Pompey are now on the brink of the League Two relegation zone after a damaging defeat to York City after a bad tempered match at Fratton Park.
The Minstermen were ahead after just four minutes as Michael Coulson produced an unstoppable volley from a throw in as the ball curled into the far corner of the net, giving Trevor Carson no chance of saving it.
The visitors cut Pompey apart too easily in the first part of the match with last-ditch tackles preventing them from scoring again. Richie Barker's men did improve as the half went on with Jed Wallace, playing just behind the front two, drove the team forward and was central to everything his team created.
He was unlucky not to make a clear connection after being teed up by Daniel Alfei and he also provided a good cross for Jake Jervis whose header was claimed by Nick Pope as the half drew to a close. Pompey were booed off at the whistle yet the first half performance wasn't that bad, in truth.
Pompey began the second half brightly as Wallace forced a good save from Pope who tipped his drive around the post, but that pressure soon came to an end after Ben Chorley was shown a straight red card.
Having seen a replay of the incident it's a clear dismissal and the only question should be why the referee waited so long to brandish the red card. Fans may have been angry due to York's blatant gamesmanship during the match but there can be no complaints with the decision. The captain will now be banned for four matches having already been sent off at Oldham for Stevenage earlier this season.
Despite being down to ten men, Pompey pushed forward but as in previous weeks, lack of a quality final ball saw any attacks snuffed out.
York had chances on the counter-attack with the biggest one squandered by Ryan Bowman who completely missed the ball from yards out after it had been put on a plate for him. That was certainly one of the worst misses ever seen at Fratton Park.
It didn't matter in the end as Pompey couldn't muster another chance during the rest of the game and fell to another damaging defeat. Portsmouth now face a tough run of games without their captain and any kind of momentum with Northampton closing in.
As far as performances go this one wasn't as bad as some and the diamond formation certainly benefitted Wallace who was the best player on the pitch. Unfortunately he was let down by Rhys McCabe who had a poor debut and Toumani Diagouraga who wasn't as reliable as usual.
Again, the front two didn't do enough as Jervis wasn't physical enough and Ryan Taylor anonymous for large portions of the game. If your strikers aren't involved in the match then your team isn't going to score goals and Pompey fans must be wondering where the next goal, let alone win is going to come from.
York didn't have too much trouble defending against ten men in the end but the behaviour of their players who were happy to go down under every little touch was disgraceful. Looking on the positive side, the abuse the visitors received for their play acting spared the Pompey players and manager the anger they may well have received instead.
When the dust has settled, you have to ask where do we go from here?
The team look incapable of scoring and are now struggling to keep goals out at the other end, a task now made even harder with the absence of Pompey's best defender for the next four games.
It was good to see tha fans get behind the team "like the good old days" with noise levels raised when York scored but they soon turned to groans again as promising attacks faltered because of a poor pass or miscontrolled ball.
It's difficult to see Pompey picking up more points than Northampton between now and the end of the season, the match at Sixfields on Easter Monday may well decide the relegation battle, although we musn't forget that there are still many more clubs still involved.
But for the first time this season I personally think we will be relegated simply because we don't score enough goals, will struggle to keep clean sheets with Chorley gone and the teams around Pompey look more capable of picking up points than they do.
Richie Barker needs an inspirational performance from somewhere or a "Mendes moment" to spark some belief in his team but can you honestly see that coming at top-of-the-table Rochdale or Newport where Pompey have already been thrashed once this season?
Barker won't be sacked by the board so all we can do is try and get behind him and his team, no matter how hard that may be. It may not make a difference but it's surely better than having the divisions in the fanbase turn against each other with non-league football next season a very real possibility.
However it ends, nobody can deny what a complete and utter disaster this season has been and yesterday's match went a long way in summing it up.
Pompey Player Ratings
Trevor Carson: 6 - One or two routine saves but never severely tested.
Daniel Alfei: 6 - Solid enough and got forward well at times.
Ben Chorley: 3 - Stupid red card could be extremely costly.
Bondz N'Gala: 7 - Put in a very workmanlike shift when Pompey went down to ten men with some excellent covering.
Nicky Shorey: 6 - Did a good job.
Jack Whatmough: 7 - Slipped back into defence seamlessly after Chorley's dismissal. Comfortable with the ball at his feet.
Rhys McCabe: 5 - Disappointing debut.
Toumani Diagouaraga: 5 - Outbattled and kept losing the ball.
Jed Wallace: 7 - Heart of everything Pompey did going forward.
Jake Jervis: 5 - Too lightweight.
Ryan Taylor: 5 - Not involved enough.
Substitutes
Phil Smith
Joe Devera
Sonny Bradley
Wes Fogden
Ricky Holmes (McCabe 71): N/A - Never instigated an attack.
Patrick Agyemang (Jervis 79): N/A - Needed more time.
Michael Drennan (Shorey 79): N/A - Didn't change anything.