Derby County began their new season in the Premiership with a determined performance against Portsmouth on the opening day of the campaign, holding the visitors to a 2-2 draw.

Derby had a fantastic start to the match, going ahead with just 5 minutes gone. A long kick from keeper Stephen Bywater was flicked on by Steven Howard into the path of Matt Oakley and the 30-year old made no mistake in smashing the ball past David James and into the net.

Five minutes later, Andy Todd had a great chance to score his first goal in over 17 months, but the defender scooped the ball over the bar. Stung by the bright start from Derby, Portsmouth slowly began to take control of the game and Bywater had to be alert to deny Pedro Mendes from 25 yards out.

Portsmouth finally leveled the scores in the 27th minute when Benjani Mwaruwari beat Andy Griffin and passed the ball under Bywater and into the net to score his sixth goal in over 500 appearances. Derby could have retaken the lead through Howard in the 40th minute, but striker saw his header smash against the crossbar.

Derby once again came close to scoring in the 55th minute but Craig Fagan's shot was saved brilliantly by James. Just when the game looked to be heading towards a draw, Portsmouth took the lead in the 83rd minute when debutant John Utaka got better of his marker and smashed home the goal to put his team in the lead.

However Derby were back in level terms a minute later when Todd jumped high to head home a Gary Teale cross, making sure that his team share the spoils with Portsmouth. Derby's next match in against Manchester City while Portsmouth face Manchester United on August 15.