WOLVES 0, PORTSMOUTH 1

IF Sulaiman Al Fahim was watching from his hospital bed, he might have had a relapse.

There were three of his players, tossing away those expensive jerseys.

And to think, it was losing their shirts that got Pompey into this mess in the first place.

Yet Jamie O'Hara, Aaron Mokoena and Younes Kaboul simply flung their tops - used just once - into the crowd. To hell with the cost.

Maybe Al Fahim will deduct it from their wages. Oops, sorry, they haven't got any.

But these were scenes that money cannot buy. Which, I guess in Portsmouth's case, is just as well.

Scenes that lifted the heart in a way the game certainly didn't.

This was not about a team ending a losing streak at seven games. This was about a team responding to adversity.

How strange it is that grim situations elicit the most positive of emotions.

Take David James. Which, much to the keeper's chagrin, Harry Redknapp did not.

There have been a few occasions during his 20-year career when James has deserved to have his salary frozen. Yesterday, he deserved double-time.

Not necessarily for risking facial rearrangement when Andy Keogh looked certain to score in first-half injury-time.

Not solely for a late athletic save from Greg Halford's impudent free-kick that gave Portsmouth their first points of the season.

But for the way he cajoled and encouraged his team-mates.

As they trooped out for the second half - ahead thanks to Hassan Yebda's effort - James hugged each and every one of them.

This was the man who was told he would have to knuckle down when suggestions of a ship-deserting switch to Spurs were squashed.

In 800 appearances, he can hardly have been as visibly motivated as this. He cut a truly inspirational figure.

And by the way, those two moments - one courageous, one acrobatic - also highlighted why he should remain the No 1 choice for Fabio Capello as England head to South Africa next summer. The unbridled joy of players and Pompey punters alike was uplifting.

But until the promises of fresh investment are made good, Portsmouth will still be on a financial precipice.

MY BALL - Stefan Maierhofer

The idea of a club in the Premier League - the self-proclaimed third richest sporting competition in the world - being unable to fund the payroll is preposterous.

Pompey can play up but not pay up. And no wonder when you look at some of the financial dealings.

As well as stiffing the squad, Portsmouth also have IOU's burning the pockets of a couple of agents. Namely, Pini Zahavi and Jonathan Barnett.

Apparently, this pair are owed the eye-watering sum of £3million for their role in the sales of Glen Johnson to Liverpool and Peter Crouch to Spurs. Nice work, if you can get it.

The world and his wife knew that Liverpool wanted Johnson and that Johnson wanted to go to Liverpool.

And Harry Redknapp and Crouch hardly need to be introduced. Or maybe they did. "Peter, this is Harry - Harry, this is Peter. And that will be one and a half million smackers please."

Call me naive but how do you agree to pay a National Lottery jackpot to people for organising two of the most straightforward transfers in history?

Hopefully, those at the coalface rather than those mining easy readies will be weighed in first. They deserve it.

Their plight is hardly likely to bring an outpouring of solidarity from the proletariat but not being paid your due in any walk of life is plainly wrong.

Yet, as Pompey boss Paul Hart said on Friday, this group is taking adversity pretty well.

Commitment is a quality that should not normally be remarked upon. It should be a given. But the tireless efforts of the underpaid deserves noting.

One example in first-half injury-time symbolised Portsmouth's efforts, James putting his cornrows where it hurts to deny Keogh and Tal Ben Haim embodying the last-gasp cliche to foil Kevin Doyle. It preserved Yebda's headed lead.

The goal dropped the smallest of crumb of controversy, coming after two corners - the first of which was dubious. Not half as dubious as the defending, though.

Kevin-Prince Boateng had enough time to spell out his name before fligthing over a standard cross - and Yebda, a French-Algerian on loan from Benfica, had enough time to write it down before nodding it past Wayne Hennessey. It was fairly typical of Wolves' first-half performance.

Take, for example, Doyle's adventurous 50-yard run that took him to prime chance-giving territory.

And where was the support? Nowhere to be seen. Portsmouth pay cheques arrive quicker.

For a man who knows his chunky salary is safely in the account, Wolves boss Mick McCarthy cut a distinctly disgruntled figure.

At least his half-time changes had some effect, Michael Kightly showing his eagerness via a ruck with O'Hara and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake providing a muscular, if somewhat uncoordinated, presence upfront.

Indeed, it was Kightly's centre that provided the one genuine talking point of an often painfully dull game.

Quite how referee Howard Webb and his assistant failed to see Marc Wilson's handball was beyond everyone inside Molineux.

McCarthy's resigned bemusement after the game summed up a shocking decision.

On the balance of play, maybe Wolves' efforts warranted a point - a point so nearly claimed when Halford cutely set up his own volley, which was arrowing into the bottom corner before a horizontally airborne James entered the picture.

Ebanks-Blake put the rebound over the bar, the stands and almost the setting sun.

And that was Wolves all afternoon. Very little composure. Defensively - even through an unusually hesitant Michael Mancienne and Christophe Berra - they were too hasty to clear their lines, cheaply surrendering possession.

Matt Jarvis provided a hint of midfield incisiveness while Doyle worked diligently, looking a cut above the disappointing Keogh.

Kightly and Ebanks-Blake, despite his disappointing late miss, must surely be worthy of starting slots when Wolves reconvene after the international break.

But this, essentially, is a workmanlike side with a lot of hard work ahead if they are to stay in this league. Ditto Portsmouth. But they will need a lot of hard cash as well.

Post-match, Hart talked intriguingly and hopefully of a major fiscal boost over the next few days.

No, Al Fahim has not had open-wallet surgery - a new investor has been recruited. And the players will be paid on Monday.

Of course, they will. The Sheikh is in the post. But wherever the money is coming from, whatever Middle Eastern tycoon is riding to the rescue this time, when the cash finally clears, these players can bank it with a clear conscience.

Yesterday, they earned every single penny of what they have not been paid.

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