We’ve got a fabulous away record. It was a big game for both clubs and I thought both teams handled it very well. We’ve got four games now to get over the finishing line and it’s important we do that as soon as we can.

‘The players are in good spirits, they have performed well today and we look forward to Monday.’ It looked like promotion would be sealed here when Jake Jervis thundered home a header from a Gary Sawyer cross to hand Plymouth a 12th-minute lead. The intervention of Jervis, who briefly played for Pompey in 2014, infuriated the home crowd. But it proved a rare moment of attacking enterprise from the visitors in a dockyard derby that Portsmouth controlled, with 67 per cent possession and 22 shots on goal. Cook demanded more at half-time and, backed by waves of noise from their famously raucous supporters, Pompey scored a goal that had been coming.

Kyle Bennett crossed from the left and keeper Luke McCormick and Yann Songo’o got in one another’s way, allowing Gary Roberts (left) a tap-in.

Pompey searched for a winner but a Conor Chaplin header that missed the target by inches was the best of their late efforts.

Portsmouth assistant manager Leam Richardson said: ‘We’ll keep plugging away, nothing is over until it’s over.

‘Hopefully we’ll get where we want to be on Monday.’