Dreadful Portsmouth suffer FA Cup humiliation at hands of Chesterfield as ex-skipper and former manager savour reunion

The Blues may be unbeaten in League One football since March, yet they suffered embarrassment at the hands of their non-league opponents.

Tom Naylor’s 32nd-minute header settled the first round encounter in which John Mousinho’s men were well below par and a pale imitation of the side topping their division.

To add to the frustration, the visitors lost Regan Poole and Tino Anjorin to injury during the first half, while had made all five substitutions by the 60th minute.

Yet there was no coming back for Pompey, who had entered the fixture fielding the same team which pulled off last weekend’s remarkable 3-2 victory over Reading.

Chesterfield were deserved winners, demonstrating more fight, desire and energy than the lacklustre visitors who suffered FA Cup defeat to a non-league side for only the second time in their history.

Huge disappointment for the 1,566 travelling support, who were let down by the Blues, while delight for Naylor, Michael Jacobs and, of course, Cook.

The manager who memorably led Pompey to the League Two title in 2016-17 before leaving for Wigan 26 days later has assembled a Chesterfield side dominating the National League.

And now they are in the second round of the FA Cup after humiliating the hapless Blues in front of the ITV cameras in a televised game.

With the Blues unchanged, that meant Terry Devlin retained his place, having been the match winner at the Madejski Stadium on his Football League full debut.

Elsewhere, Tino Anjorin was handed successive starts, while Alex Robertson continued to partner Joe Morrell in the centre of midfield in the injury absence of Marlon Pack.

With the FA Cup permitting nine players to be named on the bench, Ben Stevenson and Ryley Towler were added to the 18 that were on duty at Reading.

For Chesterfield, while Naylor and Jacobs were included in the starting XI, there was also the presence of Gary Roberts as first-team coach.

Meanwhile, the substitutes included Cook’s son Connor, with two previous first-team outings to his name.

He spent time training with the Academy during his dad’s two-year Fratton Park stay, later following him to Wigan, Ipswich and now the Spireites.

Pompey had a scare in the opening seconds when Will Norris’ kick was charged down by Will Grigg, with an open goal behind him.

However, the keeper swiftly made amends by managing to beat the Chesterfield man to the loose ball and sliding it out of play for a throw-in.

At the other end, on five minutes Devlin produced a clever pull-back from the right which was met by a fierce first-time Paddy Lane shot which took a deflection off Naylor for a corner.

It was a lively opening and when Grigg outmuscled Regan Poole on the edge of the area, he crossed from the right for Ollie Banks to strike a right-footed effort, drawing a save out of Norris.

Poole could play no further in the game after injuring his left leg and, on 11 minutes, was replaced by Sean Raggett in the centre of defence.

Pompey were proving most productive down the right flank through Lane and he conjured up on cross-cum-shot which Harry Tyrer did well to beat out at his near post.

On 32 minutes, Lane tripped Darren Oldaker and from the resulting free-kick Chesterfield broke the deadlock.

Luke Mandeville’s free-kick was guided into the box and Naylor met it with his header ahead of Norris’ punch to find the net and make it 1-0.

The Blues responded with Anjorin driving across the pitch before clipping a cross to the far post which was met by a Bishop header, yet the keeper saved low down.

At the other end, Jacobs’ half-volley from the edge of the box took a deflection, but thankfully flew straight into the arms of Norris when it could have gone anywhere.

During the build up to that opportunity. Anjorin had gone down injured with what appeared to be an ankle injury, and had to be replaced by Gavin Whyte.

In a nightmare half which had seen two Pompey injuries and a goal conceded, five minutes were added on before entering the break 1-0 down.

The Blues made their third change at the break, with Zak Swanson replacing Joe Rafferty at right-back as they once again attempted to overturn a deficit.

The visitors were fortunate to escape having a penalty given against them on 55 minutes when Raggett collided with Mandeville as he came across and attempted to intercept.

Referee Will Finnie instead judged it was right on the edge of the box and Mandeville’s free-kick came to nothing.

Mousinho made a double change on 60 minutes with Sparkes and Devlin replaced by Kusini Yengi and Abu Kamara.

That gave the Blues added impetus but they were creating very little while, now with a back three, they did look susceptible to a Chesterfield counter attack.

Regardless, Tyrer was largely a spectator as the visitors failed to put sufficient pressure on his penalty area to even suggest they were capable of snatching a late equaliser.

Chesterfield comfortably saw out five minutes of time added-on to claim a famous triumph against the former FA Cup winners – and didn’t they deserve it.