Keith Andrews’s fifth goal for the Blues saw Paul Jewell’s men to a fortunate 1-0 home victory over Portsmouth. Town were a pale shadow of their usual selves for much of the game and Pompey missed a number of good chances before the Irishman netted the winner from close range in the 69th minute.
Boss Paul Jewell named the same starting line-up for the sixth game in succession, while the subs bench was unchanged from Saturday’s game at Cardiff. Portsmouth, who included former Town skipper David Norris but not Hermann Hreidarsson, made two switches of personnel from the weekend victory over Barnsley, Dave Kitson and Joel Ward coming in for Benjani and Erik Huseklepp.
Left-back Aaron Cresswell sent a fifth minute freekick well over the bar as the Blues began the game on the front foot.
Three minutes later, Lee Bowyer hit a shot on the turn which Portsmouth keeper Stephen Henderson was forced to push wide for a corner.
The early stages had been all Town but as the quarter hour mark approached the visitors started to see more of the ball and on 13 Hayden Mullins shot over from 20 yards.
Portsmouth should have gone ahead in the 19th minute when Jimmy Bullard lost possession inside the Town half and Norris played in Luke Varney. Blues keeper David Stockdale stood his ground and superbly blocked the former Charlton man’s shot. Ibrahima Sonko screwed his clearance up in the air but fortunately close to his keeper, who finally ended the danger by kicking long.
After the promising start, the Blues had faded somewhat with the ball being given away cheaply and needlessly on too many occasions. Portsmouth were looking the more threatening side but with Varney’s chance the only one requiring Stockdale to make a save, although on 29 Kitson diverted a Liam Lawrence corner wide.
On 31 Ricardo Rocha headed a freekick to Stockdale, then the Town keeper pushed Joel Ward’s far-post header from a deep cross from the left round the post. From the corner, Halford’s shot was blocked.
The Blues made a rare foray into the Pompey area on 37 when a neat interchange between Scotland and Andrews led to the Irish international hitting a shot straight at Henderson.
Paul Jewell will have been glad to hear the whistle marking the end of the Blues’ poorest 45 minutes for a while. After a decent start, Town had been unable to keep the ball and had allowed the visitors a number of chances — the best Varney’s on 19 - and a Portsmouth lead at the break would neither have been neither a surprise nor flattering to the Hampshire club.
At the other end, aside from a neat move involving Scotland and Andrews, Bowyer’s strike and a couple of early Cresswell crosses, there had been little threat. In order to change that, the Blues manager switched Jason Scotland for Nathan Ellington.
But it was the visitors who might have gone in front in the second minute of the new half, Ward sending in a cross from the left after a short corner and Lawrence completely missing the ball from six yards out when he should have scored.
The Blues briefly made some headway, Andrews diverting Bullard’s cross from the right to Henderson but in the main the game had continued much as the first half had ended.
On 56 a cross from the right from the Pompey right led to a scramble inside the Blues’ box but Kitson was unable to get in a strike and Norris eventually shot wide, although the linesman’s flag had already been raised.
As the game reached the hour mark, Damien Delaney replaced Ibrahima Sonko, who was struggling with a hamstring injury.
Edwards sent a cross shot narrowly past Henderson’s right post in the 64th minute, seconds before Jay Emmanuel-Thomas replaced Michael Chopra, the former Arsenal man joining Ellington up front.
Town began to look more of a threat, particularly from set pieces, although with referee Gavin Ward by no means the home fans’ favourite for making a number of contentious calls. After a corner from the right had been cleared, Collins had the opportunity to nod the ball down for Ellington and a number of others but instead headed straight to Henderson.
But on 69 Town went in front. Leadbitter played the ball wide to Edwards who initially missed it, but brought it forward before sending in a cross towards Ellington six yards out. The former Wigan man mistimed his goalwards header but it dropped kindly for Andrews, who appeared to scuff the ball beyond Henderson for his fifth goal of the season
Ward curled over from just outside the Town area on 72 before the visitors swapped Erik Huseklepp and Nwankwo Kanu for Kitson and Rocha within a couple of minutes of one another.
Between the changes, Ellington made a twisting turning run inside the area but slipped, Leadbitter eventually hitting a shot which was blocked. As the game entered its final 10 minutes Bowyer was booked for a foul on Lawrence.
The closing moments saw the Blues pushed back as Pompey sent balls into the box, Lawrence and Jason Pearce getting in one another’s way from an Aaron Mokoena long ball.
Seconds before the final whistle, Norris was denied an equalising goal when Stockdale swooped to his right to catch after the former Blues captain had headed Huseklepp’s cross goalwards.
Certainly not Town’s best recent performance, in fact the worst by some distance, but they rode their luck, kept going, showed desire and Andrews took what was a rare chance during a period in the game when the Blues were starting to get on top.
Portsmouth will feel they ought to have been a couple of goals up by the time Town scored their goal and that they were the victims of a smash and grab not too dissimilar to their 2-0 victory at Portman Road last season when the Blues had dominated.
One or two Blues appeared tired after the exertions of recent weeks and it may be that manager Jewell looks at making one or two changes to his starting XI ahead of Saturday’s visit by Crystal Palace.
Despite the under par performance, the Town manager will be pleased with his side's resilience, fourth home win in a row, run of six games unbeaten and that the result takes them into top six.
Town: Stockdale, Edwards, Cresswell, Collins, Sonko (Delaney 60), Bullard, Leadbitter, Andrews, Bowyer, Scotland (Ellington 46), Chopra (Emmanuel-Thomas 65). Unused: Lee-Barrett, Wabara.
Portsmouth: Henderson, Halford, Ben Haim, Rocha (Kanu 75), Pearce, Mullins, Ward, Norris, Lawrence (Mokoena 88), Varney, Kitson (Huseklepp 73). Unused: Ashdown, Riise. Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey). Att: 17,292 (Portsmouth: 442).
Photo: Action Images / Andrew Couldridge