Midfielder on his goal at Plymouth
There was a brief pause after the ball struck the crossbar and bounced down.
But it must have felt like a lifetime for Danny Rose as he waited to see if he had doubled his Pompey tally.
Thankfully the linesman waved his flag to signal that the midfielder’s fine long-range strike had indeed crossed the line.
It was not quite enough to secure all three points at Plymouth, but Rose was pleased to find the target.
He said: “The ball was cleared and I got myself into a position to chest the ball down. It sat up too invitingly not to hit.
“I just struck it as hard as I could and thankfully it went in on this occasion – although only just.
“There was a few seconds of delay because the linesman gave himself time to make the decision. I’m just happy he made the right one.
“A couple of their players said that it was definitely over the line and that made up for a few average decisions from the officials.”
The goal saw Pompey lead 2-1 at Home Park after Kyle Bennett had cancelled out a Yann Songo’o opener.
But Connor Smith’s late effort meant that it finished all square at Home Park, much to Rose’s frustration.
He said: “Before the game I think most people would have said that a draw wasn’t a bad result.
“But I thought we were by far the better team and the one that showed more intent to win the match.
“We were at it from the start and deserved the three points, so it’s a shame we couldn’t hold on at the end.
“Gary Roberts was definitely impeded in the lead-up to their equaliser, so that was disappointing.
“Plymouth made negative substitutions which was a compliment to us and I think they’ll be very happy with the outcome.
“I thought we showed a little message to the rest of the league – although it would have been a stronger one with the win.”