Barnet 1 Pompey 0

Fratton Park old-boy John Akinde came back to haunt the Blues with a 41st-minute penalty as Paul Cook’s side dropped more points in the race for League Two promotion.

His strike four minutes before half-time was just reward for the home side, who took the game to the visitors.

Pompey upped their levels after the restart but failed to deliver in the final third as they went down to a third league defeat in six games.

After Kyle Bennett volleyed wide on two minutes, Pompey suffered an early blow when Gary Roberts limped off five minutes later to be replaced by Kal Naismith.

And his absence appeared to affect the Blues’ flow as the home side imposed themselves on the visitors.

Sam Muggleton and Mathew Stevens both threatened going forward, before Akinde found himself bearing down on goal between Adam Webster and Matt Clarke but failed to connect with the ball to trouble keeper Ryan Fulton.

Pompey’s response was immediate, with Ben Davies picking out Naismith with a cross from the right.

But the forward failed to get enough on the ball and Bees keeper Jamie Stephens gathered with ease.

Naismith attempted to rectify his earlier miss with a long-range effort that had Stephens scrambling.

But it was Barnet who looked most likely to score, with Mark Randall stinging the palms of Fulton with an effort from the edge of the box.

And on 41 minutes the Bess were rewarded when Webster brought down Akinde in the box, with the former Pompey striker sending Fulton the wrong way from the penalty spot to make it 1-0.

Both sides had chances to add to the scoreline before the half ended.

Andy Yiadom failed to pick out a pass when perfectly placed on 42 minutes, before McGurk fired straight at Stephens, with the keeper gathering the ball at the second attempt.

In the second half, the Blues’ tempo was much better and McGurk forced a great save from Stephens with a header that was tipped over the bar.

On 62 minutes, Naismith was unlucky when his sweet strike from Marc McNulty’s fizzed in cross went narrowly over, before Matt Clarke headed straight at Stephens minutes later from a Stevens free-kick.

Pompey appeals for a penalty were turned away on 69 minutes when substitute Mauro Vilhete appeared to hand the ball inside the box.

And the pressure on the home side failed to subside as the visitors pushed their hosts back the longer the game went on.

However, there was no end product for Cook’s side on this occasion, and they had to make do with another loss and boos from the away end at the final whistle.