I listened to the BBC Radio Solent coverage of this game with match commentator Paul Scott and summariser former Pompey player Mark Kelly. Here are my notes.
It was noted that this was Ipswich Town's sixth game in a row unchanged, they were clearly a 'settled side'.
For Pompey it was nine games without an away win the last one was at The Walkers Stadium against Leicester City.
Ipswich had conceded nine goals in the first-half this season leading up this game, only Nottingham Forest having conceded more.
Pompey were playing in their third kit of red and black.
It was an important game for two Pompey players: former Ipswich captain Norris returning to his old stomping ground and Liam Lawrence who had been sent off against QPR last season, the last time Mr Ward had officiated a Pompey game.
There were some good positive signs from Pompey during the early stages of the game.
In the 13th minute, Hayden Mullins shot over the cross bar from the edge of the penalty box after a good combination of passes between Luke Varney, Dave Kitson and Joel Ward had oppend up the shooting opportunity.
In the 20th minute, Varney found himself one-on-one with the Ipswich 'keeper Stockdale after some good play between David Norris and Liam Lawrence, a 25-30 yard pass put him through. Varney's effort was well saved by David Stockdale. It had been the best opportunity of the match to that point.
Jimmy Bullard was not having one of his finest evenings and gave the ball away four times in the first 22 minutes in attempts to get the ball in behind Pompey's defence.
Ipswich were passing the ball from side-to-side in front of Pompey and looking to the full backs to connect up with the midfield but they were not causing too many problems.
There were two different styles of play on display and each side was doing its best to stamp their authority on the game.
Pompey were playing patiently and edging the play, putting the ball in to the holes and getting in behind the Ipswich defence. Three or four times Varney had received the ball putting former Pompey loanee Ibrahimo Sonko under pressure and he wasn't enjoying it. The tactics were working well for Pompey and they were ahead in terms of both territory and possession.
Pompey won a number of corners during the first period but were unable to punish the home team. On 22 minutes, Dave Kitson had a glorious opportunity to score, the ball landed at his feet six yards out but he put it agonizingly wide with his left foot.
Ipswich manager Paul Jewell was on the sidelines shrugging his shoulders, arms out wide, not happy as Ipswich were limited to long range efforts on goal. It was fully expected that Ipswich would come out for the second half having had a rollicking from their manager.
HT: Ipswich Town 0-0 Portsmouth
Ipswich started the second half with the same diamond formation they used in the first half. However, Ipswich were finding it difficult to string together passes.
Pompey played 4-4-2 when they had possession of the ball and 4-5-1 when they didn't with Dave Kitson dropping to mark Jimmy Bullard.
This was proving to be a real test of character for Ipswich. The home fans, more used to seeing their team get their own way, were becoming frustrated as a result of Pompey's disciplined approach with regular forages in behind the home team's defence.
Pompey had an early chance to take the lead when Liam Lawrence had a good chance to score but he somehow failed to connect with the ball.
After 65 minutes Ipswich had made all three substitutions in an attempt to change things around. The starting Ipswich strikers had proved to be ineffective on the night.
Suddenly the tide appeared to change as the home fans sensed that their team had weathered the storm and Pompey suffered a few nervy moments.
The only goal of the game came on 69 minutes and was clearly against the overall run of play
Substitute Emmanuel-Thomas misjudged a header, wrong-footing the Pompey defence and the ball fell kindly for Irish international Andrews to score.
On 71 minutes Joel Ward had a good chance to score but the ball landed on the roof of the net from his shot.
Pompey made two substitutions in quick succession an attempt to get back in to the game: Huseklepp came on for Kitson and shortly afterwads Kanu forRocha.
With four minutes of added time signalled, Pompey pushed Greg Halford forward to try and make a nuisance of himself and Aaron Mokoena dropped back in to the defence. It was a manic end to the game as Pompey bombarded the Ipswich penalty box to apply some pressure and attempted to pick up the bits and pieces that resulted.
Ipswich dropped back and defended deeply but despite Kanu winning a last minute corner they were able to withold the pressure and hold on for the win, the fourth game they had won in a row.
FT: Ipswich Town 1-0 Portsmouth
Portsmouth versus Ipswich Town: Stephen Henderson, Greg Halford, Ricardo Rocha, Jason Pearce, Tal Ben Haim, Joel Ward, Hayden Mullins, David Norris, Liam Lawrence, Luke Varney, Dave Kitson. Substitutes: Jamie Ashdown, Aaron Mokoena, Bjorn Helge Riise, Erik Huseklepp and Kanu.
Attendance: 17,297 with 442 Pompey fans making the trip.
MOTM: it was unclear from the commentary who the stand-out Pompey player was for this game.
Next Up For Pompey: Doncaster Rovers at Fratton Park on Saturday 22nd October 3PM kick-off.
Mark Kelly's Post-Match Summary
There were plenty of positives to take away from the performance: tactically Pompey were set-up right and got it right. This led to Ipswich becoming frustrated as the game progressed.
Ipswich were set-up to play the diamond formation and keep the ball moving. They have some experienced players to do that. But Pompey kept Jimmy Bullard quiet for much of the night and Lee Bower was anonymous.
Pompey regularly got in behind the Ipswich defence and created a number of clearcut chances in both halves of the match. However, they lack a natural goal scorer up-front: someone with that killer instinct and that was frustrating. Getting Dave Kitson 'right' will be key in the upcoming matches.
Not many teams will go to Portman Road this season and be in control for much of the game as Pompey had been.
BlueThruAndThru
