Steve Cotterill sometimes referred to the two lively, diminutive players as The Chuckle Brothers and their goals certainly brought smiles to everyone's faces.
Stephen Henderson retained his place in goal instead of Jamie Ashdown to make his league debut at Fratton Park.
Luke Varney returned to the starting line-up following his three match ban picked up when he saw a straight red card at Hull City.
Joel Ward dropped to the bench with welcome return to the starting line-up for Ricardo Rocha.
The match also saw the return of Dave Kitson from a rib injury, the striker taking his place on the bench.
There was no place on the bench however for on-loan Bjorn Helge Riise, Ryan Williams or Marko Futacs, the latter was on pre-match duty doing presentations.
Suddenly, Pompey's squad looks much stronger, highlighting the negative impact injuries and suspensions can have when the overall numbers are small.
Coaches Guy Whittingham and Stuart Gray took charge of team affairs and shared the technical area throughout the match (although Gray held the clipboard!).
There were some positive signs for Pompey in the first-half. Tal Ben Haim made one surging, skilful run from left back towards goal, unchallenged before he was blocked on the edge of the penalty area by a Barnsley defender. The referee Mr Hooper waved away calls for a free-kick deeming the defender's action to be fair.
Varney had one shot which fired over the cross-bar and in to the Milton End following some good work down the left, a move we've seen from him before this season on more than one occasion, at Ashton Gate for example he hit the cross-bar.
Norris was having his best game in a Pompey shirt since his Summer move to the South Coast and he was on the end of a very clever piece of Pompey play which had Varney at its heart. If it had come off it would have been up there as a goal of the season contender. Unfortunately Norris was just unable to get any power behind his attempt at chipping Luke Steele in the Barnsley goal who was able to claw the ball away to safety before Benjani could pick up the pieces.
Ricardo Rocha was doing what he does best: no-nonsense defending. His blocking and tackling was inspirational, one tackle in the Barnsley half particularly stood out as it sparked the crowd into life with some appreciative applause and cheers. It's those small things in a game which can make a big difference.
It has to be said that the best chances of the first-half fell to the visitors who came in to the game on a decent run of form.
Ricardo Vaz Te smashed a shot over the cross-bar from 12 yards and Jacob Butterfield struck the upright with a fierce shot from outside the penalty box having earlier forced Henderson into a two handed block from similar distance.
Whereas Butterfield looked impressive, Vaz Te looked pacy but inconsistent, his 'dive' looking for a penalty did him no favours and he was replaced at the break by the no nonsense Tykes' manager Keith Hill.
HT: Portsmouth 0-0 Barnsley
Pompey noticeably picked-up the pace of the game at the start of the second half and Benjani looked particularly lively up-front collecting balls through the middle and in the right channel. The Zimbabwean had one weak shot on goal and was also bundled over in the box but appeals for a penalty were ignored by the referee.
Liam Lawrence, playing in a more central role, set-up a great chance for Norwegian Erik Huseklepp to open the scoring but he somehow spurned the chance mis-hitting his shot in to the ground which was easily cleared off the line by the defender.
Varney also had an excellent chance to score finding himself free on the left side of the penalty area but the Barnsley defender Jay McEveley made an excellent last-ditch tackle before he could get off the shot. That defending brought a ripple of applause and acknowledgement from the knowledgeable fans around the ground.
Benjani had been struggling with his hamstring since the 'non-penalty' incident (the defender had fallen on to the backs of his legs) and he was eventually replaced by Dave Kitson. Within five minutes of his arrival Pompey were two goals to the good.
The first was an excellent volley from Norris who showed some super skill to control a cross from the right by Huseklepp before hitting the ball left footed into the net past Steele on the volley.
Within a minute the lead was doubled and the Pompey fans were in raptures. This time substitute Kitson found himself down the right hand side before pulling the ball back for Varney to score in front of the Fratton End. The new Father provided a suitable celebration in the corner of the Fratton End and the South Stand with his team mates - it looked like it involved thumb sucking.
Barnsley continued to threat and Henderson was twice troubled making one particular good save to tip the ball over the bar at full stretch.
Pompey were able to see the game out to secure the three points with some sensible play securing their third league win of the season after Reading and Blackpool. It was a well deserved win in what has been a difficult 48 hours off the field.
FT: Portsmouth 2-0 Barnsley
Match action pictures
Portsmouth versus Barnsley: Stephen Henderson, Greg Halford, Ricardo Rocha, Jason Pearce, Tal Ben Haim, Liam Lawrence, Hayden Mullins, David Norris, Erik Huseklepp, Benjani, Luke Varney. Substituties: Jamie Ashdown, Aaron Mokoena, Kanu, Joel Ward and Dave Kitson.
Attendance: 11,261
Referee: Mr S Hooper
MOTM: the official award went to Luke Varney, I would have given it to Ricardo Rocha.
Next up for Pompey: Ipswich Town away at Portman Road on Tuesday 18th October at 7:45PM.
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