John Mousinho’s half-time verbal volley hit the target as Paddy Lane earned victory for League One leaders Portsmouth against bottom side Carlisle.

Boss Mousinho did not like what he saw during the first half but his strong words provoked the desired response after the break as Lane netted his 10th goal of the campaign – his third in two games – after 62 minutes to stretch Pompey’s lead at the summit.

“We had a pop at half-time,” confirmed Mousinho. “We knew if we had more quality and take care of the things we needed to take care of we would go on and win the game.

“The performance for large parts was really positive apart from the start. We started like a side weary from the travel but I am not giving the lads that excuse because we do things well enough for them to be at it from the first whistle.

“We dominated possession without creating a huge amount. Carlisle were decent in the first half and had a go.”

Tom Lowery drove a shot against the woodwork in the opening half, in which all United’s best efforts came from Jordan Gibson.

Stung by their manager’s interval dressing-down, Pompey improved to the delight of their 1,848 fans who made their longest trip of the season.

But it still needed Abu Kamara’s introduction to unlock a defence that has now failed to keep a clean sheet for a club-record 25 league games.

Kamara’s run and defence-splitting pass allowed Lane to drill beyond Harry Lewis.

“Paddy’s goals have been important for us all season,” said Mousinho. “When we have relied on Colby (Bishop) to score we’ve probably not been as good a side as we could be.”

Despite their plight, Carlisle fans still managed a good ovation for former favourite Owen Moxon when he came off the bench after 74 minutes.

Moxon was outstanding for the Cumbrians in their promotion season but swapped bottom for top on deadline day.

Despite the club’s position manager Paul Simpson is not throwing in the towel.

“There is a definite disappointment we didn’t get anything out of the game,” he said.

“They know they did a lot of good things but unfortunately the good things counted for nothing.

“There are still plenty of games to go and people may think I am clutching at straws saying that but we have to keep believing. We have to make sure we finish this season much stronger than we have been so far.

“But we have got to work goalkeepers, get shots on target and crosses in the right area, and score goals. Unfortunately, we are not.

“The truth is everyone will have looked before the game and thought ‘Carlisle have got no chance, Carlisle are already relegated’. But we have got to surprise people, maybe even surprise ourselves.”

Manager John Mousinho feels his Portsmouth side are back on track after thrashing Northampton 4-1 at Fratton Park.

Paddy Lane scored twice as the leaders cruised to victory despite having debutant Tom McIntyre sent off.

Connor Ogilvie and Callum Lang also netted while Colby Bishop missed a penalty for Pompey, who had debutant Tom McIntyre sent off, before Marc Leonard grabbed a consolation for Northampton.

It is now 10 points from four games for Portsmouth since a 3-0 home defeat by Leyton Orient.

Mousinho said: “I am delighted with the performance and everything we did in the first hour.

“We came out the traps showing we meant business and were determined to cast out the demon of the Leyton Orient result. I think that has been hanging over us since then.

“We were good value for the 2-0 lead. We missed a penalty and I felt we could have had more in the first half.

“We started the second half a bit cagey and of course the sending off changed things.

“But we kept our heads and put the game to bed. They got a late goal and even with the added 10 minutes I felt we weren’t in any danger.

“My initial reaction to the sending off was that I thought it was a great tackle. In terms of appealing, we’ll look at it in detail and then decide.”

Pompey took the lead after seven minutes when Marlon Pack’s free-kick from 30 yards was headed home by Ogilvie.

The second came after 16 minutes. A long clearance from Pack found Lane, who turned inside a defender to drive home.

Pompey were awarded a penalty two minutes before half-time after Harvey Lintott pushed Myles Peart-Harris over but Bishop’s tame kick was easily saved by Lee Burge.

Pompey were reduced to 10 men after 54 minutes when McIntyre was shown a straight red for a foul on Mitchell Pinnock.

But Pompey got a third in the 58th minute, Lane playing a one-two before slotting home.

It was 4-0 after 71 minutes as an in-swinging free-kick from Pack saw Lang pick up the loose ball and stab it past Burge.

Northampton got a consolation goal a minute from time when Leonard fired into the roof of the net from a corner.

Cobblers boss Jon Brady said: “It is very disappointing.

“We’ve conceded an early goal from a set piece, which we should defend better. The goals we gave away were more down to us giving them to Portsmouth rather than them executing them well.

“They’re fighting to win the league and we’re fighting to stay in it. We’ve had some great form recently but the last two games have been too easy for the opposition.

“Just look at the team I have put out. It’s nowhere near the team I had picking up three points not long ago.

“am Hoskins has come off with his hamstring which is a blow. Sam Sherring has felt his ankle in the warm-up, so we were unable to get him on, and Ben Fox has been out all season, so could only get 15 minutes on the pitch.

“We started looking like we had purpose when they went down to 10 but then we got sucker-punched with their third a couple of minutes later.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho felt the Sky Bet League One leaders “threw away” two points at Oxford.

Pompey came from behind at half-time to lead 2-1 – only for the U’s to snatch a point with a last-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw.

James Henry’s 90th minute header after goalkeeper Will Norris could only parry a Mark Harris shot salvaged a point for Oxford and took them back into the play-off places.

Tyler Goodrham had fired Oxford in front before Pompey turned it around through Colby Bishop’s 15th goal of the season and a debut goal from Callum Lang.

Mousinho said: “You could break the game down into three parts.

“In the first half we were very poor. In the second half we were good and deservedly got in front and then there was six minutes of madness at the end.

“I felt the pressure was building and building and building from us, and we got the second goal which was fully deserved, then we threw it away at the end.

“My big message to the players at half-time was that we were not showing enough bravery on the ball and we were going backwards too often, playing into Oxford’s hands.

“We deserved to be up…we let ourselves down in not having enough attacking players in the right positions and we weren’t positive enough in the first half.

“But we turned that around. It’s just that, at 2-2 with five minutes to go we’ve not locked the game up enough and that gives us a flat feeling.

“The two goals we conceded – I thought we were awful.

“It’s obviously nice to see Callum score, that was why we brought him into the football club to make an impact, and he’s done that straight away.”

Oxford head coach Des Buckingham said: “The pleasing thing for me is that, regardless of the changes we had to make because of injuries – to Fin Stevens and Jamie Cumming – is how this group stays together and how hard they work.

“Portsmouth are a good team, you’re not top for no reason, and we knew they would come hard at us for goals in the second half.

“But the pleasing thing for me is that at 2-1 down heads don’t drop and we deservedly got a second goal.

“I’m extremely happy with the reaction we showed at 2-1 down.

“The two goals we conceded were two scrappy goals, but it’s always hard as a goalkeeper coming on at half-time. I don’t think Simon Eastwood was at fault for either goal, we just need to defend better.”

Buckingham was booked late on for protesting at referee Darren Drysdale’s decision in not awarding a penalty when Goodrham appeared to be brought down.

“That’s the first yellow card of my professional career,” he said. “I was very unhappy with some of the decisions. But I can’t have a go at players for a lack of discipline if I don’t show discipline myself.

“When I came in as manager my assistant Craig Short said to me how James Henry always pops up with important goals at important times.

“He’s a model pro and I was delighted to see the goal he popped in tonight.

“Overall, it’s a good point and one we can take into our derby against Reading on Saturday.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho hailed his side’s 1-0 win at struggling Fleetwood as one of the best of their season.

Pompey stayed at the Sky Bet League One summit thanks to Abu Kamara’s eye-catching striker midway through the first half.

After back-to-back defeats Mousinho admitted it was a welcome win for Pompey, although he would have preferred his side to be more clinical when they are dominating.

He said: “It feels like, and it felt before the game, that it would be up there with the most important and best wins of the season. Especially with all the circumstances – coming into the game off the back of a really poor performance, tough conditions, a tough pitch, to win the game was the most important thing.

“But I think the two sides of the performance, some really good football in the first half followed by that dogged determination to keep the ball out of our net in the second half, it shows we’ve got both sides of the game.

“I felt we were really in control in the first half, we kept the ball for the majority of it. It felt frustrating that we didn’t open them up more but you’re not always going to be able to do that because Fleetwood were working so hard.

“Our plan was that if we kept moving the ball and made it difficult for them something would open up, and a few times it did open up.

“When it does that’s probably the area where we’ve been lacking in the past few weeks, that bit of quality in the final third. But when you’ve got players like Abu Kamara on the pitch we want to see a bit more of that, because he’s got that in his locker.”

Fleetwood’s defeat means new boss Charlie Adam is still awaiting his first point since taking over at Highbury.

Although they prop up the rest of the division, the manager is desperate to see more performances like their second-half show against Pompey.

He explained: “When you give good teams an opportunity, one moment of allowing the ball to come inside has cost us the game.

“I got stuck into them at half-time and told them what I thought and what I expected of them because the first half wasn’t acceptable, we were too passive and we conceded the goal that cost us the game in the end.

“The second half was much better. We drove and I saw a team that was fighting with really good energy at the top end of the pitch but that chance never fell for us so we’ll look back at it and we’ll have to go again next week.

“I felt for some reason we played with the handbrake on in the first half, so we’ll look back on it and see what the reasons are but you can’t give good teams 45 minutes of a start on you and then expect a reaction.

“They gave me the reaction I asked for in the second half but ultimately we were unlucky not to get a point from the game.

“I think we caused a good team problems in the second half, we got on the front foot and pressed better and it allowed us to get up the pitch.

“If we can put it into a consistent 90 minutes then the football matches will start to turn.”

Portsmouth’s poor form continued as John Mousinho’s league leaders made it one win in six games by slipping to a shock 3-0 defeat at home to Leyton Orient.

A disastrous opening half saw stuttering Pompey conceded all three goals before the break.

Orient could have been ahead inside the first 10 seconds, but Dan Agyei’s shot was deflected for a corner.

They did take the lead after 30 minutes when a one-two between Shaq Forde and Max Sanders saw Forde score easily.

It was 2-0 five minutes later when Jordan Brown stabbed home after a goalmouth scramble.

Pompey had a chance to get back in the game after 40 minutes with a penalty after a foul on Jack Sparkes, but Colby Bishop’s tame effort was easily saved.

Things got worse for Pompey in the last minute of first-half added time when Agyei headed home from a corner.

Orient maintained their dominance in the second half, stifling Pompey’s efforts to get back into the game and came away worthy winners.

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho cut a frustrated figure as his Sky Bet League One leaders were held to a goalless draw at struggling Exeter to make it three games without a win.

Pompey enjoyed more possession and territory, but it was Exeter that created the better chances.

Their troubles in front of goal – four goals in 15 games now – were all too evident, though, while Pompey rarely troubled Exeter goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo.

“We started OK, we played well for 15 minutes but then I thought we lost control of the game,” Mousinho said. “That was the frustration as you cannot afford to waste a half and hope something happens in the second half.

“I think we did pretty well in the second half and we were the team in the ascendancy. We had a few chances that, on another day, we put in the back of the net.

“I wasn’t worried about the second-half performance, that was fine, it was more the fact that if you do waste 45 minutes against any side you leave yourself open to drawing games and potentially losing them.

“If we had beaten Fleetwood and got the result we deserved against Bristol Rovers, then you think ‘OK, we have had a slight off night and take the point and move on’.

“But the frustration builds because we haven’t won those last two league games as well. It is naturally going to, but we have to look at the bigger picture and try and address some of the issues we had tonight.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell felt his side were good value for a point and created the better chances with Sonny Cox firing straight at Will Norris and Ilmari Niskanen striking the post.

“I think we have to be happy with the result, we always want to try and win games, especially at home, but we are playing top of the league, we have been on a difficult run, but we had a fantastic win on Boxing Day, so to back that up tonight, we will take it,” he said.

“Both teams had small chances in the game, I think we had slightly the better of those chances to win, but I think it was a pretty even game and we will take the point and move on to Reading on New Year’s Day.

“We have had a difficult run for many different reasons, but I believe in this team.

“We had an excellent result on Boxing Day and we took that into tonight, we tried to play on the front foot and we had a fantastic home support backing us.
“We created opportunities, but it wasn’t to be. But our work ethic, our desire to keep a clean sheet was outstanding against a very good team who are top of the league and flying high. It was a good point.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho admitted the Sky Bet League One leaders were below their best after being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by lowly Fleetwood.

Colby Bishop’s penalty goal on his return from injury was not enough to earn Pompey all three points.

A visibly unhappy Mousinho said: “It was totally frustrating today.

“I thought we controlled the game in the first half and just about deserved to go in a goal up.

“We again didn’t have the quality in the final third to put the ball in the net and in the first 20 minutes of the second half we were awful.

“We were on the back foot, the passing was poor, the crossing was abysmal, and we got punished for it.

“We picked up a bit after the equalizer but looked vulnerable when they counter-attacked.

“It’s difficult to put a finger on anything in particular about what was wrong today. Although not an acceptable defence, it was like we were not playing a ‘Bolton’, and just took our foot off the pedal and switched off.

“We’re all better than that, and the players can perform a lot better. We now need to step up a gear on Boxing Day at Bristol Rovers.”

There was very little for the fans to cheer about in the opening 45 minutes, but it was in added time that Pompey took the lead.

They were lethargic from the start with very little imagination against a defensively minded Fleetwood.

Half chances from Abu Kamara, who hit a post in the 40th minute, were the best they could produce.

Then a handball in the box gave Bishop the chance to increase his goal tally for the season to 12, which he did comfortably.

Fleetwood came out with more urgency and unexpectedly equalised in the 61st minute.

A corner caused a scramble in Pompey’s six-yard box, and Josh Earl stabbed the ball home.

Chance after chance went begging for Pompey, but they just could not find the winner.

Fleetwood manager Lee Johnson said: “It was a really charismatic performance from the team. They followed the game plan to perfection really.

“We know how good Pompey are, but we have a lot of strength and athleticism, and put a real shift in.

“We felt there were a lot of poor refereeing decisions out there today.

“It was disappointing to go a goal down right on half-time, but everyone rallied round in the dressing room, and we responded well.

“We’ve got 13 players out, and the academy made eight players available for the squad, so it shows we have depth at the club and can compete on any given day.

“It was good to stem the flow of results we’ve had recently, especially against a team riding the wave at the top, and we could have gone on to win it near the end if we had made the right decision on the ball.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho saluted Australian striker Kusini Yengi after he helped fire the south coast side to a six-point lead at the top of the League One table as they beat second-placed Bolton 2-0.

Conor Shaughnessy was also on target as Pompey recorded a statement victory at Fratton Park.

Mousinho said: “It was a great result. We were a constant threat going forward.

“I can’t remember our goalkeeper having to deal with anything in the second half. I thought we were comfortable and pushed well.

“We had opportunity after opportunity and were perhaps a bit sloppy in the final third, but when we did get it right, we scored.

“Kusini’s performance against (Ricardo) Santos, who is one of the best centre-halves in the league, was terrific.

“We wanted him to lead the line, and he handled it superbly. He was pressing Santos and the goalkeeper, and we did at the back end of the game wonder if we needed to freshen things up a bit.

“But he showed how fit he is. It was his second league start, and his first here. It was a battle that I thought the referee handled pretty well.

“We’ll savour the moment, then turn the focus to the next game.”

In a fiercely-contested first half, Bolton should have taken the lead after 28 minutes. A powerful header by Jon Dadi Bodvarsson was brilliantly pushed away by Will Norris, and from six yards out and with an open goal, Dion Charles somehow fired the rebound wide.

Pompey then had the ball cleared off the line as Yengi’s shot was partly blocked by goalkeeper Nathan Baxter and Gethin Jones hooked it away.

Right on half-time a corner kick by Jack Sparkes was met by Shaughnessy to glance his header into the net.

Pompey controlled the second half and deserved their second goal a minute from time as Yengi hammered home from six yards from a Gavin Whyte cross.

Bolton boss Ian Evatt said: “I think that in the first half we managed to wrestle control of the game but misses like the one from Dion seemed to affect the flow of our game.

“It’s always frustrating when conceding right on half-time. I thought there was a clear foul leading up to the corner and I can’t understand why it’s not given.

“The second half, they put us on our toes and we couldn’t deal with it. We lost faith and belief, we rocked and wobbled, and it was very disappointing. That’s not what we are about. We are so much better than that.

“They made it very difficult for us and basically dominated on everything. I don’t think they outplayed us, but they outfought us. We’ve let ourselves down but the players have always responded when they have to. We’ve lost the game playing their way, not ours.”

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was delighted with his side’s performance after they beat Northampton 3-0 to go back to the top of League One.

Pompey took full advantage of former leaders Bolton’s FA Cup commitments as Sean Raggett headed them into an early lead before Paddy Lane added a goal either side of half-time.

The commanding display wrapped up back-to-back victories following a first defeat of the season against Blackpool last weekend.

“I thought we were excellent from start to finish,” said Mousinho. “Coming off a really professional performance in the week, I thought it was more of the same in the first half.

“We were brave on the ball and we earned the right to play some really good football in the second half. It was a pleasure to watch.

“My only criticism was that we didn’t put the game further out of reach because we had chances and we had opportunities but we didn’t take them.

“I know I sound greedy but you have to be greedy in football and we’ve been there before. We have led 3-0 away from home and suffered a nervy finish so that was the only thing that could have been better.

“It was a really good afternoon and it’s so important to win these games, especially considering what happened this time last week against Blackpool.

“This was a big test because you saw what Northampton did to Blackpool on Tuesday – they won the game and they thoroughly deserved it.

“We knew they would be a good side, they have momentum and they have plenty of good players so to do what we did, in the style we did, was really pleasing.”

Northampton had won their last three games but they were off the pace against Pompey.

Cobblers boss Jon Brady said: “I felt we gifted them all three goals to be honest. The first one, the corner, we’re too loose and not aggressive enough and that’s not us.

“The second one comes from a goal-kick, which is really soft, and the third goal is another poor one so we didn’t do the basics right today.

“We tried to step on and at least in the first half we probed and looked dangerous, Sam (Hoskins) and Kieron (Bowie) went close with a few efforts, and our intention wasn’t to sit back or sit deep.

“We wanted to have a go but Portsmouth are very good side and they’re top for a reason. They haven’t lost an away game since March but unfortunately we didn’t do the basics right and we gave away soft goals.

“If you do that, you’ll find yourselves in a lot of trouble and we suffered today.”

Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho was thrilled with his side’s performance after they returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory at 10-man Burton.

Mousinho was looking for a response after Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat to Blackpool and he got it thanks to Colby Bishop’s first-half penalty and Alex Robertson’s second-half finish – his first senior goal.

“With the context of everything that has happened over the past few days, with the blow to morale that we took on Saturday, the question was asked after the game ‘is this just a blip?’” the former Brewers midfielder said.

“I asked them for a solid grown-up performance where they had to show a lot of mettle and they did that in pretty much everything they did barring a 10-minute spell.”

Bishop failed to appear for the second half after picking up an ankle injury late in the first half.

“That is probably the only negative to come out of the game. I saw it right in front of me, he just went over on his ankle.

“It has swollen up. He tried to play on but couldn’t put any weight on it. He turns over his ankle, there is nothing we can about it, the pitch is fine, it wasn’t a bad challenge, just bad luck.”

Mousinho was delighted with Manchester City loanee Robertson getting off the mark as well.

He said: “I thought he was our best player on Saturday, shining light in a poor performance, and our best player again tonight.

“The only criticism I’ve had of him is the final (end) product and he has put it together tonight.”

Burton boss Dino Maamria was pleased with his side’s effort but felt they contributed to their own downfall at two crucial moments.

“We shot ourselves in the foot twice,” he observed.

“It is very harsh. I thought for 37 minutes we were well on top of the game and asking them questions. Their keeper made an unbelievable save from KB [Kwadwo Baah].

“We make a bad, bad decision where we give them the easiest penalty ever and when you give a team like Portsmouth a leg up, when you don’t need to, it is always going to make it difficult.”

Despite a strong start to the second half, Maamria saw his side threaten without finding the crucial equaliser before Pompey picked the Brewers off when Mark Helm and Kwadwo Baah collided with each other.

“The second goal came after we started the second half on the front foot and we were parked in their last third. We couldn’t get that goal and they scored from a transition,” he said.

Steve Seddon’s late sending off for a second bookable offence added to Maamria’s frustrations despite a positive response to Saturday’s defeat at Peterborough.

He added: “At two-nil and with a sending off it is game over when you give those teams as easy goals as we have but I have no complaints about the performance because I thought that was excellent.”

John Mousinho is honest when asked what has caught him off guard as a new manager.

The Portsmouth boss is learning the ropes, 11 months into his career, despite guiding his unbeaten side to the top of Sky Bet League One.

As the former chair of the Professional Footballers’ Association and a player who started his coaching badges early, his transition to management has been almost seamless.

Yet the former defender who made 550 appearances in an 18-year career is still getting used to one final change.

“I love the job, I really do, everything apart from three to five o’clock on Saturday is great because I just feel completely helpless,” he told the PA news agency.

“Any time you see a head coach or a manager on the sidelines and their behaviour seems a bit erratic just spare them a thought because you lose that control. Sometimes it’s such an emotional game, emotions get the better of you.

“It’s been the biggest surprise because as a player I always felt in control, at least able to influence something. In some ways you do have ultimate influence and control but in others you’re standing on the touchline hoping 11 players do their jobs.

“A lot of the time it’s a really horrible place to be but, genuinely, I am loving it.

“We knew it (his appointment) might be seen as more of a gamble or risk than normal, although we didn’t think it was the case.

“If you start gambling with the future of the football club you can put yourself in a bit of a tricky spot.

“There’s a risk in every appointment and that was one of my answers when we were talking about the whole process and the appointment itself, there’s mystery with every single appointment no matter how many games you’ve managed or coached.”

That process has taken the 37-year-old, the third youngest boss in the EFL, and Pompey to the League One summit with a six-point lead.

Stretching back to March, they have not lost in the league in 26 games and have won 17 points from losing positions this season – including coming from 2-0 down to beat Reading 3-2 on Saturday.

Mousinho’s January appointment raised eyebrows as he was still playing and coaching at Oxford under Karl Robinson. He had 24 hours before his first game – a 2-0 win over Exeter – but has not looked back, having also had to step down from the PFA.

“I’d been with Oxford, at Fleetwood away, and I didn’t play. I was sat at the back of the bus and 10 days later I was the head coach of Portsmouth,” said September’s League One manager of the month, who credits Robinson for his guidance.

“It’s strange making the transition. Your whole life has changed overnight.

“I had to think about how I interacted with players, how I interact with the staff. As a player you can be very, very selfish. Then all of a sudden, you can’t be as a head coach.

“The biggest change from when I first started playing and maybe in the last 10 years is players have become a lot more conscientious about their own careers.

“It’s an interesting new side of it. When people first started playing it maybe wasn’t particularly cool to do your extras, to look at video analysis and dedicate your life to being a professional footballer.

“We were getting to the back end of the drinking culture when I first started playing and it’s slowly gone out of the game so players are much more focused on their own development.

“We’re probably just a bit behind other countries in terms of the way we’ve embraced that as individuals. There’s no longer the accusation of being busy. It’s good to be good.”

Mousinho takes Portsmouth to Chesterfield on Sunday in arguably the pick of the FA Cup first-round ties.

The Spireites, top of the Vanarama National League, are managed by former Pompey boss Paul Cook, along with the ex-players on his coaching staff Gary Roberts, Tom Naylor and Michael Jacobs.

Just four years after winning the FA Cup in 2008, Portsmouth were relegated to League One and spiralled into the fourth tier before Cook took them back up in 2017. They have been in League One since and Mousinho plans to be the one to take them out.

“When you’re at Portsmouth, one of the first things people talk about is the success with the FA Cup,” he said. “There’s a huge amount of spice to this game.

“The club has been through a lot over the past 10-15 years, going right to the brink of liquidation, so what we’re trying to do is part of the long, slow rebuild.

“Everybody’s desperate to move the club forward, the most important thing is we move the club forward in the right way.

“That’s been the whole mantra since day one. Yes, we want to get out and we’d love to have done it yesterday but these things just take time.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho felt he saw the worst and the best from his side as they recovered from a terrible start to fight back and secure a hard-earned 3-2 win at struggling Reading.

Protests from the home fans – with around 2,000 supporters also staging a pre-match protest march against Chinese owner Dai Yongge – saw the game paused twice after tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch before the Royals took a shock 2-0 lead through quick goals from Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage.

Pompey, though, fought their way back on to level terms before the break through on-loan Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin and Colby Bishop.

Terry Devlin then slotted in the winner early in the second start to extend Pompey’s unbeaten start.

“I was really disappointed by the way that we played for 25 to 30 minutes,” Mousinho said.

“But even at 2-0 down, I was still quite positive of getting back into the game. We then proved that with 15 minutes-worth of very good football.

“The (tennis ball) protests impacted the flow of the game, but Reading had to deal with that as well. They just got on with it.

“For us, it was really Jekyll and Hyde in that first half. To start off, with what we have put together collectively, we were an unrecognisable team.

“But once we had taken that kick in the face (of Reading’s goals), we were excellent.”

After the final whistle, Reading substitute Amadou Mbengue received a red card following a skirmish between both sets of players.

Reading slipped to the bottom of the table as their winless run stretched to seven matches.

“We were just not able to keep the lead,” said Reading manager Ruben Selles said.

“And at 2-1, we had an amazing opportunity to make it 3-1, but that has been happening so often to us lately.

“We don’t put the ball in the net and the next one is coming against us.

“The performance was there, we were competitive against one of the best teams in the league, but we need to be more robust and more ruthless.”

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho admitted the 2-0 win at home to Port Vale was ‘a game of two halves’.

After a lacklustre opening 45 minutes, top-scorer Colby Bishop scored twice early in the second half to extend the Sky Bet League One leaders’ unbeaten run to 23 games.

Mousinho said: “Over the 90 minutes you could say ‘job done’ but it was a game of two halves.

“I thought we were excellent in the second half. I said to the lads that maybe it’s a sign of a good team that you can not quite be on it, like we were in the first half, and not concede goals.

“We moved the ball far too slowly in the first half, and we didn’t go forward with enough urgency.”

Pompey’s first half performance did not reflect their lofty league position as Vale had by far the better of the play.

The visitors could have taken the lead in the fifth minute but Funso Ojo could only hit the post from 18 yards.

Ojo had another chance which went straight to Will Norris, James Plant put the ball wide when clear and Ben Garrity headed over from close range for the visitors.

Portsmouth’s only effort before the break was a header from an unmarked Paddy Lane, which went wide.

However, Pompey came out fighting in the second half and they took the lead in the 53rd minute when Bishop tapped in Joe Rafferty fierce cross-shot from close range.

The hosts doubled their advantage five minutes later when a penalty, given for handball by Kofi Balmer, was converted by Bishop.

Mousinho added: “Colby’s all-round play is excellent, and he can sniff out opportunities, which is exactly what he did for the first goal. He works hard and deserves it.”

Disappointed Vale boss Andy Crosby admitted his team’s lack of ruthlessness in the first half cost them.

Crosby said: “We did well to create a number of chances against the league leaders but didn’t work their keeper enough.

“We were the better side in the first 45 minutes but couldn’t put anything away. Funso hit the post, but that was the closest we got.”

“The referee gives a penalty, which my players say wasn’t. They’re adamant it didn’t hit Kofi’s hand, and if anything, we should have had a free-kick.

“We’ve come here with a game plan, to utilise the strength of our players. We were OK up to the point of getting the ball in the box, but we have to be more clinical, more ruthless.

“I didn’t play with a recognised striker because we looked at their back four and felt that we had enough strengths in other areas to play without one.”

Boss John Mousinho refused to get too carried away despite Portsmouth extending their unbeaten run to 21 matches thanks to a 2-1 Sky Bet League One victory at 10-man Wigan.

The Latics took the lead through Martial Godo but two goals in the space of six minutes just before half-time from Regan Poole and Paddy Lane were enough to secure the win for Pompey.

Wigan had to play for 41 minutes with 10 men after Charlie Wyke was sent off for a lunge on Marlon Pack but they kept pushing to the end.

But Pompey kept them at arm’s length to cement their position at the top of the table.

“It’s not about the unbeaten run today, it’s just about the result,” said Mousinho. “I’m absolutely thrilled to come away to a place like this and win.

“They are a very decent, very decent side, and I thought they showed that in the first half.

“They’ve beaten some very good sides this year and I’m absolutely delighted with the result.

“They were a Championship side last season and have still got some fantastic players.

“You know you’re going to go behind in some games, not everything is going to go your way. It’s going to happen when you’re playing at this level against good sides.

“But the good thing about this group is how well they respond to adversity and that’s exactly how it was today.

“It’s always difficult when you go behind to a good side, in front of a bumper crowd here, but it felt like even though we went behind, there was no panic.

“I always felt we would get back into it and we managed to do that.”

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney refused to point the finger at referee Will Finnie, whose decision to red card Wyke led to a commotion in the technical area that saw Latics No 2 Graham Barrow yellow-carded along with Portsmouth counterpart Jon Harley.

“Look, it wasn’t a great tackle and it gives the referee a decision to make,” he said. “I can understand why the referee has made the decision.”

Wigan also had a hat-trick of penalty shouts turned down, with Maloney adding: “I haven’t seen the ones with Thelo (Aasgaard) and Charlie (Wyke) in the box, I’ve only seen the handball.

“Yeah, look, I think the referee has probably got that one wrong, in my opinion.

“But I don’t complain about referees too much, these things happen, you can’t change what’s happened.

“We knew it was going to be a big fight with 10 men and I thought we did that, even with 10 men, we continued to take the game to them.

“There’s ways to lose games…last weekend (after the 4-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers), I felt completely differently.

“We just have to improve how we defend the box because we made it far too easy for them to score – especially considering how good our goal was.

“But the effort the team gave, and the quality they tried to bring with 10 men, I feel very different this weekend to last weekend.”

Manager John Mousinho hailed Portsmouth’s first-half showing against Barnsley as one of the best displays since he took charge after they clung on for a 3-2 win at Oakwell.

Colby Bishop, Paddy Lane and Connor Ogilvie all struck inside 16 minutes as the Blues made a dream start before second-half strikes from Barry Cotter and Callum Styles led to a tense finish.

However, Pompey held on for the win to go top of Sky Bet League One.

Asked if the first half was one of the best performances since he took over, Mousinho said: “It definitely was.

“We started on the front foot, we got the goals we deserved – the only thing that was lacking was the fourth or fifth goal that we definitely could have got.

“It’s one of the big areas of improvement for us to make sure we put games like this to bed because you saw second half that they come out, they make the changes and the whole game transforms.

“I thought we started to make poor decisions at certain moments.”

Mousinho’s side are now 19 games unbeaten in the league stretching back to March, a run which was preserved by Bishop’s stoppage-time equaliser at Derby on Saturday.

“I’m absolutely delighted – if you’d offered me four points from these two games I’d have snapped your hand off,” Mousinho added. “Being top is a bonus at this stage of the season.

“You saw the quality Barnsley have; they’ve won 7-0 here, they’ve won four on the spin without conceding and to do that to them, I’m really delighted.”

Pompey had already gone close twice when they were awarded an eighth-minute penalty.

Lane beat two players before feeding the ball to Gavin Whyte on the right and Bishop’s attempt to convert his low centre saw him fouled by Barnsley keeper Liam Roberts.

Bishop converted the spot-kick and 30 seconds later the visitors doubled their lead when the former Accrington striker’s flick-on found Lane and he calmly finished.

Ogilvie added the third when he headed home Joe Morrell’s cross from the right after 16 minutes.

Having failed to mount an attack of note before the break, Barnsley pulled one back just four minutes after the restart when half-time substitute Sam Cosgrove found Cotter, who drilled a low finish past Will Norris.

The hosts scored again with 13 minutes left when Norris fumbled Styles’ header and the ball trickled over the line.

Barnsley boss Neill Collins said: “I think I’d say that it’s important we don’t take anything out of proportion – I say that about both halves.

“The first goal really affected us because within a minute you’re 2-0 down.

“You can’t start a game like that but lots of positives and we went right to the very end; we could have been sitting here with a point.”