Watford 2 Portsmouth 1: Neil Allen's verdict - Appalling decision and controversy hand Blues cruel heartbreak

And so that moment, a penalty controversy, triggered the collapse of a potential Pompey victory into a heart-breaking defeat.

John Mousinho’s ever-improving Championship side had been in the ascendancy thanks to Zak Swanson’s classy right-footed half-volley.

Indeed, they were comfortable and fully deserving of their slender advantage, while roared on by the vocal Fratton faithful who dominated Vicarage Road.

Then, on 57 minutes, the dangerous Kwadwo Baah led a counter-attack which saw him up against Freddie Potts down Watford’s right.

Potts lunged as the winger attempted to pass, catching the Hornets man, although referee Geoff Eltringham opted to award a goal kick, which became a penalty after being alerted by the linesman.

Replays showed the foul was clearly committed outside the box, with Marlon Pack and Mousinho booked for their subsequent protests as the Blues unsurprisingly felt a miscarriage of justice.

Regardless, Edo Kayembe finished the spot kick comprehensively as Watford capitalised on their lifeline, with a curiously silent home crowd suddenly rediscovering their voice.

Suddenly the hosts were rejuvenated, the atmosphere lifted, the match turned on its head - yet more agony was to come for Mousinho’s men.

During five minutes into time added-on they failed to deal with a ball down the middle, with Nicolas Schmid pushing it out and substitute Rocca Vata finishing into the empty net.

Watford had previously dropped four points at home all season and were proudly undefeated - and it took a refereeing mistake to rescue them against Pompey.

Amid scenes after the final whistle, Baah’s gloating victory jig in front of the travelling faithful brought an angry response from Terry Devlin and Zak Swanson as the controversy continued, with the subsequently winger sent off.

A harsh result for Pompey, but still plenty to be encouraged about - ruined by Eltrincham’s penalty decision.

Mousinho unsurprisingly stuck with the starting XI which registered a 4-1 victory over Coventry just before Christmas.

The only changes in the 20-man squad were on the bench, with Academy pair Michael Ani and Harry Clout replaced by Elias Sorensen and Abdoulaye Kamara, who returned from illness and injury respectively.

Meanwhile, Swanson was again preferred at right-back ahead of Terry Devlin, following his return to the side against Coventry.

However, Harvey Blair, Jacob Farrell, Regan Poole, Conor Shaughnessy, Mark O’Mahony, Ibane Bowat and Jordan Williams were still absent through injury.

The Blues suffered a scare in the opening minutes when a heavy touch from Freddie Potts in the middle lost possession and allowed Daniel Jebbison to charge through on goal.

However, Nicolas Schmid stood up well to the one-on-one situation and was in the right position to comfortably gather the striker’s subsequent shot.

At the other end, on eight minutes Josh Murphy put in a tremendous ball from the right, yet the presence of Ryan Porteous put Callum Lang off as he attempted to finish at the far post.

The ball went out for a goal-kick, yet credit to the Watford man, who flung himself into the way to hamper the Blues’ top scorer.

Pompey, however, did take the lead on 10 minutes through Swanson’s first goal of the season.

Murphy’s left-footed cross from the right was blocked by James Morris and there was the right-back to produce a right-footed half-volley into the far corner of the net.

The winger was on fire and, on 19 minutes, he fed the ball through to Lang, but, before he could shoot, Porteous produced a superb covering block to snuff out the danger.

In the 26th minute, a superb ball from Schmid delivered from his penalty area sent Matt Ritchie racing clear in Watford’s half, yet his cross was not strong enough and bundled behind by Porteous for a corner.

The Blues were comfortable with their lead, with full-backs Swanson and Connor Ogilvie doing exceptionally well in defensive situations, as they headed in at the break 1-0 up.

Watford made one substitute at the interval, with Morris replaced by Rocca Vata in a bid to find a way back into the match.

Pompey made their first chance on 49 minutes, with Ritchie coming off for Paddy Lane, who slotted into his ring-wing position.

Moments later a superb Blues counter was started by Lang and almost finished by the striker, when Murphy’s right-wing cross just eluded his attempt at a flying header, instead put behind for a corner.

On 55 minutes, Watford had their breakthrough after Potts was exposed to Baah on the counter-attack.

As the attacker surged past him, the Blues man’s desperate lunge caught him just outside the box, with the referee initially not giving a foul until alerted by the linesman.

He subsequently pointed to the spot, much to the disbelief of Blues players, with Marlon Pack booked for his protests and Kayembe clinically finished the penalty to make it 1-1.

The atmosphere erupted, with Mousinho also booked, with the chaos continuing with Murphy and Lang also receiving yellow cards in the following minutes.

Watford were now on the front foot, with their fans finally discovering their voice, and when Baah cut in from the right on 68 minutes it took a brilliant flying save from Schmid to thwart him.

Another Schmid save, which nobody managed to tap in from close range, and a timely Bishop deflection which sent another dangerous shot wide, reflected the increasing pressure Pompey were coming under.

Mousinho sent on Devlin and Owen Moxon for Swanson and Lang in the 78th minute to restore a bit of balance to proceedings.

Moxon came agonisingly close to scoring in the final minutes with a block which looked like it was trickling in - and Lane unable to reach it at the far post.

Yet there was more heartbreak for the Blues in the fifth minute of time added on.

A ball down the middle caused problems for the Pompey defence, with Schmid pushing the ball out, Pack unable to deal with it and how Vata capitalised.