Boss rues missed chances at Hartlepool
But Andy Awford’s side were unable to find the target themselves, despite making a flying start in the north-east.
Pompey are getting things right at one end of the pitch.
And that left the Blues boss with mixed emotions about the Victoria Park outcome.
He said: “Any point’s a good point – especially away from home on the back of two defeats on the road.
“There were chances at both ends, but I felt that ours were a little bit more clear-cut.
“We stopped the rot in that sense and I was also delighted that we were able to keep a clean sheet.
“We spoke about dominating early on and that was as good as we’ve started for a long while. "
“With the opening that Hartlepool have had to the season, we didn’t want them to be able to take any positives.
“They had their best spell of the game towards the end, but thankfully we’ve got some good defenders and they helped us see it out.
We saw at the end what they can do when their confidence is a bit higher – they can cause you a few problems.
“We missed chances and there have been crosses into the box that we haven’t been able to get on the end of.
“Things didn’t break for us in the box like they did earlier in the season, but we have to keep believing.
“It was disappointing not to leave with all three points, but at least we were able to get back on the bus with something.” “It’s great to see Nigel back out there, although it was earlier than expected and he tired a bit towards the end."
Awford said: “He got a bump on the head and so we took him off as a precaution, but he’ll be fine for next week.
James Dunne was an early casualty at Hartlepool, being replaced by Nigel Atangana after just 14 minutes.