Lee Brown reveals secret heartbreak after Portsmouth goal that never was

The left-back believed he had broken his Blues scoring duck when netting from close range two minutes from time in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Tranmere.

However, his joy was cut short when the linesman’s flag declared him offside, ruling out the goal as a consequence.

The moment was particularly difficult to take for Brown, who was in mourning following the death of his granddad earlier that week.

And the 29-year-old admits his goal celebration, which consisted of pointing to the heavens, was an emotional message.

He said: ‘My granddad passed away last week and that’s all I was thinking about, then I looked down and thought “Your are joking me”.

‘It was very raw at the time, that’s all I thought about as soon as it went in, but obviously it just wasn’t to be.

‘It’s one of those things, all I heard was the gaffer shouting “Sprint”!

‘The goal will come and I was disappointed it wasn’t then. You can’t get too down about it, I’m sure that time will come.

‘I’ve seen the video back and all the video analysts have said it’s definitely not offside, which makes it a bit worse. It was offside because he gave it, but on the video it doesn't seem to be.

‘It was a lovely finish, weaker foot, dink, see you later. I think I was more buzzing with that, I couldn’t believe it didn’t stand.’

Brown pounced to clip a right-footed shot into the net after keeper Scott Davies failed to hold Brett Pitman’s attempt.

As it was, the match remained 2-0 – while the former Bristol Rovers man is still seeking a maiden Pompey goal after 54 appearances.

Yet he insists the disappointment of losing his goal didn’t impact upon the enjoyment of the Blues’ first League One win of the campaign.

He added: ‘As long as we won, the goal thing didn’t really bother me.

‘At the end of the game I am still buzzing like everyone else after winning the match.’