Portsmouth finally picked up their second away win of the season by beating relegation favourites Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
A second-half strike from Adrain Segečic was enough for Pompey to get the job done and record their first win away from home since the first game of the season against Oxford United.
3 points were not the only positive for John Mousinho’s side, with encouraging debuts from new signings Millenic Alli and Ebou Adams, as well as 56 minutes into the legs of the returning Connor Ogilvie.
Alli was thrown into the XI for his Pompey start, while Adams, who joined from Derby County on Friday, was named amongst the substitutes bench.
And Ogilvie came in for Luke Le Roux, for his first start in a Blues shirt since the knee injury he picked up in a nil-nil draw at home to Wrexham back in November.
Regan Poole came close to opening the scoring just two minutes in, but the defender's header from Alli’s cross was saved by Wednesday debutant Murphy Cooper in The Owls’ net.
Terry Devlin then had a chance moments later, but the Northern Ireland international’s left-footed effort went just wide of the post.
Not much happened for the remainder of the half from either side, with Segečic and Alli each having efforts, but neither chance caused any problems for the Wednesday backline.
HALF-TIME: Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Portsmouth
Early on in the second half, Ebou Adams was on for his Portsmouth debut, as the 30-year-old midfielder replaced Connor Ogilvie, with Zak Swanson moving to left-back.
Henrik Pedersen made a triple change, with Yisa Alao, Jarvis Thornton, and Pompey Wembley hero Jamal Lowe coming off for Reece Johnson, Jaden Heskey, and Charlie McNeill.
The Blues eventually found a breakthrough, when Alli’s ball to the back-post was met by Segečic, who sliced the ball off the post and into the back of the net to make it 1-0, on 65 minutes.
Portsmouth managed to see out the rest of the game and 5 minutes of additional time to achieve a first three points since the end of December.
FULL-TIME: Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Portsmouth
Next up: One final pit-stop before next Sunday’s south coast derby, as Portsmouth visit Watford on Wednesday evening.
Last season, it was a last-gasp defeat on Boxing Day for John Mousinho’s side, when Roco Vata scored a 95th-minute winner at Vicarage Road.
Javi Garcia’s side are currently sat 8th in the Championship, after they lost 2-0 at home to fellow play-off rivals Millwall in one of the three early kick-offs.
Sheffield Wednesday: 13. Cooper (GK), 7. Valery, 22. Otegbayo, 2. Palmer
(15. Redmond), 4. Fusire, 33. Alao (27. Johnson), 37. Thornton (Heskey), 8. Ingelsson, 10. Bannan (C), 9. Lowe (17. McNeil), 18. Cadamarteri (Formation: 3-5-2)
Unused subs: 25. Stretch (GK), 17. McNeil, 20. Shipston, 27. Johnson, 28. McGhee, 32. Emery, 40. Moses
Manager: Henrik Pedersen
Portsmouth: 1. Schmid (GK), 24. Devlin, 5. Poole, 6. Shaughnessy, 3. Ogilvie (38. Adams), 21. Dozzell, 22. Swanson, 36. Chaplin, 27. Alli (2. Williams), 10. Segečic, 9. Bishop (C) (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 26. Bursik (GK), 8. Swift, 16. Le Roux, 17. Bowat, 19. Farrell, 25. Kirk, 46. Singerr
Goals: Segečic 65’
Bookings: Ogilvie 31’, Chaplin 77’
Head coach: John Mousinho
Referee: John Busby
Venue: Hillsborough
Attendance: 21,351 (including 1,600+ Pompey fans)
For more reaction to the game, take a listen back to the Pompey Live: Extra-Time podcast from today's broadcast at Hillsborough - Jake Smith was joined by Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson for the match.
The Football Hour will also be back on Monday (January 19th) evening from 6pm with Jake Smith, Jay Clements and Joe Wood to further analyse the performance and look ahead to the Blues' midweek trip to Watford.
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