Report by Ben Davis

So Pompey are off the mark after a battling draw against Tranmere, but it might have been all three had somebody stopped Micky Mellon running 50-yards before equalising. Some of the crowd hadn't taken their seats when the in-form Aloisi struck and after Mellon equalised it was backs to wall stuff for Pompey which to their credit they survived.
Nikos Kyzeridis had amazingly recovered from Tuesday's bruising encounter with Plymouth. Steve Claridge started with Durnin switching to right wing-back as Pethick and Thorgersen were both out. Aaron Flahavan was also ruled out with Knight taking his place.
Another surprise starter was Michallis Vlachos and when he went down under a challenge from Frail Pompey feared the worst. He was stretchered off and with only two minutes gone Pompey took the lead. Tranmere's new defender Santos dithered on the ball just outside his area allowing Claridge to disposes him and find Aloisi. The Aussie had just enough time to slam a shot past Simonsen to send to noisy away fans into raptures.
Vlachos came back on although Pompey were lucky not be punished by Parkinson as Awford and Knight got in a tangle. Tranmere were coming to terms after that shock start and equalised in the 13th minute. Mellon picked the ball up in his own half before surging forward unchallenged. He managed to get to 20-yards from goal where he hit a hard shot which somehow beat Knight who looked as though he was going to parry the effort.
Pompey had a good chance to restore the lead when Kyzeridis was fouled just outside the area. Simpson tried his luck and the shot flew just past the angle of post and bar. There was still some uncertain defending by Pompey with Thomson and Knight this time being saved by Awford who beat Parkinson to the ball.
The injury Vlachos had suffered was obviously causing him trouble so Ball replaced him with Hillier in a straight swap. After Aloisi had caused Tranmere more problems their defender Santos came off being replaced by Gary Jones.
Pompey looked the more creative of the two sides with Aloisi proving to be a real menace, but his striking partner Kyzeridis was fairly quiet which may have been due to a slight knee injury suffered at Plymouth. Tranmere were spreading the passes around nicely but found Awford, in particular, in fine form as Pompey kept their hosts out.
Tranmere made the early running in the second half with Whitbread having to block an Irons shot from a corner. McLoughlin's poor back-pass then let in Gary Jones although Knight came to the rescue to get there first. McLoughlin though played a better pass when he found Claridge whose effort was cleared off the line by Irons.
Simpson became the first Pompey player to be booked when he fouled the tricky Morrisey. Tranmere began to put Pompey under serious pressure and went close to taking the lead when Hill head just over from a corner.
The game was turning into a scrappy affair with misplaced passes and poor final balls into the areas. Kyzeridis's afternoon came to an end when he was replaced by Soley in the 70th minute. Pompey were beginning to create more chances but Tranmere's highly rated keeper Simonsen was always there to mop things up.
Soley was then booked for a late tackle on Mellon as Pompey were being put on the back foot again. To the frustration of the home fans Tranmere could get through despite their possession. They would have been furious had Simonsen not flicked over Claridge's well struck overhead kick with about five minutes left.
As much as Tranmere tried they couldn't break Pompey down and Alan Ball will be pleased with the result considering the calibre of players who were missing though injury and suspension. Pompey shouldn't have too many problems in beat Plymouth but will face a difficult task against Ipswich next Saturday.