Jake Jervis scored the only goal in a hugely important 1-0 win for Pompey in their battle against relegation from League Two.
The match was a scrappy affair as you may have expected with the first half being particularly dull.
Pompey's first effort on target came from Ricky Holmes as he headed Jervis's cross straight at goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli and later on Michael Drennan, making his first start for the club, lashed the ball wide from an angle after a free kick wasn't dealt with by the Accrington defence.
The only other notable incident came when Romain Padovani raked the shin of Peter Murphy and was only shown a yellow card when it might have been a red. Other than that, there was nothing for the 61 visiting Stanley fans to shout about although there was plenty of shouting from the home fans whenever James "Scummer" Beattie made a rare appearance in his technical area.
The second half saw a marked improvement in the performance with Richie Barker's men showing some attacking intent right from the whistle.
And the deadlock was broken just minutes in when Jervis received the ball 25 yards away from goal and struck a fairly tame shot that somehow found its way into the bottom corner of the net. The goalkeeper really should have saved it, in all honesty.
The closest Stanley came to an equaliser was when Murphy headed straight at Carson from a cross when he should have done better but the Pompey defence were rarely troubled during the majority of the match.
Barker's men actually played some good football on occasion with a neat move down the left leading to the ball being cut back for Padovani who skewed his shot wide, whilst Daniel Alfei attempted an audacious lob that Bettenelli tipped onto the crossbar.
There was a heart-in-mouth moment when Kai Naismith found some space in the box and smashed the ball into the side netting, with some fans in the Fratton End who saw the ripple of the net thinking it had gone in.
But it didn't and the final whistle blew with the players applauded off for their efforts having gone some way to redeeming themselves for the Scunthorpe debacle.
The manager may have come under some criticism recently but he made five changes to his side and most of them worked. Nicky Shorey performed well in his natural position at left back whilst Drennan was impressive on his full debut with his running and hassling of the opposition defenders.
In summary, it was a good win but it should be stressed that James Beattie's team were one of the worst teams to visit Fratton Park in a long time.
Winning the match was crucial with Wycombe and Northampton also winning and so the gap to the bottom two remains at seven points although Pompey have jumped Bristol Rovers, Mansfield and Accrington themselves thanks to the victory tonight.
And just to highlight how ridiculously tight this league is, Portsmouth are only three points off Newport who currently sit ninth in the league, despite having a far inferior goal difference but if they could put even a short run together then they will climb the table quickly.
However, the fight against relegation isn't over yet and we shouldn't get too carried away with yet another 1-0 win over poor opposition. The three points earned tonight could be vital with a difficult looking March on the horizon.
But for now, the Pompey fans can at least be content that their team has more than a fighting chance of staying in League Two.
Pompey Player Ratings
Trevor Carson: 6 - Little to do.
Daniel Alfei: 6 - Almost scored an excellent goal but defended well too.
Ben Chorley: 6 - Won most of what Accrington threw at him.
Bondz N'Gala: 6 - Surprising return to the side but solid enough.
Nicky Shorey: 7 - Unsurprisingly looks so much better at left back.
Wes Fogden: 6 - Provided plenty of energy.
Toumani Diagarouga: 7 - Covered plenty of ground all over the pitch.
Romain Padovani: 5 - Could have been sent off on another day.
Ricky Holmes: 6 - Inconsistent but worked hard.
Jake Jervis: 6 - Scored a soft goal but did little else, in truth.
Michael Drennan: 7 - Looks like a class act at this level.
Substitutes
Phil Smith
Sonny Bradley
Marcos Painter
Johnny Ertl
Thery Racon (Drennan 88): N/A - On for the youngster after he suffered a blow to the head.
Jed Wallace (Holmes 82): N/A - Don't remember him even touching the ball.
Patrick Agyemang (Jervis 90): N/A - Stoppage time sub to wind down the clock.