Reeco Hackett-Fairchild has patiently waited for the chance to celebrate a goal for Pompey.
The forward signed in January 2020, but had made just two senior appearances for the club prior to a Carabao Cup trip to Millwall.
And he opened the scoring in just the fourth minute at The Den, with an impressive finish reminiscent of someone with far more experience.
Ultimately it was the home side that emerged 2-1 victors – with a controversial Callum Johnson dismissal not helping matter – but it was still a memorable evening for Hackett-Fairchild.
The 24-year-old said: “It’s been a long time for me and something that I’ve been dreaming of for quite a while.
“Obviously it was a disappointing result for us, but from a personal view, I’m really happy with the goal.
"It’s been a long time for me and something that I’ve been dreaming of for quite a while."
“I thought the boys performed well and I’m delighted to score, while we competed with Millwall, so there are positives.
“It’s a different type of game and the level’s a step up – when you make a mistake, you get punished a lot more.
“We held our own and I don’t think anyone can walk away from the ground and say Millwall were a lot better than us.
“There’s still a lot of work for us to do in terms of the squad learning their roles, but we’ll get better in my opinion.”
Hackett-Fairchild came close to scoring again in the closing stages, only to be denied by a well-placed defender.
He said: “I went around the player, had a shot and the keeper saved it. I poked the ball and thought it was going in, but saw their guy clear it from the line.
“It’s unlucky and it would have been nice if we could have got the draw and gone to penalties because then it’s a lottery.”