Portsmouth progressed to the second round of the Carabao cup thanks to a 3-1 penalty shootout win against Stevenage at the Lamex Stadium.

Forward John Marquis levelled proceedings at 3-3 in normal time in Hertfordshire after goals from Elliott List, Charlie Carter, Ronan Curtis, Scott Cuthbert and Gareth Evans saw the hosts in front at the break.

  • Story of the match


List slots Stevenage in front

The visitors started the stronger of the two sides in the opening stages but found themselves behind early on as Stevenage took the lead after nine minutes.

A long ball over the top saw Pompey centre back Sean Raggett caught out, allowing List to run through and slot the ball past goalkeeper Alex Bass.

Carter quickly makes it two

The hosts then doubled their just seconds later, when a defensive mix-up in the area between Bass and defender Paul Downing saw the ball fall to Carter who fired low into the bottom left corner.

Pompey pull one back

However, the deficit was cut to one midway through the first half as Curtis pulled a goal back on 21 minutes.

After working well down the left, the winger cut inside and fired past Jamie Cumming into the far corner.

Cuthbert adds a third

But frustrations continued for Portsmouth in the first half as Stevenage reinstated their two-goal lead.

Following a goalmouth scramble at a corner, forward Inih Effiong directed the ball towards Cuthbert and the Boro captain poked the ball over the line.

Evans converts from the spot

And there was a fifth added to a hectic first half in the second minute of stoppage time as Ben Coker conceded a penalty after handling the ball in the area.

Evans stepped up to take the penalty and coolly converted by sending Cumming the wrong way.  

Marquis levels in second half

That penalty seemed to provide some momentum for Kenny Jackett's side as they came out strong in the second half.

Latching onto Curtis' first-time ball, Marquis drove towards goal and fired a stunning effort high into the centre of the goal.

Penalty heartache

Marquis' goal was the last real action of normal time as the match went to a penalty shootout.

Three misses from their first four meant the hosts would be heading out of the Carabao Cup after Portsmouth converted each of their three spot-kicks.

  • Match Stats

Stevenage 3-3 Portsmouth (Portsmouth win 3-1 on penalties)

Stevenage

Cumming, James-Wildin, Cuthbert, Prosser, Coker, Vincelot (Newton, 64'), Carter, List (Hutton, 79'), Osborne, Marsh (Akinwande, 53'), Effiong

Unused subs: Johnson, Dinanga, Smith, Marshall

Portsmouth

Bass (MacGillivray, 45'), Bolton, Downing, Raggett, Brown, Naylor, Morris, Harness (Williams, 76'), Evans (Cannon, 76'), Curtis, Marquis

Unused subs: Whatmough, Mnoga, Close, Stanley

  • Takeaways

Promising performance

Stevenage boss Alex Revell will be pleased with his side's performance - especially given that they were preparing to be a National League side as late as the start of this month.

There's work to be done defensively, but three goals and a competitive performance against one of League One's promotion contenders should be seen as a positive going into the start of the season.

Fightback sends Pompey through

Portsmouth looked a different side in the second half as they made amends for a frustrating performance before the break.

Despite scuppering opportunities for a winner late into the game, a professional shoot-out performance provided the result that they were after and puts them in the hat for next round.