It had been a long wait for the Fratton faithful.
But they had plenty of reason to cheer as Pompey romped to a 3-0 victory over Oxford – their first home win of 2018.
Kal Naismith gave them an early lead, but the visitors grew into the game and had the perfect chance to equaliser after being awarded a second half penalty.
Alex Mowatt struck the post with his effort, however, and was then sent off for lashing out at Nathan Thompson, before Brett Pitman wrapped things up with a brace.
And Joe Gallen was delighted to see Pompey benefitting from some slices of good fortune for a change.
The assistant Blues boss said: “To come away with three points, three goals and a clean sheet – especially at this stage of the season – is extremely pleasing.
“We haven’t won enough games since the turn of the year, but thankfully it all seemed to click on this occasion.
"Luckily for us it hit the inside of the post and came straight back out again – it was the stroke of luck we needed."
“I spoke to Matt Clarke and he thought he was a bit hard done by for the penalty that was awarded to Oxford.
“Referees are trying to clamp down on pulling shirts from corners, although it happens so frequently you could end up with dozens of them being given, which probably isn’t right either.
“Luckily for us it hit the inside of the post and came straight back out again – it was the stroke of luck we needed.
“I was thinking we hadn’t had one of those at home in a while and then we got another straight away, although I suppose it has nothing to do with luck if he’s struck Nathan.
“It was an incident I didn’t really see because I was just relieved the penalty hadn’t gone in. But it helped us even more and afterwards, you could only see one winner.
“Before that, though, it was starting to get very close and I have to say that Oxford played well.
“It’s an important time of year and momentum is starting to swing our way, so hopefully we can go on a run now."