Report by Ben Davis

The player Alan Ball once said would be the first 10 million pound player came off the bench with 15 minutes left and put in a performance which showed why Ball thought this. Martin Phillips showed no signs of nervousness as he immediately got at the Rangers defence by setting up one and scoring one himself. Although it was a good performance it was helped by a very poor Rangers side whose players seemed to be on different worlds.
Alan Ball kept exactly the same side which just got a draw at Huddersfield. QPR had ex-Arsenal and Ipswich striker Chris Kiwonya on the bench, but, now, Hollywood star Vinny Jones decided not to play and bark out orders from the touchline instead.
It took five minutes for the first shot on goal which Pompey created. Claridge, looking much sharper, held the ball up before playing a neat backheal into the area to Simpson. The Jamaican's shot was blocked by the legs of Harper though. Three minutes later Hillier got a sight of goal but his shot lacked the accuracy needed to beat Harper.
QPR midfielder Gavin Peacock was trying his best to create chances for his side, although his efforts were hampered by his team-mates who weren’t on the same wave length. The dangerous strike partnership of Gallen and Sheron were surprisingly quiet and didn't look like breaching Pompey's defence marshalled by Pethick. Karl Ready though may have shown them the way when his header from a corner was cleared off the line.
Both sides moved into a spell of scrappiness with several passes going astray, more so from the visiting side. On 35 minutes the deadlock was eventually broken. Simpson's long ball forward was misjudged by Ready allowing Aloisi through and he cleverly lobbed the ball over Harper. The Aussie might have had another had he not headed a Thorgersen cross over.
Shortly before the break an excellent move by Pompey almost ended with a second goal. After the series of passes in midfield the ball went forward to Claridge who played a short ball to Igoe and his shot flew inches wide from the edge of the box.
Chris Kiwonya came on as a second half substitute as Rangers looked to get back into the game. He immediately caused problems down the right and on 54 minutes QPR should have equalised. His cross fell out to Rose in arces of space but from just inside the box he blazed a shot over the bar.
A Simpson free kick caused a few problems in the Rangers defence in the 63rd minute before the visitors missed a golden chance. Kiwomya slipped past Whitbread on the right and chipped a cross over Flahavan to Gallen at the far post who somehow headed wide from six yards with an open goal in front of him.
The visitors were gaining in confidence and there was a feeling in the home crowd that the next effort would go in. In fact, it did, in the 72nd minute when Kiwonya netted. The Pompey defence though had pushed up well and caught the striker offside to his frustration.
Ball then decided to thrown on the new boy Phillips and Pompey moved up a gear straight away. Some good work by Claridge in the 79th minute should have resulted in a goal when he found Hillier free in the box but the midfielder's shot was weak. A couple of minutes later an ambitious overhead kick by Aloisi was just tipped over by Harper who almost seemed to be caught out by the dip of the ball.
The killer second goal came with three minutes left. McLoughlin started and finished a move which saw him heading in a Phillips cross at the near post. The players pointed to Phillips as they celebrated in front of the North Stand showing their appreciation of the winger’s fine cross.
Seconds before the final whistle it was three with Mcloughlin and Phillips combining again. This time McLoughlin repaid the complement by chipping the ball over the Rangers defence to Phillips, who managed to get past Harper and roll the ball into an empty net.
Afterwards Ball said: "I was pleased for young Phillips when he came on. It is a marvellous start to his career here and people can now see what he is capable of doing."
"I saw the empty net and I just thought 'don't miss'. It's a long time since I scored but I hope to start getting a few more now. I didn't hesitate to come down here and join Alan Ball again. He has shown a lot of faith in me to bring me down here. I thought the team played well. The lads had told me about how noisy the fans were - but it was even better than I expected." Said Pompey's new star.