NO-ONE in the ground was more relieved than Gary Cahill when his priceless last-minute header hit the back of the net at Fratton Park.

Having wasted a glorious chance just moments earlier, the Whites defender knew he was in for the high jump when he got back into the dressing room to face his furious boss Gary Megson.

But when Jlloyd Samuel’s long throw bounced his way late in the game, it was the young centre half’s leap that proved the telling one as he secured all three points for Wanderers in the most dramatic manner possible.

“It wasn’t pretty but it got me off the mark,” Cahill said of his first goal since his side’s last victory, at home to Middlesbrough in April.

“I should have done a lot better with the earlier chance. Sometimes I train with the forwards, and they won’t have liked that, but thankfully I redeemed myself.”

Pompey were furious that Matt Taylor appeared to be in an offside position as the ball made it’s way toward Cahill, via Chris Basham’s head, in the six-yard box.

But referee Chris Foy decided the winger was not actively involved in play, despite Taylor shaping to hit a volley if the ball had dropped to him.

“Matt said he was going to take it off me, so I’m glad he got out of the way,” Cahill said. “He would have been offside.

“When I ran away to celebrate I looked at the linesman thinking “maybe” but he kept his flag down, so it was okay.”

Cahill was probably due a slice of luck in front of goal after going close on several occasions already this season.

Two more opportunities had fallen his way against Pompey, and the defender admitted he was a relieved man after seeing the ball squeeze past David James.

“In a couple of games this season I have had chances but been unfortunate,” he said.

“I thought it was going to be the same story and should definitely have stuck one away — that was in the back of my mind when it came over.”

Cahill reckons the lack of quality football on show from both sides was down to the anxiety evident in both dressing rooms before the game. He added: “We were both sat there on zero points needing to get off the mark. There were definitely times in the game where both sides lacked quality.

It was more of a battle but it was drilled into us before kick-off that it didn’t matter about the performance, it was the result that mattered. If I’m honest, we have won this game but we’ll probably chalk it off because it wasn’t the best game of football.

“It was all a bit tense. No-one wanted to put their foot on the ball, or take responsibility for it. It showed that there were two teams desperate for a win.”