Norwich 3 Portsmouth 5: Neil Allen's verdict - A special victory inspired by a remarkable player leaves Blues eyeing Championship safety

Pompey, the Championship’s second-worst travellers with 16 defeats in 22 previous away games, were winning.

It was 4-1 at the time, with Colby Bishop having completed his maiden Blues hat-trick after the mercurial Josh Murphy had pulled the ball back to enable him to smash high it into the roof of the net.

Some of the Norwich faithful had seen enough, heading towards the exits. In a season of frustrating unfulfillment, this was the latest blow for the Canaries. Or rather, in this instance, humiliation.

Luton’s victory at Derby earlier was bad news for all sides battling relegation, making the scrap even more congested. How John Mousinho needed a win - except, crucially, they weren’t at Fratton Park.

Regardless, they did it. A thumping 5-3 triumph led by the wonderful Bishop, with Matt Ritchie and Regan Poole also getting in on the act. Yet they were all heroes, every single one of them.

The 1,889 travelling faithful couldn’t have anticipated this. They were on their knees when Coventry cruelly broke hearts with 22 seconds remaining in the last away trip.

Quite a contrast at Carrow Road this afternoon, watched by owner Michael Eisner and his wife Jane, having jetted into England for the Easter weekend.

This was no smash and grab either - the scoreline obviously demonstrates that. It was a stunning team display by the Blues, full of effort, endeavour and superb attacking play, to a man.

When Pompey were required to pull a result out of somewhere, they managed it, conjuring up a blistering display which will long be remembered. The rewards are now six points clear of the relegation zone with three games remaining - priceless.

In terms of team selection, Rob Atkinson was fit and well enough to retain his Pompey place after recovering from his Derby heroics.

Despite suffering from a chest infection and stomach bug last weekend, the warrior marked his first outing back from a nine-game injury lay-off with two goals.

It would have been a consideration to rotate the centre-half during the busy Easter period, however, he remained in the Blues’ starting XI, with Mousinho making two changes elsewhere.

There were recalls at Carrow Road for Jordan Williams and Adil Aouchiche, with Zak Swanson and Christian Saydee dropping to the bench after lining up in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Derby.

Kusini Yengi was again included among the substitutes, while once more there was no place in the 20-man match-day squad for loanees Mark O’Mahony and Kaide Gordon.

It took just 65 seconds for Norwich to have their first attempt on goal, when Jose Cordoba fired in a low right-footed shot which Nicolas Schmid saved low down, gathering at the second attempt.

Pompey, however, settled down and, on 11 minutes, Aouchiche fired in a shot from the left-hand side which brought a stop from George Long.

At the other end, a lightning Canaries attack saw Kellen Fisher break through, but Josh Murphy did superbly to chase him down and produce a brilliant sliding tackle to end the danger.

However, it was Pompey who took the lead on 15 minutes following Matt Ritchie’s delightful cross from the right.

Bishop rose to meet it at the far post, with his header hitting the ground and bouncing past George Long to make it 1-0.

Moments later, Murphy found room on the left to cut into the box, before unleashing a left-footed cross which fizzed just past the far post, yet he never had the angle.

Yet it was level on 22 minutes when Jacob Wright’s right-wing corner flashed through the six-yard box and was cleared off the line by Freddie Potts.

Unfortunately for Pompey, it fell straight to Sargent, who lashed a ferocious right-footed effort high into the net to make it 1-1.

Pompey came agonisingly close to retaking the lead on 29 minutes when Long pushed out Murphy’s deflected cross and Bishop steered it goalwards, only for the grounded keeper to somehow claw it out.

Not to be outdone, at the other end, Schmid saved at point-blank range from Fisher’s far-post header when really the right-back should have scored.

Then, six minutes before half-time, Isaac Hayden fed Murphy down the left and he pulled the ball back, with Ritchie unmarked on the six-yard box to provide a first-time finish.

It got even better for the Blues deep into first-half stoppage time when Aouchiche’s shot from outside the box was parried by Long and, when Hayden collected it, he was tripped by Marcelino Nunez.

Bishop took the penalty and drove it down the middle to earn the visitors a deserved 3-1 lead at the break.

Norwich made a substitution at the break with goalscorer Sargent replaced by Emiliano Marcondes - but it went from bad to worse within seven minutes of the restart.

Aouchiche combined well down the left with Murphy and, when the latter’s shot was parried, he picked it up and calmly pulled it back to Bishop.

The striker met it with a first-time left-footed shot into the roof of the net to complete his hat-trick - and it was 4-1 to Pompey.

Some fans had left, but Norwich hadn’t finished, and Jack Stacey thundered a left-footed shot into the net on 64 minutes to make it 4-2.

Then, eight minutes later, Poole restored the three-goal advantage when he crashed home Aouchiche’s pull-back with his right foot for a first goal since September 2023.

There was the inevitable late goal, with Emiliano Marcondes’s back header reducing it to 5-3 in the 90th minute, but there was to be no grandstand finish from the hosts.

Not on this occasion. And if there had been, plenty of Norwich fans were no longer around to even see it.