Portsmouth earn pulsating opening-draw at title favourites Sheffield Wednesday

The Blues came from behind to lead in a dramatic and breathless second half at Hillsborough, before being pegged back with nine minutes left by the title favourites.

It was pulsating stuff to start the campaign and the character shown by Danny Cowley’s men along with the cutting edge augurs well for the season ahead.

Marvin Johnson fired his side in front in a first half when Pompey were under the pump.

It was a different story after the break, however, with four goals in a frenetic 14-minute period seeing Cowley’s men take the lead.

That was before Fisayo Dele-Bashiru levelled with his second of the game with nine minutes left.

The call was for Pompey to show some guts after finding themselves under the cosh in the first 45 minutes.

They certainly did that while displaying fire power and crossing quality as Joe Pigott and Colby Bishop made their bows.

Pompey were without captain Clark Robertson who was injured as they gave five players debuts.

It was the home side who flew out of the blocks with a Ronan Curtis 25 yarder going wide after five minute a rare foray forward.

It was no surprise to see the Owls make the breakthrough in the eighth minute, as the defence was caught square allowing Josh Windass broke clear and cross for Johnson to fire in from a fairly tight angle.

The pressure from the home side continued from there with Michael Morrison blocking a Dele-Bashiru drive and ironic chants of ‘we’ve got the ball’ coming from the away end, when the Blues did manage to find possession.

The only blessing for Pompey was Moore’s side didn’t create more for their dominance with Lee Gregory’s shot on the turn deflected wide before the break.

The second half exploded to life five minutes after the restart as Ogilvie headed home a lovely Marlon Pack cross from the byline.

The home side immediately levelled through a thunderous long-range effort from Dele-Bashiru, but Pompey came back again in the 57th minute when Bishop met Pigott’s cross which cannoned off the bar and Jacobs nodded in the loose ball.

There was more drama to come as Pigott again provided a sumptuous cross from the right for Bishop to deftly head his side in front.

The pendulum swung back the way of Moore’s side with nine minutes left, as Dele-Bashiru thundered home an unstoppable drive in the box.

Lee Gregory was sent off for a second yellow after hauling down Reeco Hackett on the edge of the box.

But there was no way through as Pompey went for the winner through seven minutes of stoppage time.