Pompey kicked off their pre-season with a comfortable 4-0 victory at Westleigh Park with all goals coming in the second half.
The first half was played at the usual slow pace you'd expect from a pre-season friendly with Pompey doing all the pressing. Hawks keeper Ryan Young was forced into a couple of easy saves with shots on target from Jack Whatmough and Jed Wallce but ultimately that was as entertaining as it got with both sides making substitutions during the first 45 minutes.
Craig Westcarr was one of the players to come on for the second half and instantly bagged himself a goal thanks to a mistake from goalkeeper Scott Bevan who fumbled Danny East's cross and dropped the loose ball straight to the former Walsall striker who couldn't miss.
The lead was doubled soon after thanks to some good work from Ricky Holmes who was sporting a ridiculous looking ponytail. His pass was collected by Ryan Bird who calmly fired the ball past Bevan.
More substitutions from both sides happened with new boy Miles Storey coming close to opening his account with Danny Hollands looking a cut above anyone else on the pitch.
Charlie Searle had been on the pitch a matter of seconds for the Hawks before he was chipped by Ricky Holmes and then some comical defending in the Brazilian mould allowed Westcarr to tap in a fourth goal at the end of the match.
Overall, it was a good workout for the squad with most of the players used. In fact, the only players missing were Tom Craddock, David Connolly and Wes Fogden with Fogden suffering knee ligament damage in training last Tuesday. If he requires surgery, he could be out for months and possibly the season which would be a huge blow.
However, as far as this match is concerned there were no injuries and the result was fair. Hollands, Holmes and Storey were probably the pick of the bunch yesterday but there were no real defensive worries either. Not that anything should be read into these pre-season friendlies anyway.
Pompey take on Bognor Regis next Saturday but hopefully there'll be some good news on Fogden's injury and maybe a signing or two during the week.
If you haven't seen the goals from yesterday yet, you can watch them by clicking here.