Bishop Ends Drought as Portsmouth Draw with Blackburn in Thrilling Match
Colby Bishop had waited since April. One goal in almost a year, his starting place gone, his status as Portsmouth’s main marksman under scrutiny. When the chance finally came, he didn’t lash at it. He simply guided Ryan Kavuma-McQueen’s fierce drive home with a deft flick of the head and let Fratton Park erupt.
It was a scruffy, instinctive finish. For Bishop, it might feel priceless.
Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers traded blows in a breathless 2-2 draw on the south coast, a Championship game that never settled, never slowed and left both sides with a point that will feel very different in each dressing room.
Lightning start, swift response
The tone was set inside the first half-minute. Todd Cantwell, alive to a loose ball, drove at the heart of the Portsmouth defence and forced Daniel Bielica into action after just 22 seconds. It was a warning of Blackburn’s intent.
Portsmouth ignored it.
Less than three-and-a-half minutes had passed when Zak Swanson stepped up from right-back and lit the place up. Jayden Meghoma swung in a cross from the left, Sean McLoughlin headed clear, and the ball dropped invitingly to Swanson on the edge of the box. One clean, controlled volley. Low, true, and past an unsighted Balazs Toth before he could react.
Fratton Park roared. Portsmouth had the lead and the early chaos seemed to be tilting their way.
Blackburn refused to retreat. The equaliser came with the same directness that had marked the opening exchanges. Harry Pickering slid a clever ball into Oladapo Afolayan on the left corner of the area. Afolayan squared up Marlon Pack, skipped around him and drilled a low right-footed shot at Bielica’s near post. The keeper couldn’t keep it out.
All square again, and barely a quarter of an hour gone.
Kavuma-McQueen shines, Bielica blunders
The game settled only slightly, but one teenager kept dragging it back into life. Chelsea loanee Ryan Kavuma-McQueen played as if he’d never been told to be cautious. Four minutes before the break, he nearly punished Toth’s one moment of hesitation.
The Blackburn keeper tried to pass his way out from the back and under-hit it. Kavuma-McQueen pounced, drove into the box and unleashed a powerful left-footed strike. Toth, scrambling to repair his own mistake, threw up a strong hand and beat it away. It was an outstanding save, and it kept Rovers level at half-time.
Portsmouth came out after the interval with the same front-foot energy. Kavuma-McQueen again took centre stage, cutting in and forcing Toth into another stop with a 54th-minute effort that the keeper could only palm out. Pack followed up, only to see his shot deflected wide.
Portsmouth were building something. Then their goalkeeper undid it.
Three minutes later, Bielica tried to clear his lines and got it horribly wrong. Kristi Montgomery read it, cut out the ball high up the pitch and suddenly Blackburn were in. The move shifted quickly to the right side of the box, where Ryoya Morishita took control. The Japan international didn’t hesitate, drilling a right-footed strike across goal and into the bottom left corner.
From pressure to punishment in a heartbeat. Portsmouth, who had started the half on top, were behind.
Bishop answers the question
John Mousinho turned to his bench, and with it to Bishop. The striker’s numbers over the past year – just three goals – had pushed him out of the XI. He came on with a point to prove and a stadium waiting to see if he still had that penalty-box instinct.
The chance arrived through the man who had been tormenting Blackburn all afternoon. Kavuma-McQueen picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area, spun his marker and drove inside. His powerful strike looked goalbound, but Bishop had already read it, already moved.
He stooped, glanced the ball with his head and changed its path just enough to wrong-foot Toth. The net rippled, and the noise that followed told its own story. Bishop’s drought was over. Portsmouth were level again at 2-2.
Blackburn, who had twice led, suddenly found themselves clinging on.
Late drama, no winner
The closing stages belonged to Portsmouth. The home side pushed, the crowd sensed a winner, and Blackburn dropped deeper, Toth increasingly busy as blue shirts poured forward.
Deep into stoppage time, Meghoma almost completed the turnaround. He burst into space and let fly, only for Toth to stand firm once more, beating away the effort and preserving Blackburn’s point.
When the whistle went, the table offered a cool, hard verdict. Blackburn sit 16th on nine points, Portsmouth one place and one point back, with a game in hand.
But the real story at Fratton Park was written by a right-back’s sweet volley, a goalkeeper’s misjudgement, a fearless 17-year-old loanee – and a centre-forward who finally remembered what it feels like to score.
