Fair Play to Pompey...To Pompey, Fair Play

A packed Home Park played host to a high-quality affair between Dockyard Derby rivals and Sky Bet League 2 promotion contenders. Yann Songo'o put the Greens ahead mid-way through the first half, but goals from Kyle Bennett and Danny Rose had the visitors ahead late on.

Argyle were still able to maintain their recent unbeaten run in the league (now at eleven games - the best run since 2001), however, as Connor Smith placed home from the edge of the area. Smith came on as a second-half substitute from the bench, where emotions were high for most of the match.

“I know that Paul Cook and his staff are very vocal on the touchline,” said Adams. “They like to put pressure on individuals in the game - that’s their nature.

“Sometimes that benefits them, and I’ve seen that since I’ve come to England. It’s something they do week in, week out. I think that you have to try and deal with that the best way you can.

“You could see from the Portsmouth bench when they scored their two goals what it meant to them, and then you could see what it meant to us when we scored the equaliser.”

As for matters between the white lines, talented forwards such as Conor Chaplin and Bennett showed plenty of glimpses of their potential during the game, but the boss was pleased to see the clear threat of Pompey limited for large spells.

“Bennett’s their best player,” said Derek. “He’s very lively - we’ve seen that on a number of occasions - but they’ve got a lot of very talented players in the forward areas.

“He didn’t really do anything in the game, I didn’t think - it was all in the wide areas,” was Adams’ assessment of Chaplin’s display. “I didn’t think that he caused us any problems through the middle - he was drifting out wide. I thought he would’ve played through the middle more, but that’s the type of team that they are; they interchange quite a bit.

“Portsmouth are a very good side - they’re the best we’ve played this season, and they’re always going to be, because of the squad they’re able to generate this season. I don’t want to play against them too often. They’re a very good side, they move the ball well, and I think that we’ve done exceptionally well against them in the past.”