Blues slump to County defeat

The Blues were in with a shout of taking at least a point from a forgettable game played in dreadful weather, but were undone by two second-half goals from the visitors.

Jeff Hughes opened the scoring nine minutes from time as he was on hand to score from close range after Yoann Arquin’s fine cross.

And the Magpies wrapped up the points with two minutes remaining as Francois Zoko nodded home from a corner to send Pompey to a sixth straight defeat.

Pompey made a decent fist of the first half and went in at 0-0, looking much more solid in defence.

They almost nicked the lead inside the opening few minutes as the visitors’ Gary Liddle hacked Ashley Harris’ poked effort off the line.

But there was precious little other goalmouth action for the home side, with visiting keeper Fabian Spiess barely tested all evening.

While it was a more solid performance from Pompey than in recent weeks, it was the same sorry story as they slipped to defeat once again.

Even a late red card for visiting skipper Neal Bishop was a mere footnote as Pompey got the familiar sinking feeling.