Report by Ben Davis

Two second half goals in the space of a minute condemned Pompey to another away defeat. They didn't have the best of the first half, but still went in goalless. Yet despite dominating most of the second in terms of possession the damage had already been done. With the news that the PFA have banned Pompey from buying any players it means Ball will have to struggle with the severely limited resources he has got.
New hero Luke Nightingale made is full debut with John Aloisi sitting at home listening to the game on the radio after picking up an injury against West Brom. The other change in the first team was the return of Andy Thomson who replaced the suspended Russell Perrett.
Clearly Pompey hadn't learned anything from the West Brom game as in the third minute Stockport almost took the lead. Just like Lee Hughes's opener the chance came from a long throwing which was poorly defended. This time Angel's header was excellently turned away by Petterson who was maybe sensing he was in for a busy afternoon.
Thorgersen headed over from a corner before some neat passing ended in Nightingale flashing a volley just over. Stockport replied, but some gutsy defending kept the bomber like attacks at bay. The end to end stuff continued when in the 9th minute Nightingale sprung the home side's offside trap. It was a golden opportunity which to the youngster's horror he missed dragging the ball wide of the post.
Pompey's defence was given another stern test when Stockport won three corner's in succession and Alan Ball would have been pleased to see them pass without too much danger. Stockport's recent signing Rob Matthews then went close to scoring on two occasions. The first was a fantastic 30-yard rocket which crashed back off Petterson's cross bar. A minute later he cut in side from the right before unleashing a left foot shot which Petterson brilliantly tipped behind.
The Charlton keeper continued to excel when he flicked Angel's header over from a Dinning cross. Pompey though went close themselves to scoring when from a McLoughlin free-kick the ball was headed out to Peron whose volley bounced just wide.
After defending stoutly in the first half Pompey's defenders went to sleep early on and almost went behind. Yet again a long throw caused the danger with Angel eventually being denied by Petterson's good save.
The home fans though didn't have to wait too long for a goal as Stockport did take the lead in the 47th minute. Matthews's initial effort was well stopped by Petterson, but the rebound fell out to Cooper who made no mistake from 12-yards. Suddenly it was 2-0 and left Pompey totally shell shocked.
Stockport's record signing Ian Moore burst into the area and fell down under Petterson's challenge. The striker was clearly looking for the penalty and he was rewarded when referee Phil Richards pointed to the spot. Dinning pilled on the misery as he sent Petterson the wrong way to score with ease.
Things could have got a lot worse when two headers were off target in the space of a couple of minutes as Stockport looked to use their aerial bombardment tactic. From yet another corner Thomson had to head off his own goal line as Pompey struggled to keep themselves going.
In the 65th minute Nightingale came off with Pethick coming on. That meant Thomas Thorgersen reverted to a striker where he played back in Denmark. Sadly he couldn't discover his old form and Pompey were woefully lacking ideas. At least they were trying you could say, but that killer pass just wasn't there.
If anything Stockport looked like scoring and Cooper would have been disappointed to have shot wide after a mix up between Waterman and Awford. The closest Pompey came were two headed efforts, firstly from Robinson and then Thomson, both of which went over into the despondent travelling army behind the goal.
Petterson continued his good work when he saved well from Moore before Pompey won a dangerous free kick right on the edge of the area. It was poorly taken with Igoe eventually shooting over from fully 30-yards. The very last incident of the game was the sending off of Dinning for a second bookable offence. This though was in the 89th minute and in the end the two goals were good enough to win the game for Stockport.
Although Alan Ball will be disappointed by this defeat he is certainly not to blame. He does know though that Pompey have an excellent opportunity to pick up six points with the next two games at home against slightly weaker opposition.