Bishop Ends Drought in Portsmouth vs Blackburn 2-2 Draw

Colby Bishop finally found the net again – and Portsmouth badly needed it.

The striker, with just three goals in the past year and left on the bench as a result, came on to head a late equaliser in a lively 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers at a restless, noisy Fratton Park.

Portsmouth flew out of the blocks. They needed barely three and a half minutes to rip into Blackburn, and it came from an unlikely source.

Jayden Meghoma swung over a cross from the left, Sean McLoughlin’s header clear was anything but convincing, and it dropped invitingly to Zak Swanson on the edge of the box. One clean, controlled volley later, and Balazs Toth – unsighted and rooted – could only watch it skid into the net.

Blackburn had already shown their intent. Todd Cantwell forced Daniel Bielica into action after just 22 seconds with a sharp effort, and Rovers refused to shrink after going behind.

The response came quickly. Harry Pickering slid a pass into Oladapo Afolayan on the left corner of the area. Afolayan drove at Marlon Pack, skipped around him, and drilled a low right-footed shot that squeezed inside Bielica’s near post. Less than seven minutes after falling behind, Rovers were level and the game was wide open.

The first half swung like that. Chances, mistakes, and a constant feeling that the next goal was only a misplaced pass away.

Chelsea loanee Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, impressive and fearless at 17, almost restored Pompey’s lead four minutes before the break. He pounced on a poor pass out from Toth, surged into space and unleashed a fierce left-footed strike. Toth, to his credit, recovered well, flinging out a hand to turn it away and spare himself a brutal highlight-reel error.

Portsmouth came back out with purpose. Kavuma-McQueen again led the charge, seeing a 54th-minute drive pushed away by Toth, with Pack’s follow-up deflecting wide. Fratton Park sensed momentum.

Then it all fell apart in a moment.

Bielica, under little pressure, miscued a clearance straight into trouble. Kristi Montgomery intercepted, and within seconds the ball had been worked to Ryoya Morishita on the right side of the box. The Japan international didn’t hesitate, lashing a right-footed effort across goal and into the bottom corner. Blackburn had turned the game around, and this time it felt like a gut punch for the home side.

Portsmouth, though, refused to fold. Kavuma-McQueen again dragged them up the pitch. Picking up the ball on the right of the penalty area, he spun away from his marker and thundered a shot towards goal. It might have been flying in anyway, but Bishop, alive to the moment and desperate for a touch that mattered, flicked it on with his head and redirected it past Toth.

First goal since April. First real roar for Bishop in months.

The equaliser reignited the stadium. Suddenly every cross, every second ball, felt loaded. Meghoma almost completed the comeback in stoppage time, bursting through and forcing Toth into another strong save as the goalkeeper stood firm one last time.

When the whistle went, both sides were left with a point and a sense of what might have been. Blackburn sit 16th on nine points, Portsmouth a place and a point behind with a game in hand.

For Rovers, it was a reminder of their threat on the break and their vulnerability when trying to play out. For Pompey, it was a night of frustration, but also a night when their misfiring No 9 finally remembered what it feels like to score.

If Bishop’s header is the moment that kick-starts his season, this chaotic draw may yet feel like a turning point rather than a missed opportunity.