Pompey lost their second home match in League Two this season after some atrocious defending allowed Accrington Stanley to win 3-2 at Fratton Park having also missed a penalty and having lost their best player at half-time.
The first fifteen minues of this match may well be the worst for Pompey at Fratton Park in living memory. A warning shot was fired early on as Ben Chorley blocked Sean Maguire's effort but the defender then gave away a free kick on the edge of the box, although it looked like he took the ball.
The ball was sent to the far post from the set-piece and Chorley and Paul Robinson impeded each other when attempting to clear it which allowed Rob Atkinson to poach an early goal for the visitors.
Fratton Park was then stunned as more poor defending allowed a loose ball to fall to the feet of John O'Sullivan who blasted it past Paul Jones to double Accrington's lead as the home fans vented their anger.
Thankfully, Pompey improved after that distastrous start and pulled a goal back when Danny Hollands' long throw reached Marcus Bean who guided the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Ryan Taylor then hit the post before Craig Westcarr equalised with a brilliant lob over the Stanley goalkeeper who was stranded in no-man's land.
The drama continued as referee Keith Hill awarded Accrington a penalty for what looked like a perfect challenge from Matt Fish in the eyes of many people in the Fratton End. However, the replay suggests that Fish only took the man and not the ball so perhaps the decision was correct.
Whether it was or not turned out to be irrelevant as Luke Joyce couldn't handle the pressure of taking the spot kick and Jones saved the poor penalty.
There was more goalmouth action as a frantic first half half drew to a close with fans booing Hill off, not just for the penalty award but for generally being inept throughout the whole match. Fans were hopeful that Pompey would sieze the initiative in the second half and go on to claim the three points.
Those hopes seemed to have been placed faithfully as the hosts were bright after the restart with Bean forcing a save from Jack Rose in the Accrington goal and he then almost scored his second of the match when Lee Holmes teed him up but he turned the ball wide.
However that pressure soon let up as the Stanley defence eventually got organised whereas Pompey's didn't and Shay McCartan squandered two great chances by firing wide and then over the bar shortly afterwards having not been picked up by anyone in a blue shirt.
And the third goal for the visitors did arrive when Chorley gifted them possession which allowed Accrington to break and Piero Mingoia to slot the ball into the corner with the defence once again all at sea.
Andy Awford's response was to bring on Nigel Atangana and Conor Chaplin with five minutes to go but Accrington were professional enough to see the game out despite some late pressure and Pompey were booed off when the final whistle blew, with fans having no complaints about the defeat because of the horrific start to the match and the poor defending all the way through it.
Ben Chorley is shouldering much of the blame for this defeat and it's not difficult to see why given that he was culpable for the first and third goals whilst he brings no leadership to the team despite being captain. His passing is woeful and he also lacks communication with his players, with the first goal being a perfect example of that as he and Robinson went for the same ball.
However, whilst fans may point the finger of blame at Chorley it was Andy Awford who picked him. Fans who saw the pre-match team sheets groaned at Chorley's inclusion with Jack Whatmough missing and were right to fear the worst.
If the Pompey fans can see just how bad Chorley is then why can't the manager? Joe Devera should have been the natural replacement for Whatmough and even Johnny Ertl would have probably done a better job. Hopefully we'll never see Chorley play for Portsmouth again, though it would be unfair to solely blame him and the manager who selected him for the defeat.
After all, the full backs were bested on too many occasions whilst Miles Storey was completely ineffective on the right wing with Lee Holmes not seeing the ball enough on the other flank. Taylor was also static up front and it says a lot when Westcarr was showing him up by running his arse off and giving everything. If there's one positive to come from this match it might be that Westcarr has shaken off his "lazy" tag.
This bad result begs the question: "Where do we go from here?" Pompey's home form was said to be Awford's saving grace by some but more fans would have lost faith with him after watching that performance yesterday, having been fairly beaten by a mediocre team on our own turf.
Should Pompey be beaten at Cheltenham as expected next week then that will be three defeats in a row and the season will effectively be a write-off if it itsn't already.
Given the expectations of many Portsmouth supporters at the start of the season, mid-table mediocrity is simply not good enough and you'll have to wonder if the board will buckle under fan pressure and act if results don't improve before the transfer window opens again in January.
Pompey Player Ratings
Paul Jones: 7 - Can't be faulted once again.
Matt Fish: 5 - Not much of an improvement over previous right backs this season.
Ben Chorley: 3 - Ineptly terrible.
Paul Robinson: 5 - Best of a bad back four, which isn't saying much.
Dan Butler: 5 - Caught out too often.
Miles Storey: 5 - Rarely in the game.
Danny Hollands: 6 - No better than average.
Marcus Bean: 8 - Scored and maybe should have had another but held the midfield together most of the time.
Lee Holmes: 6 - Had an effort blocked on the line but didn't see enough of the ball.
Ryan Taylor: 5 - Wasn't mobile enough.
Craig Westcarr: 7 - Classy finish and worked hard all match.
Substitutes
Michael Poke
Joe Devera
Nicky Shorey
Johnny Ertl
Ricky Holmes (Storey 59): 5 - Didn't make an impact.
Nigel Atangana (L. Holmes 85): N/A - Given no time.
Conor Chaplin (Hollands 85): N/A - Would have hoped for better circumstances to make his debut.