Ipswich 0 Portsmouth 2: Neil Allen's verdict - Gutsy Blues stun frustrated Portman Road faithful with remarkable win

Improbably, from such a gloomy position, they eventually ran out 2-0 winners at an Ipswich side whose Portman Road crowd booed at the final whistle.

It was a remarkable turnaround following the superb Dane Scarlett’s goal out of nowhere, ultimately earning the Blues what seemed unlikely progress in the Papa John’s Trophy.

Ipswich have themselves to blame for not capitalising during that opening 45 minutes – yet Pompey warrant full praise for their second-half showing.

It was a very different Blues which took to the field after the break and a different match as the Tractor Boys weren’t allowed to settle on the ball.

Indeed, Kieran McKenna’s side barely brought out a save from Josh Oluwayemi in the second period as Pompey admirably stood firm.

Then, in the fourth minute of time added on, substitute Zak Swanson, surprisingly handed a central-midfield role made sure, calmly finishing Josh Koroma’s knock on.

The outcome was a 2-0 triumph, a fourth win in 13 games for the Blues as they desperately attempt to generate momentum again.

Not that the majority of the 5,686 crowd were in any mood for congratulations as Pompey marched through into the next round.

Cowley made seven changes for the trip to Portman Road, with Connor Ogilvie, Owen Dale, Jay Mingi and Scarlett all keeping their places.

As expected, he rotated the majority of his squad for the low-key fixture played on a chilly Suffolk night.

That saw recalls for Josh Oluwayemi, Kieron Freeman, Michael Morrison, Dever Hume, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Reeco Hackett.

They were joined by Ronan Curtis, who impressed after coming off the bench in place of Josh Koroma against Derby last week.

Ogilvie partnered skipper Morrison in the centre of defence, with Freeman playing at right-back, while Hackett operated just behind striker Scarlett.

Pompey’s strong bench included Clark Robertson, Sean Raggett and leading scorer Colby Bishop, presumably emergency options.

They were joined by Dan Gifford, the only Academy player/third-year scholar named in Cowley’s 18-man squad.

The Tractor Boys really should have taken the lead inside the opening two minutes when Sam Morsy clipped in a cross from the right which found Greg Leigh at the far post.

The full-back produced a diving header from the edge of the six-yard box, but Oluwayemi did superbly to save with his legs and the Blues had a real let off.

At the other end, Pompey’s Dale had a glimpse of goal after a clever run, cutting in from the right, but his subsequent left-footed shot flew comfortably wide.

However, Ipswich were well in control of proceedings, comfortably dictating play, albeit without too much impact inside the Blues’ penalty area.

Ipswich lost Harness on 23 minutes, with the attacker helped off by the physio to receive treatment off the pitch.

While the hosts were down to 10 men, Freeman pushed through an excellent ball from the right which Scarlett was agonisingly just short of connecting with on its way through to the keeper.

Pompey were proving to be architects of their own struggles, sloppy in possession and constantly giving the ball away on the rare occasions they found it at their feet.

On 31 minutes, Leigh’s cross from the left was met by the head of Panutche Camara inside the Blues’ six-yard boss, but he wastefully headed wide when he should have scored.

Pompey did at least threaten on 39 minutes when a good ball from the left into the path of Dale sent him racing through and, after beating Edmundson, he was presented with a chance.

However, with bodies closing in, the Blackpool loanee had to swiftly fire off a left-footed shot from outside the box rather than progress, with the attempt going straight into the arms of Hladky.

Improbably, against the run of play, Pompey broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute.

Dale broke down the right and when he was stopped, the ball found its way to Scarlett, who sized up the situation and delivered a sublime low drive from just inside the box.

The ball struck the inside of the far post before finding its way into the net, stunning the Portman Road faithful who couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed.

Moments later, Dale had a glorious chance to make it 2-0 when Hackett squared the ball to him, but Hladky superbly parried his left-footed shot.

Then Scarlett pounced to collect the ball off Richard Keogh’s head for a one-on-one, yet elected to lob the keeper, who dealt with it comfortably.

Pompey led 1-0 at the break and there were no substitutions for either side at the interval.

Early on in the second period, Hladky once again looked shaky with the ball at his feet, but the Blues couldn’t capitalise.

On 55 minutes, Hackett delivered an excellent ball in from the right which was met by Morrison at the far post, but the skipper succeeded only in heading it onto the roof of the net.

Ipswich made two changes in the 62nd minute, with Cameron Burgess and Wes Burns replacing Luke Woolfenden and Leigh.

Moments later, Keogh gifted possession to Scarlett and, from 45 yards, the Pompey man attempted to lob the backpedalling Hladky, getting it on target too, but the keeper got back to catch it.

Pompey made a quadruple substitution in the 67th minute with Robertson, Zak Swanson, Raggett and Bishop coming on for Ogilvie, Mingi, Freeman and Hackett.

A vital early contribution from Robertson saw him steal the ball off the toe of Cameron Humphreys as the midfielder almost found himself clean through.

Koroma was Pompey’s fifth and final substitution in the 79th minute and immediately put in a great ball from the right which Curtis connected well with and it deflected for a corner.

Then, in the 85th minute, Koroma beat the onrushing Hladky to a ball over the top, but took too long when faced with an open goal from 30-yards and didn’t get off a shot.

The fourth official indicated five minutes of time added on and Ipswich were incensed they didn’t get a penalty for Hume’s challenge on Burns inside the box.

It was four minutes into stoppage time when Hume pumped the ball forwards, with Koroma helping the ball on for Swanson, who calmly past Hladky to make it 2-0.