Sean Raggett: I thought I had saved Portsmouth against Oxford - it turned out to be millimetres away

Instead it proved a pivotal moment as Oxford United went on to take Pompey to penalties – and clinch play-off victory. Raggett’s goal-line clearance three minutes into first-half stoppage time appeared to spare the blushes of Ellis Harrison from registering a calamitous own goal. Then, following a pause, referee Darren England was alerted to Hawkeye’s verdict. The goal stood. That cancelled out Marcus Harness’ first-half opener. It would take a 5-4 penalty shoot-out defeat to finally separate the sides. For Raggett, it was his final Pompey appearance – and a critical point of the game. He told The News: ‘I didn’t realise what had happened initially, because I was behind it. ‘I thought maybe a striker had nipped in before Bassy – then thought I had cleared it off the line in time. I honestly didn’t believe it was in. ‘At the time I was marking Josh Ruffels at the back, then I saw the ball so tried to react. Unfortunately I was just that little too late. ‘I thought I’d got there. I looked straight at the linesman – then heard the ref blow the whistle and point to the centre circle. ‘I couldn't believe it. It happened right before half-time, which is not the best time to concede. ‘As it turned out, from watching replays, the goal was millimetres from being disallowed. ‘If we didn’t have goal-line technology for that game then it wouldn’t have been given, but then you can’t complain because it was a goal. ‘If we had defended that we would have gone in at the break 1-0 up and very positive. Yet suddenly Oxford had a big lift. ‘They came out better in the second half, which shows you it really was a good time to score.’ It was fellow loanee Cameron McGeehan whose Pompey penalty was saved. Raggett was seventh on the list to step up, backing himself to succeed if called upon. And he felt for the heartbroken McGeehan, who has now returned to parent club Barnsley. He added: ‘Cameron had a really good game. He’s a strong boy and I’m sure will be able to bounce back from that no problem. ‘There's not a lot you really can say to someone in that situation, you just want to let them know they haven’t let anyone down. ‘It’s a complete lottery at the end of the day, someone’s going to miss. That’s just how it goes, unfortunately.’ A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues. The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online. Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.