Grim by name, grim by nature. But don't blame the penniless Mariners for such a dire welcome to the new Fratton Park season.

Pompey were booed off at half time and got the same treatment at the end of a match devoid of incident or quality.

The biggest cheer of the afternoon was Lee Bradbury's 70th-minute goal. The second biggest greeted crowd favourite Steve Claridge when he emerged from the bench as replacement for record signing Lee Mills .

Not that Claridge's maverick skills could make any difference and he had hardly worked up a sweat when David Smith produced the one piece of magic with a superb left-foot volley to equalise.

In truth, while Pompey had by far the greater pressure, no one deserved to win and it would have been an injustice had either side collected three points.

For the record, Grimsby, the neater in midfield where they strung five players, had two long-range shots in the first half which produced regulation saves for Russell Hoult.

Hoult was a spectator in the second half and Grimsby's goal was their only effort on target in the entire 45 minutes.

Pompey were marginally better but when Bradbury's shot was blocked in the 70th minute by onrushing goalkeeper Danny Coyne, it was their first shot of the match.

Typical of what had gone before, the ball went for a throw which was taken by Justin Edinburgh. It missed its intended target, big Darren Moore, and also eluded the unsighted Coyne, leaving Bradbury unmarked at the far post to score.

Linvoy Primus shot over from six yards as Pompey improved after the break but £1.2m striker Mills limped off with a knee injury having made only telling contribution to the afternoon's entertainment with a powerful first-half header over the bar.

It won't have made manager Tony Pulis's weekend any easier to know Smith's only league goal for Grimsby last season was a penalty and that he once played for Pulis on loan at Bournemouth.

In fairness to Pompey, Grimsby made their intentions apparent from the start with an ultra-defensive formation in which new signing, free transfer Mike Jeffery, was employed as the only striker.

Their manager Alan Buckley conceded: "We did not come down here to entertain or please the crowd. I don't apologise as we have no money to bring in quality players and have to survive as best we can.

"We only had one chance and took it in style but we knew we were doing our job properly when the crowd booed off their players.''

Final score: Pompey..1 - Grimsby..1

Portsmouth: Hoult, Waterman, Moore, Primus, Edinburgh, Derry, Quashie, Thogersen, Hughes (O'Neil 45), Bradbury, Mills (Claridge 79). Subs not used:Rudonja, Curtis, Flahavan.

Grimsby: Coyne, McDermott, Raven, Livingstone, Gallimore (Butterfield 37), Donovan, Groves, Caldicott (Clare 75), Pouton, Smith, Jeffery (Allen 75). Subs not used: Croudson, Black.

Referee: R Beeby (Northampton).

Bookings: Derry, Bradbury (Portsmouth); Pouton (Grimsby).

Attendance: 12,511.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.