During a hard-fought derby clash over whether 'Arry and the boys should get the freedom of the city, it was council leader 'Gerrard' Vernon-Jackson and Mike 'Henry' Hancock who showed most stomach for the fight.
The match – played deep into the second half of a marathon six-hour council meeting – saw a titanic 90-minute tussle between Lib Dems and Tories.
Under the VIP gaze of Pompey's FA Cup, on proud display in the chamber, there were countless clashes between the orange orators and the blue blusterers over who should get the ceremony title.
Was it for the whole squad, as Hancock and Vernon-Jackson suggested, or should it have been the players who got a medal for bringing home the cup with their victory over Cardiff at Wembley – as the Tories wanted.
That the two teams were playing at all was a small miracle after a 25-minute warm-up with Councillor Leo 'Muntari' Madden chanting 'This is ridiculous!' from the terraces in a dispute over whether the match should take place or be postponed.
But once the game began, under the strict gaze of Lord Mayor Richard 'Ref' Jensen, both sides got stuck into the action.
Hancock got first touch with a strike straight into the heart of the debate, claiming Harry and the boys deserved the honour.
The Tories, led by Steve 'Wenger' Wemyss, quickly cried foul over the Lib Dem shot at goal and blamed captain Vernon-Jackson for trying to fix the match with 'political point-scoring'.
His Tory teammate Simon Bosher stepped in from the wing to tackle Vernon-Jackson's leadership skills saying he was putting politics above Portsmouth.
But with Darron Phillips in defence blaming the blues for time-wasting the game continued.
After some crunching midfield tussles the team captains eventually shook hands, leaving the field with an agreement that Harry and the whole squad should win the day.
News readers catching it on Match of the Day should look out for the real highlight, though – Councillor Malcolm Hey tucking into a mid-match fried chicken dinner in a protest over time-wasting.