Rejuvenated Portsmouth power back into play-off places at Shrewsbury

Marcus Harness and John Marquis got the first-half goals as the Cowleys continued to breathe new life into the season at New Meadow.

The Blues were totally dominant in the first half but forced to hold on after Nathanael Ogbeta reduced the arrears and John Marquis was then controversially sent off.

They managed to do so impressively, however, to record back-to-back wins under the new management team and move up to fifth in the table.

It was a first half of Pompey dominance as they controlled the flow of the game and had huge amounts of possession.

Ryan Williams went close with a header in the 16th minute from Ben Close’s ball in, but the opener arrived nine minutes later through Harness.

It was Williams and Callum Johnson who combined to cross for the winger who applied a lovely, calm first-time finish from just inside the box.

Pompey were full of invention and a second arrived nine minutes before the break as Brown produced a cross-shot and Marquis was on hand to tap in from a yard.

The Blues wanted more of the same after the break, but it was the home side who were back in it after 52 minutes as Nathanel Ogbeta was allowed to advance and fire home from outside the box.

Pompey were down to 10 men with 21 minutes left as Marquis was dismissed for sliding in on Harry Chapman, the striker looked to win the ball but the ref deemed it dangerous play and gave the scorer his marching orders.

That changed the flow of the game and put Pompey on to the back foot for the remainder of the afternoon.

But Cowley’s men held on superbly to see out the win and move up to fifth.