Portsmouth fan Matt Butcher's revelation over goal-line clearance as former Bournemouth man torments club he loves for Accrington

And the former Blues season-ticket holder told how he took a battering from his friends, after celebrating scoring in front of them in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Accrington.

The Denmead lad had a major impact on the game’s outcome, with a crucial intervention as he knocked Ronan Curtis’ effort away from the line in the second half.

It was a bizarre moment which seemingly defied physics as the 24-year-old’s touch cannoned off the post and away to safety, with Butcher confessing he thought the ball was over the line.

He said: ‘I thought it was in. I thought it went straight into the net.

‘The ref didn’t give a goal, though, so I just carried on!

‘To be fair I thought the shot would come a lot slower and then it took a bit of skid off the surface, so I didn’t know if the ball was spinning or what.

‘Luckily I did just enough to get there.’

Butcher enjoyed a special moment as he put his side 2-1 up with 13 minutes left, celebrating in front of the 892 travelling Pompey fans.

That crowd contained mates from his days as a student at The Cowplain School, who had plenty to say about what unfolded.

Butcher admitted his side could have taken a thrashing, but felt a draw was a fair outcome.

He said: ‘A few of my mates are giving me stick for that (the goal and celebration).

‘There was five of them who flew up so it was nice to see and obviously I haven’t played a lot down there, so it was nice for them to come up.

‘They went to Cowplain with me. I grew up with them all my life, so it I really appreciate them doing all the miles. It was good to see some familiar faces.

‘The score could’ve been a lot more, our keeper was brilliant. He kept us in the game massively, and it kept us in with a chance to get back in the game ourselves.

‘It was a tale of two halves really.

‘Pompey were on top in the first half and we were just getting battered, but it's so tough to try and keep that up.

‘We knew that if we came out, started the second half well and got that first goal the game would flip on its head. I think that happened, so a draw was probably fair.’

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