Portsmouth Women suffer south-coast derby humiliation as ruthless Southampton inflict hammering

The scoreline was 2-0 to Southampton in the 86th minute, with Riva Casley having just gone close with a header for a deserved consolation.

However, Jay Sadler’s side subsequently imploded, conceding three goals in the final four minutes to slump to a 5-0 loss to their fierce rivals.

It was shocking defending from the hosts, destroyed on the counter having inexplicably lost their shape, with substitute Rianna Dean gleefully scoring twice.

The travelling Southampton fans among the 2,390 attendees rubbed salt into the wounds with chants of ‘We want six’, but thankfully for the Blues there was no further damage.

Still, it means Pompey have now lost all six of their FA Women’s Championship, scoring just once, as they continue to adjust to the huge step up following last terms’ memorable title triumph.

And their latest set-back arrived at Fratton Park against, of all teams, Southampton on a dismal day for the Blues.

With just two minutes on the clock, Molly Pike was put clean through and drove into the penalty area before clipping a shot over the advancing Eve Annets.

Fortunately for the Blues, her shot struck the crossbar and bounced down just short of the goal line, with the hosts able to mop up without any damage.

Moments later, a delightful ball from Rachel Rowe slipped in Pike and her angled shot was well blocked by Annets, as she raced off her line to close down the striker.

At the other end, on 11 minutes a lovely team move saw Emma Jones race onto a pass down the right and her cross was well taken by goalkeeper Fran Stenson, right off the head of Megan Hornby.

A poor pass by Izzy Collins then gifted possession to Pike, yet her lob from 25-yards out was comfortably taken by Annets.

Pompey were coming under considerable pressure and, when Annets pulled off a superb save, Freya Gregory was presented with an open goal, only for Annie Hutchings to put in a crucial block and concede a corner.

On 29 minutes, there were decent calls for a Pompey penalty when Jones cut inside Jemma Purfield inside the box and appeared to be caught, falling to the ground, but no foul was forthcoming.

Pompey were finally breached in the 41st minute when Freya Gregory’s cross was turned past her own keeper by Casley to give Southampton a 1-0 lead.

The Blues immediately responded with Erin McLaughlin’s shot from outside the box spectacularly tipped wide, although Hornby’s resulting corner found the side-netting.

As the half closed, Annets saved from Rowe from the angle and moments later dived at the feet of Pike to yet again deny her as she threatened to net.

There were no substitutions at the break, yet the game remained tight, albeit Pompey were worryingly giving away possession too many times in the centre of the pitch.

They were made to pay when, with Scarlett Williams, out of position further forward, Southampton capitalised on the space down their right with Collett bustling through.

Quirk did her best to chase, but the attacker calmly slotted the ball past Annets at her near post to make it 2-0.

It was to be a long way back for Sadler’s side, although Casley did have a great chance to level with a header as the hosts provided more of a threat in the final 10 minutes.

Cue a capitulation as firstly, on 86 minutes, Casley was dispossessed in her own penalty area, with Dean applying the finish.

Still hungry Southampton wanted more and Pike and another for Dean added extra gloss for the visitors - and deepened the Fratton gloom on an afternoon to forget.