but paused momentarily to blow his whistle to ensure that th

Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final at Fratton Park on Thursday night. A first-half brace by Argyle striker Jamille Matt had sent the visitors 2-1 in at the break after Marc McNultys early opener. But - with Pompey boss Paul Cook watching on from the stands after a first-half sending-off - a Gary Roberts penalty levelled things up after the interval.The result leaves the tie on a knife-edge going into the second leg at Home Park on Sunday evening. Portsmouth went into their first play-off since 1993 without regular defenders Adam Webster and Kieron Freeman, but were able to call upon the services of creative players Kyle Bennett and McNulty after the duo both passed late fitness tests.And goalkeeper Ryan Allsop was given special dispensation by the Football League to sign for the club on an emergency loan from Bournemouth, going straight into the starting line-up on the day that he arrived at Fratton Park. Jamille Matt insisted the first-half flashpoint involving Michael Doyle was just handbags Argyle, who finished three points above their opponents in the league, welcomed back Carl McHugh after a hamstring injury, but started the game with forward Reuben Reid on the substitutes bench after he failed to prove his fitness in time to start.Pompey had scored the opening goal in each of the previous three league meetings between these teams, and it took Cooks side just three minutes to continue that streak. Argyle captain Curtis Nelson gave the ball away in a dangerous area after trying to play out from the back, and McNulty took advantage by firing a long-range effort past a wrong-footed Luke McCormick. Plymouth Argyles Jamille Matt celebrates after scoring his sides first goal at Fratton Park But the lead lasted just six minutes as Allsop failed to cover himself in glory on his Pompey debut, unable to gather a looping Gregg Wylde header to allow Pilgrims centre-forward Matt to nod home through a crowd of bodies inside the six-yard box.And Matt was in the thick of the action again as he got himself involved in an altercation with midfielder Danny Hollands and Pompey captain Doyle after an innocuous challenge on halfway. Jamille Matt scored an impressive bicycle kick in the League 2 Play-off game between Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle None of the officials saw the incident, but the confrontation enraged the two benches, leading to both Portsmouth manager Paul Cook and Argyle assistant Paul Wotton being sent to the stands by referee Oliver Langford.Matt will face a nervous wait to see if there is any retrospective action taken over his clash with Doyle, but the forward made the most of his reprieve when he cushioned a long throw-in, before flicking a stunning overhead-kick beyond Allsop to make it 2-1 to the visitors after ten minutes.Bennett struck the post for Portsmouth as the first half continued to produce chances at both ends, but it took just six minutes of the second half for the home side to draw level. Peter Hartley hauled down McNulty right on the edge of the box and the referee awarded a penalty that Roberts duly dispatched. 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Hello Mr. Fraser, I am curious about the apparent game-winning goal scored by San Jose in OT last night (11/5/13) against Buffalo and how Toronto didnt catch it. It looks to me like the goal was scored and the whistle had not been blown. The shot off the post and the scrum after looked confusing enough to me for the officials to have stopped the game and gone to review? Do you have any insight on this? Thanks,Randy MarkhamOakland, CA Randy: It wasnt a case of Toronto not catching it when Tommy Wingels jammed the puck from under Ryan Millers blocker and into the net for what appeared to be the game winning goal in overtime. The men in the Toronto Situation Room were in fact reviewing that play, as they do all close calls around the net, once the puck hit the goal post and eventually crossed the goal line. Had the Situation Room spoken with Referee Mike Leggo via the headset they would have only been able to inform the ref that the puck had in fact crossed the goal line and entered the net and not when they heard the sound of his whistle. This became an unnecessary telephone communication once the Referee determined the play was dead with an "intent was to blow the whistle" prior to the puck being jammed loose and across the goal line. The Refs decision to stop the play is not a reviewable situation. The mind is always quicker than the whistle hand! For this reason rule 31.2 was instituted to compensate for the delay between the Officials visual determination that the play is dead and the physical action of blowing the whistle. Rule 31.2 reads as follows: "As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play tto be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown.dddddddddddd The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening." In reviewing the play we see Referee Leggo holding an extended wash-out signal once the initial shot struck the goal post and rebounded under Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller. As evidenced by the camera angle from the broadcast feed, similar to the sightline the referee had on the play, the puck then disappears under Millers blocker glove and appears to be covered. At this point Leggo would have clearly lost sight of the puck but paused momentarily to blow his whistle to ensure that the goalkeeper had full control of the puck and that it did not squirt loose. The Ref had to also be aware of the potential for Tommy Wingels to jam at the goalkeeper and dislodge a frozen puck. Referee Mike Leggo created some confusion on this play when he was slow in transitioning from his initial extended washout signal when the puck hit the post, to the point where Miller covered the puck and it was eventually poked free and into the net by Tommy Wingels. I concede the optics of this slow decision was bad but Referee Leggo ultimately made the correct determination that the puck was sufficiently frozen by Ryan Miller. It would have been unfair to allow Tommy Wingles to unearth a frozen puck and jam it into the net. The net result was the Refs intent to blow the play dead prior to the puck entering the net. A quicker whistle (or intent to blow the whistle) by the Referee would have eliminated any controversy on this play. Any discussion with the Situation Room would have only added to the confusion since the play could not be reviewed. Right call made - poor execution! ' ' '