Matt Clarke did not have any doubts when Aaron Wilbraham’s stunning strike hit the back of the net in the opening stages at Spotland.
The Rochdale striker had given his side the lead to seriously threaten Pompey’s unbeaten League One record.
But Jamal Lowe levelled before the break and skipper Brett Pitman then turned the contest on its head in the second half.
And it was Clarke himself who wrapped the three points up late on with an impressive finish that any striker would have been proud of.
It was a result that sent the Blues back to top spot in the standings and the centre-back was pleased with the performance.
He said: “We had weather the storm early on and obviously you never plan to fall behind in the first few minutes.
“You want to keep the clean sheet, get to half-time and build from there, but you have to deal with anything that can happen in football.
"It’s always satisfying to look at the table and see Pompey sitting at the top – it’s proof of the hard work we’ve put in recently."
“The important thing is we made a positive reaction to that disappointment and that’s something we’re really pleased with.
“It’s always satisfying to look at the table and see Pompey sitting at the top – it’s proof of the hard work we’ve put in recently.
“There are games when we’ve had to dig in and others where we’ve shown real quality, so it has been a mixed bag.
“It shows that we won’t let it affect us too much and we’ll just keep going because we believe in what we’re doing and know the chances will come.
“You only have to look at the bench to see the strength in depth we’ve got and that keeps everyone on their toes.”
Clarke beat his man in the 81st minute before angling a fierce finish into the net to double his tally for the campaign.
He said: “I scored a goal at Crawley last season that I enjoyed, but this is probably the best one I’ve got for Pompey so far.”