Portsmouth boss John Mousinho hailed his side’s 1-0 win at struggling Fleetwood as one of the best of their season.

Pompey stayed at the Sky Bet League One summit thanks to Abu Kamara’s eye-catching striker midway through the first half.

After back-to-back defeats Mousinho admitted it was a welcome win for Pompey, although he would have preferred his side to be more clinical when they are dominating.

He said: “It feels like, and it felt before the game, that it would be up there with the most important and best wins of the season. Especially with all the circumstances – coming into the game off the back of a really poor performance, tough conditions, a tough pitch, to win the game was the most important thing.

“But I think the two sides of the performance, some really good football in the first half followed by that dogged determination to keep the ball out of our net in the second half, it shows we’ve got both sides of the game.

“I felt we were really in control in the first half, we kept the ball for the majority of it. It felt frustrating that we didn’t open them up more but you’re not always going to be able to do that because Fleetwood were working so hard.

“Our plan was that if we kept moving the ball and made it difficult for them something would open up, and a few times it did open up.

“When it does that’s probably the area where we’ve been lacking in the past few weeks, that bit of quality in the final third. But when you’ve got players like Abu Kamara on the pitch we want to see a bit more of that, because he’s got that in his locker.”

Fleetwood’s defeat means new boss Charlie Adam is still awaiting his first point since taking over at Highbury.

Although they prop up the rest of the division, the manager is desperate to see more performances like their second-half show against Pompey.

He explained: “When you give good teams an opportunity, one moment of allowing the ball to come inside has cost us the game.

“I got stuck into them at half-time and told them what I thought and what I expected of them because the first half wasn’t acceptable, we were too passive and we conceded the goal that cost us the game in the end.

“The second half was much better. We drove and I saw a team that was fighting with really good energy at the top end of the pitch but that chance never fell for us so we’ll look back at it and we’ll have to go again next week.

“I felt for some reason we played with the handbrake on in the first half, so we’ll look back on it and see what the reasons are but you can’t give good teams 45 minutes of a start on you and then expect a reaction.

“They gave me the reaction I asked for in the second half but ultimately we were unlucky not to get a point from the game.

“I think we caused a good team problems in the second half, we got on the front foot and pressed better and it allowed us to get up the pitch.

“If we can put it into a consistent 90 minutes then the football matches will start to turn.”

Portsmouth’s poor form continued as John Mousinho’s league leaders made it one win in six games by slipping to a shock 3-0 defeat at home to Leyton Orient.

A disastrous opening half saw stuttering Pompey conceded all three goals before the break.

Orient could have been ahead inside the first 10 seconds, but Dan Agyei’s shot was deflected for a corner.

They did take the lead after 30 minutes when a one-two between Shaq Forde and Max Sanders saw Forde score easily.

It was 2-0 five minutes later when Jordan Brown stabbed home after a goalmouth scramble.

Pompey had a chance to get back in the game after 40 minutes with a penalty after a foul on Jack Sparkes, but Colby Bishop’s tame effort was easily saved.

Things got worse for Pompey in the last minute of first-half added time when Agyei headed home from a corner.

Orient maintained their dominance in the second half, stifling Pompey’s efforts to get back into the game and came away worthy winners.

Cheltenham boss Darrell Clarke hailed midfielder Liam Sercombe’s influence after his quickfire brace sealed a shock 2-1 home win over leaders Portsmouth.

Pompey had taken the lead through a 49th-minute own goal but the Robins responded quickly, with Sercombe’s first brace for the club sealing three valuable points in their battle against the drop.

The vastly experienced Sercombe has scored four goals in his last five games and is clearly enjoying life under Clarke, who also managed him at Bristol Rovers.

“Sercs has done that all his career and he knows where the back of the net is,” Clarke said.

“They were great goals and he is leading by example. He’s an important, senior member of my team and he’s done the business today.

“He did his job and then I took him off to shore it up in midfield and said ‘come and sit with me Sercs – two brilliant goals mate!’ but he was excellent.”

Cheltenham remain in the bottom four, but their sixth win in 15 games under Clarke has given them renewed belief that they can survive.

“The way the boys put their bodies on the line was absolutely tremendous,” he said.

“I am delighted to come back from a goal down and win the game as well. I am over the moon with it.”

Portsmouth were on top for much of the first half, with Abu Kamara a major threat.

But they failed to seriously test goalkeeper Luke Southwood, who made comfortable saves from Sean Raggett and Marlon Pack.

Kamara had the ball in the net before half-time, but the whistle had already been blown for a foul on him and it was ruled out.

But Paddy Lane’s cross was helped on by Raggett and Tom Bradbury deflected it into his own net under pressure from Colby Bishop in the 49th minute.

Portsmouth were in front for less than two minutes, with Will Ferry’s long throw-in hooked in by Sercombe in the 51st minute.

The winner came when George Lloyd dispossessed Conor Shaughnessy in the 54th minute, allowing Sercombe to smash into the roof of the net for his sixth of the season.

Pompey boss John Mousinho felt his team controlled the game and should have had two penalties.

“By the time we went 1-0 up I felt we deserved the lead,” Mousinho said.

“There were five minutes of absolute madness from us when they scored, but after that we dominated.

“We should’ve had two penalties, but ended up with two bookings for diving. It was a disappointing afternoon.

“A lot of stuff didn’t go for us as far as refereeing decisions go, but we didn’t lose the game because of that, we lost it because of our own sloppy errors.

“I can live with today because we performed pretty well, but I’m still puzzled as to how we lost it.

“As much as it’s a blow, we need to dust ourselves down and go again.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho cut a frustrated figure as his Sky Bet League One leaders were held to a goalless draw at struggling Exeter to make it three games without a win.

Pompey enjoyed more possession and territory, but it was Exeter that created the better chances.

Their troubles in front of goal – four goals in 15 games now – were all too evident, though, while Pompey rarely troubled Exeter goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo.

“We started OK, we played well for 15 minutes but then I thought we lost control of the game,” Mousinho said. “That was the frustration as you cannot afford to waste a half and hope something happens in the second half.

“I think we did pretty well in the second half and we were the team in the ascendancy. We had a few chances that, on another day, we put in the back of the net.

“I wasn’t worried about the second-half performance, that was fine, it was more the fact that if you do waste 45 minutes against any side you leave yourself open to drawing games and potentially losing them.

“If we had beaten Fleetwood and got the result we deserved against Bristol Rovers, then you think ‘OK, we have had a slight off night and take the point and move on’.

“But the frustration builds because we haven’t won those last two league games as well. It is naturally going to, but we have to look at the bigger picture and try and address some of the issues we had tonight.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell felt his side were good value for a point and created the better chances with Sonny Cox firing straight at Will Norris and Ilmari Niskanen striking the post.

“I think we have to be happy with the result, we always want to try and win games, especially at home, but we are playing top of the league, we have been on a difficult run, but we had a fantastic win on Boxing Day, so to back that up tonight, we will take it,” he said.

“Both teams had small chances in the game, I think we had slightly the better of those chances to win, but I think it was a pretty even game and we will take the point and move on to Reading on New Year’s Day.

“We have had a difficult run for many different reasons, but I believe in this team.

“We had an excellent result on Boxing Day and we took that into tonight, we tried to play on the front foot and we had a fantastic home support backing us.
“We created opportunities, but it wasn’t to be. But our work ethic, our desire to keep a clean sheet was outstanding against a very good team who are top of the league and flying high. It was a good point.”

Sky Bet League One leaders Portsmouth had to settle for a point as their disappointing festive form continued with a goalless draw at struggling Exeter.

Pompey created the first chance of the match when former Exeter man Jack Sparkes was played in on the left, but his shot was saved by Vili Sinisalo.

Dion Rankine was also off target with a header from a well-worked corner routine for the home side before Reece Cole won the ball and teed up Sonny Cox, but he poked his shot straight at Will Norris from 10 yards.

Rankine had a shot blocked by a Pompey defender before Jack Aitchison – on three occasions – also had efforts blocked and then Cheick Diabate brought the half to a close by heading over from an Exeter corner.

The second half started with Pompey’s Paddy Lane being denied by a superb block by Diabate and, as Exeter countered, Cox crossed low for Ilmari Niskanen, who slid in and fired against the base of the post.

Lane had another great chance, but Sinisalo made a superb save low to his left, while Niskanen brought a fine save out of Norris at the other end as both teams cancelled each other out.

Matt Taylor pointed to his players’ efforts as Bristol Rovers became the first home team to beat Portsmouth in League One this season.

Paddy Lane equalised for Pompey in the 76th minute after Antony Evans had curled in an exquisite free-kick 10 minutes earlier for the hosts, but Rovers’ Luke Thomas struck four minutes into added time for a winner.

Taylor believes that Portsmouth will ultimately be promoted this year but, after overseeing a win at Bolton 10 days ago and now winning his first league game at the Memorial Stadium, the former centre-back says his team must go for it if they want to get into the promotion play-off picture themselves.

“It was emotional at the end,” said Taylor who picked up a yellow card for his exuberant touchline celebrations following winger Thomas’ late goal.

“I thought the lads got what they deserved and I was so pleased with the effort they put in and the fact that they got more to show for it than they might have got at the end – certainly their [Portsmouth’s] goal seemed to come out of nothing, maybe a mistake in the middle of the park from ourselves and suddenly it’s 1-1.”

A fiery encounter saw 11 yellow cards handed out to both teams and Taylor said that central defender Sean Raggett could have seen red for one bad tackle on Rovers’ Aaron Collins.

“It was a passionate game and exactly what you want to see on Boxing Day,” he added.

“I thought they got after [winger] Thomas – it was almost like they took off one left back who got booked and put another on to do the same – I’m so glad for him that he kept on going and was in the right place at the right time to win us the game.”

Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho said his team must be more clinical after his substitutes Christian Saydee and Kusini Yengi missed good opportunities to grab late goals themselves.

“The shape change gave us momentum and got our attacking players doing the right things and we got back in the game deservedly and looked the team more likely to win,” he said.

“I thought a winner was coming [for Portsmouth]. We had a couple of goalmouth scrambles and good chances and got ourselves into a good position but Christian dragged his shot just wide. We have to got to do better in those areas.

“These games are tough. Sometimes these games are tight for 60-70 minutes and you don’t create a significant amount and players get tired…the state of the game changes and those are the times we have to be a lot better.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho admitted the Sky Bet League One leaders were below their best after being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by lowly Fleetwood.

Colby Bishop’s penalty goal on his return from injury was not enough to earn Pompey all three points.

A visibly unhappy Mousinho said: “It was totally frustrating today.

“I thought we controlled the game in the first half and just about deserved to go in a goal up.

“We again didn’t have the quality in the final third to put the ball in the net and in the first 20 minutes of the second half we were awful.

“We were on the back foot, the passing was poor, the crossing was abysmal, and we got punished for it.

“We picked up a bit after the equalizer but looked vulnerable when they counter-attacked.

“It’s difficult to put a finger on anything in particular about what was wrong today. Although not an acceptable defence, it was like we were not playing a ‘Bolton’, and just took our foot off the pedal and switched off.

“We’re all better than that, and the players can perform a lot better. We now need to step up a gear on Boxing Day at Bristol Rovers.”

There was very little for the fans to cheer about in the opening 45 minutes, but it was in added time that Pompey took the lead.

They were lethargic from the start with very little imagination against a defensively minded Fleetwood.

Half chances from Abu Kamara, who hit a post in the 40th minute, were the best they could produce.

Then a handball in the box gave Bishop the chance to increase his goal tally for the season to 12, which he did comfortably.

Fleetwood came out with more urgency and unexpectedly equalised in the 61st minute.

A corner caused a scramble in Pompey’s six-yard box, and Josh Earl stabbed the ball home.

Chance after chance went begging for Pompey, but they just could not find the winner.

Fleetwood manager Lee Johnson said: “It was a really charismatic performance from the team. They followed the game plan to perfection really.

“We know how good Pompey are, but we have a lot of strength and athleticism, and put a real shift in.

“We felt there were a lot of poor refereeing decisions out there today.

“It was disappointing to go a goal down right on half-time, but everyone rallied round in the dressing room, and we responded well.

“We’ve got 13 players out, and the academy made eight players available for the squad, so it shows we have depth at the club and can compete on any given day.

“It was good to stem the flow of results we’ve had recently, especially against a team riding the wave at the top, and we could have gone on to win it near the end if we had made the right decision on the ball.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho saluted Australian striker Kusini Yengi after he helped fire the south coast side to a six-point lead at the top of the League One table as they beat second-placed Bolton 2-0.

Conor Shaughnessy was also on target as Pompey recorded a statement victory at Fratton Park.

Mousinho said: “It was a great result. We were a constant threat going forward.

“I can’t remember our goalkeeper having to deal with anything in the second half. I thought we were comfortable and pushed well.

“We had opportunity after opportunity and were perhaps a bit sloppy in the final third, but when we did get it right, we scored.

“Kusini’s performance against (Ricardo) Santos, who is one of the best centre-halves in the league, was terrific.

“We wanted him to lead the line, and he handled it superbly. He was pressing Santos and the goalkeeper, and we did at the back end of the game wonder if we needed to freshen things up a bit.

“But he showed how fit he is. It was his second league start, and his first here. It was a battle that I thought the referee handled pretty well.

“We’ll savour the moment, then turn the focus to the next game.”

In a fiercely-contested first half, Bolton should have taken the lead after 28 minutes. A powerful header by Jon Dadi Bodvarsson was brilliantly pushed away by Will Norris, and from six yards out and with an open goal, Dion Charles somehow fired the rebound wide.

Pompey then had the ball cleared off the line as Yengi’s shot was partly blocked by goalkeeper Nathan Baxter and Gethin Jones hooked it away.

Right on half-time a corner kick by Jack Sparkes was met by Shaughnessy to glance his header into the net.

Pompey controlled the second half and deserved their second goal a minute from time as Yengi hammered home from six yards from a Gavin Whyte cross.

Bolton boss Ian Evatt said: “I think that in the first half we managed to wrestle control of the game but misses like the one from Dion seemed to affect the flow of our game.

“It’s always frustrating when conceding right on half-time. I thought there was a clear foul leading up to the corner and I can’t understand why it’s not given.

“The second half, they put us on our toes and we couldn’t deal with it. We lost faith and belief, we rocked and wobbled, and it was very disappointing. That’s not what we are about. We are so much better than that.

“They made it very difficult for us and basically dominated on everything. I don’t think they outplayed us, but they outfought us. We’ve let ourselves down but the players have always responded when they have to. We’ve lost the game playing their way, not ours.”

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was delighted with his side’s performance after they beat Northampton 3-0 to go back to the top of League One.

Pompey took full advantage of former leaders Bolton’s FA Cup commitments as Sean Raggett headed them into an early lead before Paddy Lane added a goal either side of half-time.

The commanding display wrapped up back-to-back victories following a first defeat of the season against Blackpool last weekend.

“I thought we were excellent from start to finish,” said Mousinho. “Coming off a really professional performance in the week, I thought it was more of the same in the first half.

“We were brave on the ball and we earned the right to play some really good football in the second half. It was a pleasure to watch.

“My only criticism was that we didn’t put the game further out of reach because we had chances and we had opportunities but we didn’t take them.

“I know I sound greedy but you have to be greedy in football and we’ve been there before. We have led 3-0 away from home and suffered a nervy finish so that was the only thing that could have been better.

“It was a really good afternoon and it’s so important to win these games, especially considering what happened this time last week against Blackpool.

“This was a big test because you saw what Northampton did to Blackpool on Tuesday – they won the game and they thoroughly deserved it.

“We knew they would be a good side, they have momentum and they have plenty of good players so to do what we did, in the style we did, was really pleasing.”

Northampton had won their last three games but they were off the pace against Pompey.

Cobblers boss Jon Brady said: “I felt we gifted them all three goals to be honest. The first one, the corner, we’re too loose and not aggressive enough and that’s not us.

“The second one comes from a goal-kick, which is really soft, and the third goal is another poor one so we didn’t do the basics right today.

“We tried to step on and at least in the first half we probed and looked dangerous, Sam (Hoskins) and Kieron (Bowie) went close with a few efforts, and our intention wasn’t to sit back or sit deep.

“We wanted to have a go but Portsmouth are very good side and they’re top for a reason. They haven’t lost an away game since March but unfortunately we didn’t do the basics right and we gave away soft goals.

“If you do that, you’ll find yourselves in a lot of trouble and we suffered today.”

Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho was thrilled with his side’s performance after they returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory at 10-man Burton.

Mousinho was looking for a response after Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to Blackpool and he got it thanks to Colby Bishop’s first-half penalty and Alex Robertson’s second-half finish – his first senior goal.

“With the context of everything that has happened over the past few days, with the blow to morale that we took on Saturday, the question was asked after the game ‘is this just a blip?’” the former Brewers midfielder said.

“I asked them for a solid grown-up performance where they had to show a lot of mettle and they did that in pretty much everything they did barring a 10-minute spell.”

Bishop failed to appear for the second half after picking up an ankle injury late in the first half.

“That is probably the only negative to come out of the game. I saw it right in front of me, he just went over on his ankle.

“It has swollen up. He tried to play on but couldn’t put any weight on it. He turns over his ankle, there is nothing we can about it, the pitch is fine, it wasn’t a bad challenge, just bad luck.”

Mousinho was delighted with Manchester City loanee Robertson getting off the mark as well.

He said: “I thought he was our best player on Saturday, shining light in a poor performance, and our best player again tonight.

“The only criticism I’ve had of him is the final (end) product and he has put it together tonight.”

Burton boss Dino Maamria was pleased with his side’s effort but felt they contributed to their own downfall at two crucial moments.

“We shot ourselves in the foot twice,” he observed.

“It is very harsh. I thought for 37 minutes we were well on top of the game and asking them questions. Their keeper made an unbelievable save from KB [Kwadwo Baah].

“We make a bad, bad decision where we give them the easiest penalty ever and when you give a team like Portsmouth a leg up, when you don’t need to, it is always going to make it difficult.”

Despite a strong start to the second half, Maamria saw his side threaten without finding the crucial equaliser before Pompey picked the Brewers off when Mark Helm and Kwadwo Baah collided with each other.

“The second goal came after we started the second half on the front foot and we were parked in their last third. We couldn’t get that goal and they scored from a transition,” he said.

Steve Seddon’s late sending off for a second bookable offence added to Maamria’s frustrations despite a positive response to Saturday’s defeat at Peterborough.

He added: “At two-nil and with a sending off it is game over when you give those teams as easy goals as we have but I have no complaints about the performance because I thought that was excellent.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley said ‘belief in the group is showing’ after his team ended Portsmouth’s 27-match unbeaten record in Sky Bet League One with a 4-0 win at Fratton Park.

Former Pompey loanee Owen Dale, Jack Beesley, CJ Hamilton and Albie Morgan scored the goals as Pompey, who had midfielder Joe Morrell dismissed, were knocked off the top of the table by Bolton.

Critchley said: “It’s a big win for us, coming to the leaders and getting four goals.

“The team was selected to go at Portsmouth and get the win. Even after we went ahead, you could see Pompey’s quality in how they came back at us.

“We’ve got the second early in the second half, and then we’ve seen them go down to 10 and gone on to get two more.

“You could say things have gone slightly for us today, but we played bravely for the whole game.

“We had to defend the goal very well, which we did.

“The belief in the group is showing after a busy summer, and it’s showing on the training ground.”

The Seasiders took the lead in the ninth minute as Hamilton crossed for the unmarked Dale to find the net.

Pompey should have equalised on 23 minutes, but new signings Josh Martin could not beat goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw in a one-on-one situation.

Grimshaw then produced a stunning push out from Marvin Ekpiteta’s sliced attempted clearance a few minutes later.

Blackpool made it two 11 minutes into the second half as Karamoko Dembele’s shot was deflected in by Jake Beesley.

Things got worse for Pompey when skipper Morrell received a second yellow card and was sent off in the 64th minute.

Hamilton got a third 16 for the visitors minutes from time and substitute Morgan sealed the rout with three minutes remaining.

Pompey boss John Mousinho felt Morrell’s dismissal was a key moment in the game.

He said: “The result is obviously very disappointing, and I think there is loads to pick out of the game.

“You’ve probably got to look at it as two separate games really. What happened before the red card and after it.

“We responded well to going behind, and I said to the lads at half-time that we played pretty well.

“We created some chances that we didn’t put away, along with a couple of good saves from their goalkeeper, who we didn’t work enough.

“We were slow to get at it in the second half. Their second goal was deflected off of Beesley, who was blatantly offside, but the officials said he wasn’t interfering.

“I thought Joe’s sending off was correct. He needs to stay on his feet, and I’ve told him that.”

Conor McGrandles scored a stoppage-time equaliser to earn Charlton a 2-2 draw at League One leaders Portsmouth in a pulsating game at Fratton Park.

Abu Kamara put Pompey ahead at the break and, after Alfie May levelled in the 71st minute, Colby Bishop quickly restored the lead from the spot.

But McGrandles struck in the third minute of added time to earn the Addicks a point.

Pompey’s early bombardment bore little fruit, with just an Alex Robertson effort to show for it.

Charlton grew more into the game and could have gone ahead with efforts from Miles Leaburn and May.

But in the 32nd minute Kamara fired beyond Ashley Maynard-Brewer from 20 yards to put Pompey ahead after a half-cleared corner.

Pompey were close to a second in the 57th minute when a Bishop header was pushed brilliantly over the crossbar by Maynard-Brewer.

Kamara and Bishop both hit the bar before Charlton equalised when May drove a shot between Will Norris’ legs.

Pompey regained the lead with a 76th-minute penalty after Maynard-Brewer clattered into Paddy Lane and Bishop scored the spot-kick.

But Charlton refused to lay down and McGrandles headed home to salvage a point.

Tom Naylor dumped his old club Portsmouth out of the FA Cup as Chesterfield won their first-round tie 1-0 at the SMH Group Stadium.

Former Pompey midfielder Naylor headed home in the first half as the National League leaders defeated opponents who hold the same position in the League One table.

Ollie Banks forced Will Norris into the first save and then curled a shot just wide as the Spireites started well.

Portsmouth’s Paddy Lane shot at the near post but Harry Tyrer saved low to his left at the expense of a corner.

Chesterfield claimed a deserved lead just after the half hour as Liam Mandeville curled in a free-kick and Naylor beat Norris to the ball to head home.

Colby Bishop’s downward header was too close to Tyrer as the home side comfortably held their lead to the break.

Banks shot at Norris early in the second half and Armando Dobra twice saw penalty appeals denied as Chesterfield continued to dominate with an hour gone.

Portsmouth substitute Abu Kamara headed wide as the visitors looked for a way back into the tie.

But Paul Cook’s side had done enough to reach round two.

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho felt he saw the worst and the best from his side as they recovered from a terrible start to fight back and secure a hard-earned 3-2 win at struggling Reading.

Protests from the home fans – with around 2,000 supporters also staging a pre-match protest march against Chinese owner Dai Yongge – saw the game paused twice after tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch before the Royals took a shock 2-0 lead through quick goals from Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage.

Pompey, though, fought their way back on to level terms before the break through on-loan Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin and Colby Bishop.

Terry Devlin then slotted in the winner early in the second start to extend Pompey’s unbeaten start.

“I was really disappointed by the way that we played for 25 to 30 minutes,” Mousinho said.

“But even at 2-0 down, I was still quite positive of getting back into the game. We then proved that with 15 minutes-worth of very good football.

“The (tennis ball) protests impacted the flow of the game, but Reading had to deal with that as well. They just got on with it.

“For us, it was really Jekyll and Hyde in that first half. To start off, with what we have put together collectively, we were an unrecognisable team.

“But once we had taken that kick in the face (of Reading’s goals), we were excellent.”

After the final whistle, Reading substitute Amadou Mbengue received a red card following a skirmish between both sets of players.

Reading slipped to the bottom of the table as their winless run stretched to seven matches.

“We were just not able to keep the lead,” said Reading manager Ruben Selles said.

“And at 2-1, we had an amazing opportunity to make it 3-1, but that has been happening so often to us lately.

“We don’t put the ball in the net and the next one is coming against us.

“The performance was there, we were competitive against one of the best teams in the league, but we need to be more robust and more ruthless.”

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho admitted the 2-0 win at home to Port Vale was ‘a game of two halves’.

After a lacklustre opening 45 minutes, top-scorer Colby Bishop scored twice early in the second half to extend the Sky Bet League One leaders’ unbeaten run to 23 games.

Mousinho said: “Over the 90 minutes you could say ‘job done’ but it was a game of two halves.

“I thought we were excellent in the second half. I said to the lads that maybe it’s a sign of a good team that you can not quite be on it, like we were in the first half, and not concede goals.

“We moved the ball far too slowly in the first half, and we didn’t go forward with enough urgency.”

Pompey’s first half performance did not reflect their lofty league position as Vale had by far the better of the play.

The visitors could have taken the lead in the fifth minute but Funso Ojo could only hit the post from 18 yards.

Ojo had another chance which went straight to Will Norris, James Plant put the ball wide when clear and Ben Garrity headed over from close range for the visitors.

Portsmouth’s only effort before the break was a header from an unmarked Paddy Lane, which went wide.

However, Pompey came out fighting in the second half and they took the lead in the 53rd minute when Bishop tapped in Joe Rafferty fierce cross-shot from close range.

The hosts doubled their advantage five minutes later when a penalty, given for handball by Kofi Balmer, was converted by Bishop.

Mousinho added: “Colby’s all-round play is excellent, and he can sniff out opportunities, which is exactly what he did for the first goal. He works hard and deserves it.”

Disappointed Vale boss Andy Crosby admitted his team’s lack of ruthlessness in the first half cost them.

Crosby said: “We did well to create a number of chances against the league leaders but didn’t work their keeper enough.

“We were the better side in the first 45 minutes but couldn’t put anything away. Funso hit the post, but that was the closest we got.”

“The referee gives a penalty, which my players say wasn’t. They’re adamant it didn’t hit Kofi’s hand, and if anything, we should have had a free-kick.

“We’ve come here with a game plan, to utilise the strength of our players. We were OK up to the point of getting the ball in the box, but we have to be more clinical, more ruthless.

“I didn’t play with a recognised striker because we looked at their back four and felt that we had enough strengths in other areas to play without one.”