Report by Ben Davis

Had Manchester City beaten Birmingham Pompey would have been virtually finished. As it was former Pompey striker Lee Bradbury missed a golden opportunity to win the game and then Dele Adebola went up the other end and scored the winner in stoppage time. It means Pompey are still a point behind City with it all to play for. Although Pompey only lost by a goal it could have been much more with Ipswich in total control of the game.
Michalis Vlachos returned to the side after an ankle injury and replaced Alan McLoughlin in midfield who was ill at half-time during the Stoke game. The only other change saw Robbie Simpson replace Mathias Svensson on the subs bench. Ipswich fielded three of their four England under-21 internationals with Scowcroft, who hit the winner for Ipswich last season at Fratton, having to settle for a place on the bench.
Ipswich had already put Pompey's defence under pressure before they took the lead on 8 minutes. Mathie won a header which Johnson picked up in the area, got past Thomson before firing low past Flahavan. The young striker has to be one of the buys of the season and has now scored 22 goals for Ipswich since he signed for 1.1 million back in November.
Pompey were getting nowhere, with Aloisi and Durnin up front receiving no service from the midfield. The Australian striker had Pompey's first chance when he managed to get in on the right side of the area but placed a shot wide of Wright's goal. The next meaningful effort fell to Durnin in the 21st minute when his lobbed curler dipped agonisingly past the far post.
The visitors stepped up their game as Pompey seemed to be getting back in it and Flahavan needed to be at his best again when he dived down to keep out Johnson's powerful shot. To Pompey's credit they were trying to get the ball wide to the flanks on every attack but on most of the occasions the crosses were very poor. Fitzroy Simpson though did manage to fox his markers and create some space down the left for a cross which Aloisi slide just wide, although it was good defending by Cundy who blocked off the route to the near post.
Aloisi was Pompey's only player who looked like scoring and maybe should have equalised in the 38th minute. Pethick brought the ball forward and found the striker in the area who worked some space to smash in a shot which flew inches past the post. He could have passed to Pethick instead who had continued his run into the area.
Ipswich's in form player Bobby Petta then showed what he could do as he charged forward with the ball before forcing Flahavan into a save with a shot from the edge of the area. Referee John Brandwood then made a dreadful decision when he awarded Ipswich a penalty in the final minute of the half. Johnson darted into the area but Thomson recovered well to make an excellent tackle which was amazingly deemed as a trip. Justice was done though as the striker blasted the penalty well wide of the target.
The second half was a poor affair with Pompey huffing and puffing but getting nowhere. What chances there were fell to Ipswich with Stockwell having their best efforts. Alan Ball made a substitution at half-time by taking off Thomson and bringing on Paul Hall. The Jamaican did very little though, although in his defence he had little help. Robbie Simpson came on for Aloisi which didn't go down with the Pompey fans and the young striker struggled to get into the game.
In a last ditch attempt to snatch something Pompey flew virtually everyone forward and may have scored when a Hiller shot cannoned off Robbie Simpson but the ball flew just wide. There were already chants for Gregory to quit as the Pompey fans became upset with the performance. Once again though they got right behind the side even though it was a pretty awful performance.
The fans realised nothing was going to change and there was a chant of "If your all going to Millwall clap your hands" which saw a ripple of applause. Pompey have three games left in which to rescue themselves but face a massive task at Charlton who have only lost once a home this season and have won their last six games.