Yeovil 1 Pompey 2

Gabor Gyepes barely trains at present and has injections to nurse his ankle through the rigours of football.

A hulking scrapper with a never-say-die attitude – and how Pompey were indebted to his indomitable spirit last night.

A poor Yeovil side had hauled themselves level through Reuben Reid’s penalty to leave those 1,297 travelling Blues fans shocked.

Stunned that their side, for all their dominance, were facing just a point in a match they had led for so long.

So enter the gutsy Gyepes, the new-found goal hero who, for the second match running, dug his team out of trouble.

With 78 minutes on the clock, there appeared no danger when the Hungarian set off in pursuit of the ball as it travelled away from goal after Brian Howard’s corner had been cleared.

But with the grace of any self-respecting striker, he retrieved the ball, spun round, and fired in a low shot from outside the penalty area.

It arrowed through a ruck of players to enter the net – a moment which would prove decisive.

In all the excitement, the Tannoy announcement proclaimed the scorer as Johnny Ertl, a feat also matched by the BBC’s website.

But it was that man Gyepes once again who was the real hero and a goalscorer for the second successive match.

To think, it was his fourth goal in his previous nine competitive matches spread over the past three seasons.

In truth, Pompey’s victory should never have hinged on him, particularly following a rampant first-half display.

Izale McLeod had a shot pushed against the post in the 12th minute before netting seconds later, powerfully crashing home Wes Thomas’ assist.

It appeared a matter of when Michael Appleton’s men would add to their tally – only for Reid to equalise in the 69th minute.

Suddenly the fear emerged that Pompey could be held to a draw by a struggling side who came into the game on the back of five successive defeats.

That was until Gyepes appeared from nowhere to settle matters and give Appleton his second win in a row.

As expected, Ertl was recalled to the Pompey side in place of hamstring-injury victim Darel Russell.

It marked a second start for the versatile Austrian, slotting into the centre of midfield alongside skipper Brian Howard.

That was the only change to the side that defeated Scunthorpe at the weekend, although Appleton did elect to shuffle around his personnel.