Portsmouth 1 Forest Green 0: Neil Allen's verdict: The players of yesteryear supplied the entertainment to lift Fratton Park - but the Blues march on

The players of yesteryear effortlessly upstaged John Mousinho’s current crop without a ball in sight during a Fratton Park mismatch.

Indeed, the half-time procession of Pompey heroes, icons and greats finally stirred the crowd from a deep slumber inflicted by a forgettable opening 45 minutes.

Until that point, the travelling 346 Forest Green Rovers fans even had the temerity to chant ‘Is this a library’ to a Fratton faithful who subsequently found their voice by delving into the history books.

Perhaps it was inevitable that the returning Hermann Hreidarsson, Pedro Mendes, Yakubu, Michael Doyle, Noel Blake and others would prove a popular distraction, injecting the buzz so glaringly absent amid a surprisingly flat atmosphere.

Forest Green’s approach to self-preservation saw them dropping deep to defend in numbers, while Pompey’s inability to break them down, despite a mighty 79 per cent possession, rendered them equally as culpable.

The first half was largely devoid of entertainment, a soul-sapping stalemate between the unwilling and the incapable.

It was witnessed by 17,698 unfortunates whose spirit had refused to be dampened by earlier rainfalls, instead they were broken by being subjected to that deathly dull opening period.

Goalless at the interval, the occasion required a lift – thankfully provided in timely fashion by a very special Former Players’ Day to mark the Blues’ 125th Anniversary.

Ashleigh Emberson, Jake Payne and Colin Farmery had superbly overseen the gathering of a rich array of players who had represented the club with immense distinction during the previous seven decades.

As ever, there had been drama, with Mendes’ early afternoon flight from Portugal delayed throwing up the possibility of arriving midway through the first half, while Svetoslav Todorov turned up 10 minutes before kick-off after racing over from taking Crystal Palace’s under-16s.

The previous night, the moustachioed Hreidarsson booked himself into the Marriott hotel – with Payne having already paid for a room for the FA Cup hero at The Village – while Doyle, having spent Friday morning watching Pompey train, had to scrap his reservation at the Queen’s Hotel that evening after realising he had a supporter event in Coventry to attend, only to return to the south coast the next day.

Yet all were present at Fratton Park, a reflection of their timeless Pompey affection and determination to be present for Saturday’s festivities at a club where, between them, they won two titles, the FA Cup, staged the Great Escape, and twice finished in the Premier League’s top nine.

As for Ertl, he savoured a guided Fratton Park tour conducted by Farmery on Friday afternoon at the club where he served as skipper and also sat on the board of the Supporters’ Trust.

After the game, one particularly merry Pompey fan mistook him for Hreidarsson, with the Austrian joking about ‘sharing the same haircut’ before positing for photographs and signing his name on the book thrust in front of him.

At half-time, though, with the weather graciously holding off to allow all attendees’ on-pitch entrance, arguably it was Alan Biley’s introduction midway through which signalled the desired change of mood.

From that moment, the cheers continued to escalate, snowballing in volume until, fittingly, the arrival of the living legend Alan Knight as the revered last man.

Fratton Park had finally discovered its voice as retired footballers, ranging from 87-year-old Ray Crawford to 40-year-old Ertl, provided the inspiration so desperately required.

And, within six minutes of the game’s restart, revitalised supporters were cheering one again, this time the match winner supplied by Owen Dale.

The ever-excellent Joe Rafferty crossed on the run down the right and there was the unlikely figure of the Blackpool loanee arriving at the far post ahead of Udoka Godwin-Malife to head home.

Redemption for the right-sided winger, whose failure to take advantage of some excellent first-half openings were greeted by growing groans of frustration from the home faithful.

For all his excellent work-rate, energy and undoubted passion to succeed, the lacking end product continues to be Dale’s downfall, reflected by having gone 39 matches without netting.

Yet his second goal of the season finally banished the boredom, while hauled Pompey to within three points of fifth spot as their remarkable resurgence under Mousinho continues to gather pace.

The shock managerial appointment has transformed a side which had sunk to 15th and, in the eyes of some, facing an impending relegation battle to remain in League One.

Granted, the display against a bottom club possessing the most porous defence in the division hardly scaled great heights, with the Blues struggling to unlock the visitors.

Nonetheless, the outcome was another important win and should have been by a greater margin, with Dale spurning the opportunity of a glorious second-half hat-trick.

Firstly there was failing to put it into an empty net after Ross Doohan had saved from Michael Jacobs, then there was somehow shooting wide after teed up invitingly by Joe Morrell.

Certainly the demeanour of last man to leave the pitch hardly reflected a triumphant match winner as he agonised over what could have – or rather should have – been.

It took the ever-sunny Jon Harley who snapped him out of the gloomy self-assessment, with trademark smile and an arm around the shoulder providing welcome assurance for the number 15.

Pompey’s victory – their ninth under Mousinho – represents a return of 30 points since his January appointment, a staggering tally irrespective of the manner of the latest haul.

The Blues have precious momentum, finding themselves among five genuine candidates fighting for the final two play-off positions with seven matches remaining.

With fifth and sixth-placed Bolton and Peterborough a mere three points ahead, qualification is undoubtedly a realistic goal for Mousinho’s in-form men, teeing up a fascinating end to the campaign.

Rafferty and Morrell, in particular, have been shining lights during the post-New Year resurgence, accompanied, of course, by Colby Bishop’s goals.

Not that they could possibly overshadow Saturday’s half-time entertainment on a wonderful day of Pompey nostalgia.