Oxford hold Portsmouth in first leg

Portsmouth and Oxford played out a 1-1 draw to leave their League One play-off semi-final on a knife edge.

Ronan Curtis fired Portsmouth in front after 32 minutes of their first leg at Fratton Park, but Oxford levelled through Marcus Browne shortly before the break.

It leaves the tie finely poised ahead of the second leg at the Kassam Stadium on Monday evening, live on Sky Sports Football.

A close affair at Fratton

Nearly four months had passed since the suspension of the League One season, but Portsmouth looked bright in the early stages and got the opener shortly after the half-hour mark.

A fine sweeping move from right to left saw Andy Cannon play a nice ball to Curtis, who shot from a tight angle and saw his effort squirm through Simon Eastwood – who probably should have done a little better in the Oxford goal.

Eastwood would have been thankful for Browne on 43 minutes, then, as the winger scored a wonderful solo effort to level the game. He picked the ball up inside his own half before charging to the edge of the box, where he drove a low strike just inside the near post.

Chances were at a premium in the second half, with maybe Pompey doing more of the pressing. The only time a goalkeeper was called into action was on 83 minutes when Eastwood had to dive low to his right to keep out a Christian Burgess header from a free-kick.

Man of the Match – Rob Dickie

Dickie has been turning heads with his performances in League One, and his suitors will have been impressed on Friday night. He repelled almost everything Portsmouth threw at him at Fratton Park, both aerially and on the floor. A dominant defensive display.

What’s next?

The second leg will be live on Sky Sports Football on Monday, June 6 from 4.30pm. Kick-off is at 5pm.