Promotion party on ice as Portsmouth battle to hard-earned Bolton draw

Pompey were forced to postpone the promotion party after a 1-1 draw at Bolton today.

It finished all square in the high-octane top-of-the-table clash at the Toughsheet, as Abu Kamara’s classy solo effort was cancelled out by Aaron Collins in a frantic first half.

The home side asked the majority of the questions, as they hit the woodwork and missed big  chances.

But John Mousinho’s side saw it out in front of a crowd of 25,738, to the delight of the 2,600 travelling fans who were fantastic throughout and dancing in the rain come the final whistle.

The result means Pompey now need a single point to confirm promotion and two for the title ahead of Tuesday’s visit from Barnsley.

Kamara was straight to the fore with a run and down the right and cross for Callum Lang, whose shot was blocked by Ricardo Santos.

Kamara then spectacularly went it alone in the seventh minute, with a solo run and low drive from the edge of the box which sneaked inside Nathan Baxter’s near post.

There was a let-off for Pompey in the 20th minute when cross came back off the post via Conor Shaughnessy and then Eoin Toal’s follow-up was blocked by Sean Raggett.

Then there was a big Blues let-off in the 32nd minute, as Jon Dadi Bodvarsson broke free but couldn’t pick out a team-mate with Mousinho’s men outnumbered in the box.

The leveller came nine minutes before the break as Nathanael Ogbeta was given the space to cross and Aaron Collins deftly headed home.

Norris then saved from Toal’s long-range hit just before the break, with Bodvarsson screwing over the loose ball.

Mousinho made a big change at the break as Tino Anjorin was sent on to play as a holding midfielder in place of Owen Moxon.

The home side had the half’s first sight of goal as George Thomason dragged his 25 yarder wide, before superb covering work from Anjorin denied the same man.

A big triple change then came as Kusini Yengi, Christian Saydee and Gavin Whyte replaced Lang, Colby Bishop and Paddy Lane.

There was a huge miss from Bodvarsson with 20 minutes left as he fired over from a few yards out, before Kamara lashed as shot wide from 20 yards.

Anjorin then went it alone but his 25 yarder was inches past Baxter’s post, before Santos hooked a corner not too far over.

Pompey had a big let off when sub Dion Charles hit the woodwork, but Mousinho’s men then saw out a hard-earned point - which isn’t quite enough to seal the promotion deal just yet.

That didn’t deter the travelling blue, though, who lauded their heroes on the full-time whistle.