Wolves were held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at Molineux on Tuesday night, substitute Jordan James scoring in the 62nd minute before right-back Terry Devlin levelled for Portsmouth in the 86th minute with the visitors’ first shot on target.

This was the rearranged Matchday 6 fixture at Molineux, kicked off at 7.45pm on Tuesday 20 October after two postponements in September, and for 45 minutes it played like a game neither side wanted to restart. Wolves, relegated from the Premier League last season, started the night eighth on 17 points from 10 games. Portsmouth started 13th on 14 points from 10 games, looking for a third straight league win after beating Sheffield United at home and winning 1-0 at Norwich on Saturday.

Half-time changes gave Wolves a game they could not finish

The first half produced one chance at each end. Andre lofted a bouncing shot just wide from 25 yards after Devlin had headed away a Mateus Mane cross, and at the other end Portsmouth worked Adrian Segecic’s deep free-kick in the 36th minute to a blocked Ebou Adams effort and a low Rocco Shein shot that went a few feet wide.

Cesar Peixoto changed it at half-time. Tawanda Chirewa, who had scored the winner at Burnley on Friday within 21 seconds of coming on, and Jordan James came on for Sean Neave and Marshall Munetsi, and Wolves were a different side after the break. Chirewa turned inside his man and rattled the bar with a rising shot from a tight angle. Mane dragged a low shot wide, and Fer Lopez volleyed wide from Rafiki Said’s cross.

The goal, when it came in the 62nd minute, came from the two players who had combined since the restart. James started the move with a one-two with Lopez and finished it himself, a low first-time drive that beat Nicolas Schmid at his near post. It was a substitute scoring the decisive goal for Wolves for the second game running, following Chirewa’s winner at Turf Moor.

One goal was not enough for a side that dropped deep

Wolves had the chances to finish the game. Adams headed over a corner from substitute Marezi from five yards at the Portsmouth end, but at the other end substitute Tommy Doyle’s cross just missed the sliding Chirewa, and Wolves did not take a second goal from a second half they controlled.

The numbers underline the problem rather than the dominance. Wolves finished with two shots on target, Portsmouth with one, and the corners were 6-2 to the home side. Peixoto said his players had defended too deep in the closing minutes because they wanted the win so much, and his fuller answer pointed to the first half as well as the finish.

“In the last few minutes we conceded a goal from their first shot on goal. I think it is an unfair result but we have to do better in the first 45 minutes,” Peixoto said. “I said at half-time, go and run, play free, play with courage and be brave in the game. But in the last few minutes we dropped deep because the players wanted so much to win the game to take off this pressure.”

A win would have taken Wolves fifth. Instead they have still won only two of their five home league games this season, with two draws and one defeat, and they have not won a home league game since 20 September.

Devlin and the one Portsmouth chance that counted

Portsmouth did not hit the target until the 86th minute, and when they did it was enough. A free-kick from Marezi was cleared, Devlin chested the ball down and volleyed it into the corner of the net from 18 yards. It was a right-back scoring the equaliser in a game where his side had spent most of the second half defending their own box.

Wolves pushed again. Chirewa’s low shot was clawed round a post by Schmid, and at the final whistle the two benches had to be pulled apart before order was restored. John Mousinho played the incident down afterwards.

“I shook their manager’s hand and he said I talk too much and I said that’s what I do as a head coach,” Mousinho said. “It was handbags and I walked off, it’s fine, no worries.” On the result itself, he added: “I thought it was about right. Wolves had more possession and shots and the onus is on them as a club coming down from the Premier League to do that. But overall we did a really good job of restricting that and when you take everything into consideration I thought we deserved it.”

Portsmouth end a hard week unbeaten in three

The point completes a strong eight days for Portsmouth. They beat Sheffield United 3-2 at Fratton Park on Wednesday 14 October, won 1-0 at Norwich on Saturday, and have now taken a point at Molineux after going behind in the second half. Three league games unbeaten, against three sides who started the season with promotion or play-off aims, is a fair return for a squad that Mousinho has had to rotate through a busy week.

The pattern is consistent. Portsmouth restricted Wolves to two shots on target despite spending long spells without the ball, defended their box when Doyle and Chirewa were combining late on, and still carried enough threat from set pieces, through Segecic in the first half and Marezi in the second, to stay in the game until Devlin’s chance arrived.

What the draw does to the table, and what comes next

Wolves move up to seventh on 18 points from 11 games, five points behind leaders Swansea City on 23 points and four points behind second-placed West Ham. Portsmouth stay 13th on 15 points from 11 games, with a record of four wins, three draws and four defeats, and are unbeaten in three league games.

Both sides play again on Saturday 24 October. Portsmouth are at home to Millwall, who drew 2-2 with Lincoln on Saturday, at Fratton Park with a 12.30pm kick-off. Wolves are at home again, against Watford, who beat Charlton 2-0 on Saturday, at Molineux at 3pm. For Peixoto, that Watford game is the next chance to turn a better second half into a home win.