A brace from Ronan Curtis saw Portsmouth cruise to a comfortable 4-1 win over Crewe Alexandra at Fratton Park.
The Republic of Ireland international, fresh from making his first international start, netted twice in the first half before Tom Naylor and John Marquis took the game out of sight in the 2nd period.
Kenny Jackett’s men took the lead against the run of play in the 15th minute. A sloppy pass from Omar Beckles was picked off by Ellis Harrison who played in John Marquis whom in-turn played in Curtis. The Irishmen’s shot was not the cleanest, but it managed to trickle past Will Jääskeläinen in the Crewe net.
Another defensive mistake from Beckles allowed Curtis to double his side’s lead in the 40th minute. The former Shrewsbury town man’s loss of control set the Pompey winger clean through in the box. Curtis’ finish wasn’t spectacular, but he managed to squeeze the ball into the net.
Pompey continued to assert dominance after the break. In the 50th minute skipper, Tom Naylor added to the lead with a fine left footed strike from the edge of the box.
Five minutes later the game was effectively over as John Marquis headed in his rebounded shot to make it three goals in three games.
The visitors got on the scoresheet in injury time from the penalty spot as Oliver Finney sent Craig McGalivary the wrong way.
The win takes Pompey up to third and within touching distance of the automatic promotion spots.
