Report by Ben Davis

10-men Pompey were denied a great battling win when five minutes into stoppage time referee Barry Knight awarded Norwich a hotly disputed penalty. Club Captain Martin Allen had been sent off during the first half when he made two late tackles which resulted in two yellow cards and consequently a red one. However, Pompey defended with a lot of heart and it looked as though they had earned a win when Andy Turner put them in front but that late decision left them very unlucky.
Fenwick decided to pick the same side which beat Oxford at the weekend and he also kept the same subs. With Saturday's game with QPR off due to internationals (although it would have been off due the sad death of Diana, princess of Wales) it means the players can work out all the early jitters they have suffered.
The one minutes silence before the game for the death of Diana, princess of Wales was immaculately observed with the large queues of fans outside the ground at the time also observing the silence. Once inside the first chance fell to Igoe after nine minutes. The little midfielder is determined to score goals and he must have felt one was on when McLouglin's through ball sent him away but the shot was well saved by England Under-21 international keeper Andy Marshall.
The game was scrappy with neither side able to break their opposing defence down although Pompey were doing the majority of the attacking play with Pethick doing a good job on the highly dangerous Eadie, another England under-21 international. Pompey felt they should have had a penalty in the 15th minute when Aloisi robbed the ball off Segura only for the Norwich right-back to bring the striker down in the area. Yet referee Knight amazingly waved away the appeals for what looked like a certain spot kick.
Aaron Flahavan made a great save when for the first time Eadie got behind Pompey's defence but the young keeper was quickly off his line to block the shot. The bookings then began to pile up as the game turned nasty. Svensson, who was sliding in all over the place, was booked for a foul on Polston with the defender getting himself booked for a foul later on the Swede.
A large scuffle out on the right wing for Pompey saw Allen and Marshall get booked as they both threw punches. Allen was certainly walking a thin tight rope and it was no surprise when the former West Ham man crunched into Eadie giving the referee no choice but to send him off. Fenwick afterwards said he was disgusted by Allen's actions.
Right at the end of the half, one which saw little in the way of goal bound efforts, Svensson and Segura clashed which led to a massive confrontation between Neil Sillett, the Pompey subs and Norwich striker Fleck.
Even though they were down to ten men Pompey still looked capable of claiming all three points. Norwich though had brought on their talented winger Kieth O'Neill, who with Eadie could easily swing the game the visitor's way, at half-time with Fleck going off.
Svensson's evening came to an end in the 46th minute as his over enthusiastic play could have ended in him being sent off as well, so Durnin came on and he proved to be the inspiration Pompey needed to win the game. He too used his enthusiasm but unlike Svensson it was more disciplined and with Aloisi putting himself about Pompey looked the more likely to score.
In the 66th minute that emphasis came true as Pompey did take the lead. Turner managed to win the ball just inside his own half before knocking it to Durnin. The substitute quickly spotted Turner's run through the Norwich defence and with only the keeper to beat the former Spurs youngster calmly slid the ball past Marshall.
The lead though may have lasted only three minutes had Roberts, Norwich's 900,000 capture from Wolves in the Summer, not put a glorious chance high over the bar. Durnin though almost put the result beyond doubt when from 20-yards he tried to chip Marshall who did very well to flick the effort over for a corner.
Things were looking good with O'Neill having to go off with an injury along with Segura who seemed to have damaged his cruciate knee ligament. Norwich's only main threat was now Eadie and although he beat Pethick for skill and pace down the Norwich left no one was there to meet his cross.
It was inevitable there was going to be a fair amount of injury with the two Norwich players having to go off but somehow Mr Knight found some more time and that was to prove crucial. The Pompey defence pushed up to catch two Norwich players off-side as a cross came in from the right. The Linesman's flag though was never raised leaving Eadie free in the box and in an effort to win the ball Flahavan brought him down for a penalty. Adams struck it home although Flahavan did get a hand to it.
So once again referee's come under the spotlight with some fans believing there should be independent time-keepers, like there are in Italian football where they decided how much injury time has to be played. At half-time Pompey would have been happy with a point but it really should have been all three.