Report by Ben Davis

This was a game Pompey simply had to win and when John Durnin scored in the 69th minute the large number of Pompey fans in the ground believed this was their chance to ease their fears of relegation. How that all changed in 12 minutes. Pompey had been under pressure for most of the game and eventually caved in with Kyle Lightbourne hitting the winner 30 seconds in to injury time.
The only change to the side which drew with Tranmere was Mathias Svensson who regained a place on the bench. Stoke were under the leadership of Alan Durban for the first time after Chris Kamara was recently sacked for a dismal run which had seen the club only win 1 game in 13 and 2 in 25. An estimated 2,500 fans had made the long trip and were already in voice way before kick-off.
Pompey put Stoke on the back foot immediately with Durnin forcing Pickering in conceding a corner. The cross by Simpson broke to Pethick and his low cross was hacked away by Sigurdsson. The home side then appealed for a penalty when Robinson appeared to handle the ball before Whitbread and Thomson had to make vital clearances to prevent Crowe profiting.
On 7 minutes a brilliant Flahavam save kept Stoke out. Kavanagh was allowed plenty of room 30-yards out and he riffled in a fierce drive which Flahavan pushed on the cross-bar. Thorne looked certain to score but Thomson did well to put the striker off and the header went wide. Stoke continued to dictate the play with Pompey stuck in defence and were generally disappointing.
Peter Thorne was causing plenty of problems and was clearly looking to impress his new boss after not scoring in Kamara's reign. Flahavan twice had to keep out two of the striker's headers and a nice chested pass then released Crowe who fired a shot just past the post. In the 24th minute Thorne nipped into the box from the left and Flahavan did well to palm away the striker's shot. Eventually on the half-hour Pompey got a shot in on goal with Durnin's 25-yarder easily gathered by the legendary Neville Southall.
That got Pompey going and minutes later Simpson was allowed time to shoot 15-yards out but Southall had no problems in claiming the shot. Thorne and the 18-year old Crowe were combining well for Stoke although they were finding Flahavan in fine form. Pompey's best attacking options were coming down the right hand side with Pethick pushing further forward. An excellent ball by McLoughlin sent Durnin away but his attempted cross was poor and Southall cut it out.
Alan Ball made a change before the start of the second half with Paul Hall coming on for Alan McLoughlin. Stoke though threatened early on but the best chance came in the 51st minute for Pompey. Simpson's pass forward released Durnin who beat the frustrating off side trap. He chose to pass to Hall and the Jamaican's cross was just headed behind by Pickering as Aloisi looked to score into an open goal.
The nippy Crowe thought he was away on the break away but Whitbread made a superb challenge and won back possession. Flahavan though still had to make saves from a Sigurdsson header and a Forsyth 25-yarder. Ball then made a rather surprising change when he took off striker Aloisi and brought on midfielder Martin Allen.
Durnin thought he should have had a penalty when he was shoved to the floot by Wallace and referee Roger Furnandiz waved away the appeals to his disgust. Stoke quickly attacked again and play had to be stopped when Flahavan and Thorne crashed into each other. The Pompey keeper gingerly got up but Thorne was forced to leave the pitch and Stoke brought on Kyle Lightbourne.
Amazingly in the 69th minute Pompey took the lead and left the home fans stunned. Robinson decided to venture forward down the left, beating two defenders on the way, before cutting inside and chipping a cross to the far post. Durnin picked it up and crashed a powerful shot beyond Southall and into the net. The fans behind the goal went delirious as they sensed that this was an excellent chance to achieve survival.
Flahavan continued to frustrate the home side with another great save when he used his legs to keep out Tweed's shot in the 73rd minute. Yet five minutes later some intense Stoke pressure ended with an equalising goal and brought the home crowd to life. Pompey could only clear a free-kick by Wallace as far as Pickering who drove a great shot into top corner of the net from 20-yards.
Pompey now looked to hang on for a point as Stoke stormed forward in search of a vital winner to keep their hopes alive. Flahavan then made perhaps his best ever save when he somehow pushed away Lightborune's header which had bounced on the goal line. The Pompey fans were then left staring in shock as Stoke grabbed a winner 30 seconds into injury time. The ball fell to Lightbourne and he lobbed the ball over Flahavan who was standing on his six-yard line.
A win would have done wonders for Pompey's survival hopes, but now they must win over Ipswich to stand any realistic chance to staying in the division. With the support the club get they don't deserve to go down but with more performances like this they will making those trips to Chesterfield and Shrewsbury.