Portsmouth became the first top eight side to win at Adams Park this season as they edged out Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 in an entertaining encounter.

It was a game of significance at both ends of the table with Pompey hoping to avoid playing in League One next season and Wycombe eager to ensure they do.

Fresh from their Wembley success in the Check-a-Trade final last Sunday, Kenny Jackett made two changes to his starting eleven with Oli Hawkins and Gareth Evans coming in in place of Ronan Curtis and Omar Bogle. Gareth Ainsworth meanwhile re-called Ryan Allsop in goal after he had dropped to the bench for the previous two matches. Elsewhere, there was a start at left-back for Michael Harriman and a front three of Alex Samuel, Paris Cowan-Hall and Nick Freeman. With Joe Jacobson and Adebayo Akinfenwa on the bench, it suggested Wycombe would be less direct than usual against a strong and towering Portsmouth defence. Marcus Bean also started in front of the back four in an attempt to break up the visiting teams play. It was a tactic that worked well against Sunderland, even if it did ultimately culminate in Bean picking up two bookings.

Portsmouth predictably took the game to Wycombe right from the off, and even after taking the kick-off, the home side struggled to get out of their half and Pompey forced three corners in the first three minutes. They came to nothing but Wycombe still seemed to content to let Portsmouth play in front of them as they struggled to get hold of the ball. The first effort of note was a dipping Jamel Lowe effort after eleven minutes before Brett Pitman curled an effort just wide two minutes later. The inevitable breakthrough came just after a quarter of an hour when Wycombe failed to clear a free-kick from Evans, resulting in Lowe firing into the corner through a crowd of players.

It was a deserved lead and, the following ten minutes continued in much the same vein, with Wycombe pegged back. They eventually found a way forward but a couple of crosses into the area was the sum total of their efforts. That changed on 35 minutes though when Samuel was bundled to the deck 25 yards from goal. Jason McCarthy took the free-kick with power and precision, but visiting  goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray got down well to palm the ball away for a corner. Pompey’s Wembley hero had been a virtual spectator up to that point but like all good goalkeepers, showed his quality when suddenly called into action. He wouldn’t have to wait long to be called upon again as a corner two minutes later came out to Cowan-Hall. The Wycombe man tried a powerful half-volley but MacGillivray again dived to his left to make an excellent stop.

Wanderers were then forced into a change when Matt Bloomfield went down with a head injury. The visiting fans felt he was feigning injury to stop a Portsmouth break, chanting ‘It’s a miracle!’ when he got to his feet. If Bloomfield was faking it, he was really playing the long game as he made his way down the tunnel to be replaced by Curtis Thompson.

As the half came to a close, Portsmouth forced one more chance as Allsop saved well from Lowe.

The visiting team were good value for the lead but Wycombe would have gained confidence from the fact that they had come close to equalising twice, despite little by way of possession.

Wycombe’s task though was made all the more difficult just thirty seconds after the re-start. Anthony Stewart dallied in defence which allowed Brett Pitman to steal in on goal. There was a sense of inevitability from that moment as the forward raced through on goal and slotted past Allsop for 2-0.

It was a sucker punch but Wycombe picked themselves up from the canvas to try and force themselves back into the game. MacGillivray again proved to be a nemesis for Wanderers after 52 minutes when he again foiled Cowan-Hall, tipping a long-range effort over the bar. Adam El-Abd headed over from the resulting corner before Wycombe got themselves a foothold in the match. A scramble in the box ended in Freeman poking the ball to Bean who bundled the ball home his first goal of the season from six yards. There was still time for Wycombe to retrieve the ball from the net and start to make their way back to the half-way line before an assistant’s flag was raised. An odd delay that resulted in an elongated conversation with referee John Busby, presumably as to whether Bean was offside. The goal eventually stood though, with replays suggesting it was a tight but correct decision.

Yet five minutes later, the two-goal lead was restored when Brett Pitman fired home a brilliant free-kick from the edge of the area.

This prompted Ainsworth to bring Akinfenwa on in place of Bean as Wycombe threw caution to the wind. The big forward nearly had an immediate impact but the ball was taken off his toe when he shaped to tap-in. On 66 minutes, Wycombe should have had a penalty when Akinfenwa had his shirt pulled from a corner but referee Busby failed to see from twenty yards what was visible from over 100. Later on, Stewart would have his shirt pulled over his head, but Busby failed to spot that too.

Portsmouth then had a chance to make it 4-1 when Pitman did well to keep the ball alive before cutting back to Matt Clarke, but Allsop thwarted his effort.

After that, the promotion chasers opted to shut up shop and the final 20 minutes were played almost entirely in the Portsmouth half. Akinfenwa headed over from a Freeman cross on 69 minutes and then MacGillivray stopped a low effort from Samuel with Dominic Gape being unable to pounce on the loose ball. Samuel then had a superb chance when a McCarthy cross came to him six-yards out, but he was unable to adjust his body and get a shot away.

Wycombe did eventually get a goal back with eight minutes remaining. A long Allsop free-kick was chested down to substitute Scott Kashket. The diminutive forward unleashed a brilliant left-footed volley from the edge that was too good even for MacGillivray to keep out.

This set-up a grandstand finish and with three minutes of normal time remaining, McCarthy wrestled the ball out of the corner and crossed to Samuel, but he couldn’t direct his diving header goalwards.

In the same way Wycombe couldn’t get out of their half at the start of the match, it was now Portsmouth who were encamped at the back as Wycombe did all they could to try and find a way through.

When Wycombe are winning a game, the amount of injury-time usually makes the Brexit negotiation seems brief but that is not usually the case when they are behind. However, the board showed six minutes which gave the crowd renewed hope. They huffed and puffed but when McCarthy skewed a shot wide, the collective sigh of both frustration from the home fans and relief from the visiting faithful suggested that would be that. However, the game ended when Akinfenwa appeared to be upended in the area. The home fans cry for a spot-kick drowned out the final whistle as Portsmouth clinched their fourth win in a row.

It had been an entertaining game but one in which Portsmouth’s quality at both ends of the pitch was the difference.  MacGillivray was a rock at the back while Pitman was lethal up front as the promotion pushers closed the gap on Barnsley in the coveted second spot. They face Rochdale at Fratton Park next week.

Wycombe meanwhile have now gone eleven games without a win but do sit a point clear of relegation with a game in hand on most of the sides beneath them. That is against Charlton on Tuesday night and if they can get a win, they could well propel up to mid-table. They have not performed as badly as the form might suggest, proving they have the fight that will be required in the run-in, especially with four of their last five games coming against sides currently beneath them in the table. Yet it’s points over performance now as the Chairboys look to avoid a fourth successive relegation from League One.

WYCOMBE WANDERERS 2 (Bean 55, Kashket 82)

PORTSMOUTH 3 (Lowe 17, Pitman 46, 60)

ATT: 6,978 (1810 Away fans, 1 infuratingly irritating bell)

words Phil Slatter, D3D4 Wycombe Wanderers correspondent