Evans salutes top Pompey performance

Evans felt the 3-1 success at Luton Town last night rated as one of the finest displays since he arrived at Fratton Park.

The 28-year-old put his side in front at the end of a breathless first half in which Paul Cook’s side fell behind at Kenilworth Road.

Pompey held the upper hand after the break.

And they had chances to settle it before Kal Naismith’s lovely drive six minutes from time.

It was an entertaining spectacle against Nathan Jones’ men, who went toe-to-toe with Cook’s side.

Evans has no doubt the quality of the performance is right at the top of the displays produced in his 16 months at the club.

He said: ‘It was really good performance in the first half.

‘That laid the foundation for what I think was the best performance of the season.

‘It’s been a long time coming.

‘We have been unlucky at times and frustrating at others.

‘So for it to come together as it did was pleasing.

‘It’s in the top three performances since I came to the club, including last season.

‘Credit to Luton for the way they played and making it a game of football.

‘We knew what we could do, so we thought it would be a good game.

‘We knew what to expect and it ended up being a good spectacle.

‘To be the better of those two teams was all the more pleasing.

‘We kept the ball well and frustrated them in the second half.

‘They got tired and we forced them into mistakes.

‘It’s the game I’ve enjoyed most this season.

‘That’s because it was a game of football.’

Victory over the Hatters lifted Pompey to fourth in the League Two table and closed the gap on the automatic promotion berths to two points.

It also meant it’s a seven-point gap to leaders Plymouth Argyle, who lost their second game on the spin as they went down 2-0 to Barnet.

The challenge for the Blues, though, is to finally find the levels of consistency which have for so long eluded them.

Evans said: ‘I felt comfortable and it was a deserved win – but now we need to take that forward.

‘It’s really pleasing but we have to take it into Saturday.

‘There’s been a spark and things have come together. The aim is now to build.

‘When it comes together that is what we are capable of producing.

‘We need to do that on a more consistent basis.

‘We worked on a high press and wanted to force them into mistakes.

‘That worked for the majority of the game.

‘It’s something we now want to continue to do.’