Burnley 2 Portsmouth 1: Neil Allen's verdict - Returning hero's brilliance offers timely hope amid gut-wrenching defeat
Regan Poole crumpled to the floor upon the final whistle, sat with legs outstretched and consumed by his thoughts, he reflected on a bittersweet return.
Burnley’s opening goalscorer, Jeremy Sarmiento, was the first to arrive, ending the contemplative moment. Offering a hand, he hauled his opponent to his feet before delivering a consolidating pat on the back.
Closely followed by Josh Brownhill, whose winner inflicted an agonising defeat just six minutes earlier, yet taking time out of his Turf Moor victory lap to embrace Poole with a clinch held for a few seconds.
It was a touching moment of respect from the pair, who rescued their promotion-hunting side from the embarrassment of a home defeat to the Blues - while an honest acknowledgement of the centre-half’s brilliance.
Handed a maiden Pompey start for 10-and-a-half months, it had been a Herculean effort from Poole, an absolutely ridiculous performance considering the testing circumstances.
He had been handed a 16-minute cameo from the bench seven days ago against West Brom, signalling first action since damaging his ACL in November 2023, followed by a start against the Hawks in a 60-minute friendly on Tuesday.
A true baptism of fire, but man-of-the-match Poole responded with a wondrous defensive display that would have had any neutral purring.
In fairness, Clarets supporters were too distracted with often hysterical criticism of referee David Webb to notice the number five’s magnificent showing, despite almost single-handedly thwarting their victory charge.
Yet the two match heroes recognised a worthy adversary on the field of battle, a classy nod of appreciation for a fellow professional’s outstanding performance which came so gut-wrenchingly close to earning Pompey a point.
Poole’s sublime reading of the game and positional brilliance ensured he produced block after block, some improbable, to restrict the hosts’ shots on goal for Will Norris to deal with.
During a 40th-minute moment, he threw himself in front of Jaidon Anthony’s attempt, colliding with a team-mate in the process, before punching the air with glee after this potential goal-saving intervention.
It was an incredible knack repeated across the 90 minutes by the Wales international, partnered so well with Tom McIntyre in their first outing together at any level, whether competitive or friendlies.
Certainly, Poole didn’t deserve to finish on the losing side, yet Pompey were left nursing a third consecutive defeat and, by a fuming Mousinho’s admission, their toughest result to stomach so far this season.
The Clarets felt they deserved to win, albeit a belief based purely on possession. The truth is Norris barely had a save to make, such was the excellence of defending in front of him, while the visitors were largely comfortable throughout.
There were even thoughts of a shock victory for Mousinho’s men when Callum Lang bundled in Paddy Lane’s cross from the left in at the far post in the 42nd minute, during a half in which Connor Ogilvie had also struck the bar with a header.
Mousinho had made some big calls, with Zak Swanson preferred to Williams at right-back, central midfielder Freddie Potts handed a debut, Paddy Lane switched to a number 10 role and, of course, Poole’s reintegration.
Yet for an hour, those decisions looked inspired, with his team comfortable defensively and a constant threat on the break against a Burnley side bafflingly lacking any sustained tempo in the first half, much to the ire of the home support.
It was only upon the need to introduce substitutes to pep up his tiring side after the break when the Blues began surrendering ground, sinking further and further back to allow the Clarets increased time on the ball.
Sarmiento, a substitute himself, levelled in the 63rd minute, when Marlon Pack didn’t close him down sufficiently as he attempted to find a chink of space to shoot from.
Sure enough, the winger looked up and placed a sublime finish into the far corner of the net to make it 1-1 which gave Norris absolutely no chance - yet the anticipated Clarets onslaught never arrived.
The scoreline remained entering eight minutes of time added-on, only for Matt Ritchie to frustratingly surrender possession.
Level with Pompey’s penalty area, he carelessly produced a backheel intended for Williams, with Sarmiento instead picking the loose ball up and initiating a move which culminated in Brownhill dragging a right-footed shot from outside the box into the far corner to make it 2-1.
Mousinho fumed over the manner of the goals afterwards, rightly so, yet with Poole restored to his side, there is the feeling Pompey are at least a step closer to finally clicking in the Championship.