Portsmouth 2 Oxford United 1: Neil Allen's verdict - Ref justice as unpopular match official hands Blues promotion boost

It was the sole occasion referee Ben Toner generated a cheer at Fratton Park all afternoon, yet proved wonderfully decisive.

Granted, the under-fire match official positioned the whistle to his lips and contemplated spoiling all the fun. By that stage, he had few friends remaining among the biggest crowd of the season anyway.

Certainly considering his fussy and over-pedantic nature, it seemed inevitable he wouldn't allow play to continue. That's enough of that, chaps. This is my stage, not yours.

Unquestionably, Elliott Moore's sliding challenge from behind on Colby Bishop as he attempted to collect Connor Ogilvie's clearance, following corner flag assistance, was a foul. Even Toner had to concede the obvious.

As a consequence, he was about to signal a Pompey free-kick - then experienced a crucial change of heart.

Acknowledging Marlon Pack had pounced on the loose ball and distributed a first-time pass into Oxford's half United, he withdrew his whistle and signalled for advantage to be played.

By doing so, the villain of the piece was suddenly transformed into the hero of the hour. Or rather 30 seconds. After all, one right doesn't make 25 wrongs.

Still, capitalising on an uncharacteristically fine piece of refereeing, Christian Saydee pursued Pack's pass, his first touch cleverly taking him across Ciaron Brown, and his second negotiating a desperate sliding tackle.

The third took him closer towards goal and the fourth, that magnificent fourth, was a right-footed shot calmly placed into the bottom corner past Jamie Cumming to hand the Blues a 2-1 advantage.

A first league goal of the season, the match winner against the U's, and three points closer to the Championship. How Fratton Park roared.

Joy, exuberance, yet, most of all, tremendous relief. In a tight contest during which Pompey had been unable to dominate the ball, Oxford had posed continuous problems.

The visitors were unrecognisable from a team which had arrived on the south coast with a wretched run of one win in nine matches. Once automatic promotion rivals in November, they are now a side in danger of missing out on the play-offs.

Certainly when Callum Lang opened the scoring on 88 seconds, there was absolutely no suggestion of the spirited display which followed from Des Buckingham's men.

Man-of-the-match Joe Rafferty's quick throw was chested by Colby Bishop into the path of Abu Kamara, who found Lang inside the box and his third touch was a right-footed shot which improbably squirmed through keeper Jamie Cumming.

Talk about a helping hand, nonetheless the Blues had their vital early breakthrough and appeared set for a comfortable afternoon - yet it didn't exactly turn out that way.

It turned out that, four minutes later, they were feeling just as generous as Cumming.

Sean Raggett slipped a decent pass into Myles Peart-Harris, who was positioned on the centre circle with plenty of time, yet the Brentford man inexplicably turned back towards his goal and delivered an errant pass which deflected helpfully to Mark Harris.

The striker slipped in Owen Dale down the right, only for Raggett to clumsily collide with the ex-Blues loanee for an obvious penalty, with Cameron Brannagan netting the spot kick.

All-square after six minutes - and from that moment the sparring sides struggled to be separated in an entertaining match played at a high tempo, with neither team able to dictate possession.

At the centre of it all was Toner, conjuring up a display which infuriated the Fratton faithful, management and players alike, with Lang, already on a booking and withdrawn for his own good after tottering on the tightrope.

As it happened, his replacement was Saydee, who slotted into the number 10 role and produced one of those customary impact displays from the bench which he has yet to replicate when named in the starting XI.

The 21-year-old had been left out of two Pompey squads in the middle of last month, such was the strength in depth at the time. Yet injuries subsequently prompted his swift return to substitute duty.

If Saydee wasn't satisfied with bagging a maiden League One goal on the occasion of his 26th league outing for the Blues, he then popped up at the other end on 77 minutes to clear off the line, completing an impressive cameo.

Then the Fratton faithful among a 20,303 crowd took over, dragging their team over the line of a testing encounter with an electrifying rendition of 'Blue Army', spanning five minutes of time added-on for a true special finale.

With the Milton End these days joining in, the vociferous chant reverberated around Fratton Park to provide late, late inspiration.

There were boos after the final whistle, invariably reserved for Toner. Although his finest piece of refereeing had allowed the League One leaders to progress a little closer to the Championship.