Red for go as Portsmouth again show ruthlessness

And, as in victory over Sunderland, 10-man Fleetwood were ruthlessly dispatched by Kenny Jackett's side.

The table-topping Blues finished 2018 on a high with a 5-2 triumph at Highbury Stadium.

Yet the scoreline doesn't quite reflect the true drama of a match transformed by Dean Marney's 51st-minute dismissal.

With Pompey losing 2-1, the experienced midfielder tripped Ben Thompson, earning him a second yellow card.

Within seven minutes, the leaders were leading 3-2 '“ on their way to the 5-2 thumping of Joey Barton's team.

And one of the goalscorers, Anton Walkes, was impressed how once again the Blues capitalised on their opponents' numerical disadvantage.

He said: '˜Most teams when they go a man down seem to shut up shop and put a block in front of you, so you just have to keep moving the ball and finding gaps.

'˜We have a lot of quality and showed it, we handed that situation really well and got the goals.

'˜That's football, there are going to be a load more situations towards the end of the season where players get sent off for other teams and from our team.

'˜It's just about making the best of the situation and coming through, which we've now done in recent matches.'

Saturday was a swift return to winning ways following the Boxing Day defeat at Gillingham.

The Blues lost their first away match of the campaign on that occasion, culminating in a 2-0 scoreline.

What followed was the 5-2 success over the Cod Army to extend their presence at League One's summit to more than three months.

With both Luton and Sunderland drawing, the gap is now three points '“ while seven points ahead of Sunderland, albeit the Black Cats having two matches in hand.

Still, it has been an excellent campaign so far as Pompey enter 2019.

Walkes added: '˜That's a very good way to end the year.

'˜It was what we needed. Losing to Charlton was frustrating, that's one of the games we could have had a little bit more.

'˜We showed it against Sunderland to win. It was just one of those things where against Gillingham we also lost, which was a tough game.

'˜We've just got to show a bit more fight, which we've got.'