Portsmouth 2(1) - 0(0) Sheffield United 3:00pm 7th August 1999 Nationwide League Division One Flahavan, Robinson, Cundy, Awford, Simpson, Newton, Miglioranzi, McLoughlin, Peron, Whittingham, Allen (Thogersen 70), Allen (Igoe 70) Subs not used: Tardiff, Nightingale, Vlachos Goals: Miglioranzi 26, Whittingham 88 Booked: Allen Sent Off:   Tracey, Ford, Quinn, Woodhouse (Hunt 26), Murphy, Sandford, Smeets, Derry, Devlin, Katchouro (Smith 78), Hamilton Subs not used: Davison, Gybreches, Burley Goals:   Booked: Smeets Sent Off: Smeets (87) Attendance: 17,667 Referee: A Bates (Stoke-on-Trent)

Sheffield United's new signing Axel Smeets was sent off on his debut and their striker Paul Devlin missed a penalty as they were dispatched by Portsmouth in soaring temperatures at Fratton Park. Smeets, snapped up from Spanish club Salamanca in the summer, was booked in the first half for a foul and got another yellow card with four minutes remaining for another. Devlin was brought down in the 47th minute by the scorer of Portsmouth's first goal Stefani Miglioranzi. But Devlin saw his spot-kick clip the top of the bar at a time when Portsmouth were struggling to hold on to the lead given them by the American midfield player. Miglioranzi took a pass from Jeff Peron and beat goalkeeper Simon Tracey with a low shot from 15 yards. Tracey was a busy man making outstanding first-half saves from Andy Awford and Guy Whittingham. Tracey repeated his heroics after the interval by denying Alan McLoughlin and then veteran Whittingham. United recovered from a shaky start and it needed a fine save from Aaron Flahavan midway through the second half after Devlin's blunder. Portsmouth's second goal came with three minutes remaining after Smeets had been shown the red card by Stoke referee Tony Bates. Rory Allen, the £1million signing from Tottenham, was the creator with a deft header which left Whittingham plenty of room to beat the unprotected Tracey