Portsmouth 1 AFC Wimbledon 1 (3-1 pens): Neil Allen's verdict - Another Fratton Park draw, yet qualification and Josh Oluwayemi provide some cheer

League Two AFC Wimbledon became the fifth visiting side to grab a share of the spoils in the last six fixtures at the Blues’ home.

Nonetheless, the outcome was sufficient to ensure Danny Cowley’s men moved into the knock-out phase of the Papa John’s Trophy.

Certainly the Blues would have anticipated securing qualification with a victory, particularly bearing in mind the strength of the side he put out for the encounter.

Despite making seven changes to the team which disappointingly couldn’t break down Shrewsbury at the weekend, it still represented a line-up with talent and experience.

After Ronan Curtis’ 15th-minute opener, it appeared as though the hosts would comfortably see out victory in front of the 2,545 in attendance, which included 124 away followers.

That was until the 50th minute when Kieron Freeman’s awful misjudgement of a long ball allowed Ayoub Assal to level.

In fairness, the defender cleared Isaac Ogundere’s effort off the line just six minutes later, otherwise Cowley’s troops could have been nursing defeat.

However, Pompey never looked capable of regaining their lead for the remainder of the second half against a team positioned 15th in League Two.

Indeed, the late drama was provided by the competition’s customary penalty shoot-out to decide the destiny of a bonus point following a draw.

That was left for Josh Oluwayemi to earn man-of-the-match honours, saving from Kwaku Frimpong, Coutney Senior and Aron Sasu.

With substitutes Josh Koroma and Reeco Hackett scoring, along with Scarlett, Pompey had two penalties to spare in their 3-1 penalty triumph.

It proved irrelevant, however, with Pompey already having secured second place in the group to earn an away fixture.

It was a strong XI named by Cowley against Wimbledon, with only Dane Scarlett, Zak Swanson, Owen Dale and Ryan Tunnicliffe remaining from the side which disappoinyingly drew 1-1 against Shrewsbury at the weekend.

Recalls were handed to Josh Oluwayemi, Kieron Freeman, Michael Morrison, Denver Hume, Joe Morrell, Ronan Curtis and Joe Pigott to complete a much-changed team.

Elsewhere, Sean Raggett was not considered with his back issue, Tom Lowery is training but not risked, while Michael Jacobs, Louis Thompson, Marlon Pack and Joe Rafferty are injured.

Although Reeco Hackett recovered from the illness which kept him out against Shrewsbury to occupy the bench.

Harry Jewitt-White was also among the substitutes after returning from a spell at Gosport, but Cowley was unable to call upon Liam Vincent, Alfie Bridgman and Toby Steward, who are out on loan.

Noticeably, the Blues included just two Academy players in their 18-man squad, selection influenced by Zesh Rehman’s side having an FA Youth Cup match against Three Bridges on Thursday night.

For the Wombles, former Pompey skipper Lee Brown was not included in their squad, although they did name Kyle Hudlin - at 6ft 9in claimed to be the tallest outfield player in Britain.

Wimbledon kicked the game off and, within 30 seconds, Quaine Bartley spun and fired in a shot from outside the box to test Josh Oluwayemi.

However, it failed to trouble the Blues keeper, who dived to his right to make a low stop on the skiddy surface.

On six minutes, Dale’s corner from the left was flicked on by Pigott towards goal, but Hudlin was on hand to head the ball away as it threatened to break the deadlock.

Pompey took the lead on 15 minutes when Swanson put in an excellent low cross which Kwaku Frimpong had trouble dealing with, allowing Scarlett to fire in an angled shot.

That was saved by the legs of Nathan Broome, yet fell to Curtis, who juggled the ball and, with his third touch, drove it right-footed into the net.

A lovely flowing move, involving crisp first-time passing, then resulted in Curtis trying to deliver a low cross from the right, but it was superbly blocked by a Wimbledon defender

The match was proving to be an entertaining affair and, on 25 minutes, Frimpong crossed from the right and the giant Hudlin sent a header straight at Oluwayemi, when perhaps he should have done better.

Hudlin then used his strength to drive towards goal and fire in a right-footed shot from the edge of the box, but again it was at Pompey’s keeper.

Approaching half-time, Hume put in a deep free-kick in from the right directed to the far post, yet Swanson somehow missed his header completely, failing to connect.

The right-back immediately tried to make amends when his cross from the right ricocheted off a Wimbledon body and then the unfortunate Scarlett, before bouncing wide for a goal kick.

With Pompey leading 1-0 at the interval, they made two changes for the second half, with Connor Ogilvie and Jay Mingi coming on for Swanson and Morrell.

That meant Freeman coming across to right-back, with Ogilvie partnering Morrison in central defence, while Mingi came into the centre of midfield.

However, Wimbledon hauled themselves level on 50 minutes following an awful mistake from Freeman.

Broome punted a long goal kick down Wimbledon’s left flank and the Pompey man missed his header before falling over, allowing Assal to bear down on goal.

The youngster then calmly cut inside and drove a superb right-footed finish into the far corner of the net to make it 1-1.

The visitors almost took the lead six minutes later when Oluwayemi was nowhere near the ball for a corner from the left and Isaac Ogundere’s effort was acrobatically blocked on the line by Freeman.

On 60 minutes, Cowley made a triple substitution, with Curtis, Morrison and Tunnicliffe replaced by Hackett, Josh Dockerill and Josh Koroma.

A point would be enough for the Blues to qualify for the next round, yet their focus remained on victory as they pushed for a winner.

Yet the Blues never suggested they were capable of regaining their advantage and the match petered out into a draw, albeit briefly livened up by a young pitch invader.

The match headed to penalties, with Oluwayemi emerging as the hero, saving from Frimpong, Senior and Sasu.

With Koroma, Hackett and Scarlett netting for the Blues, it gave them a 3-1 win, earning an extra point to supplement their points total having already qualified for the next round.