Colby Bishop's first half goal at Fratton Park helps Pompey on their way to securing Championship survival with 2 games to spare.
Today’s win has now guaranteed Championship football again for the Blues next season, as well as a South Coast Derby as a league fixture for the first time since 2012.
Pompey now sit in 16th in the standings, 6 points above Luton Town in 22nd with 2 games to go, however it is not mathematically possible for the bottom 3 to catch the Blues, with sides playing each other in the final 2 game weeks.
There were also 2 other positives for Portsmouth, with attacker Callum Lang coming on near the end, despite being ruled out for the season after injuring his hamstring in that 2-0 win at Oxford two months ago.
And defender Connor Shaughnessy also made a brief cameo, when he came off after suffering a recurring calf injury back in February.
The Blues took the lead inside twenty-five minutes, when Bishop finished off his initial shot that was saved by Egil Selvik following Josh Murphy’s ball into the area.
Murphy almost made it two, but his strike from outside the left flank flew just over the bar, after he skinned the ball away from Watford full back Ryan Andrews.
The Hornets did try to grow into the game, and had a chance to secure an equaliser, but Imran Louza’s ambitious effort from outside the box was pushed onto the crossbar by Nicolas Schmid.
Ireland under-21 winger Roco Vata had spells where he gave Jordan Williams something to think about, but ultimately the ex-Celtic man could not find a breakthrough.
There was an additional 3 minutes of added time in the first half, with Pompey going into the interval 1-0 up.
Half-time: Portsmouth 1-0 Watford
Ahead of the second half, Christian Saydee came on for Adil Aouchiche was on a booking, but the Frenchman also came into this game with a heavily bandaged right wrist
Captain Matt Ritchie had a chance to double Pompey’s lead, but the winger's effort was parried past the post by Selvik in the Watford net.
Jordan Williams’ afternoon had to be cut short after the full back injured his hamstring trying to chase Vata down, which forced the ex-Barnsley man off form the versatile Terry Devlin.
Moments later, Watford were down to 10 men when Kevin Keben brought down Murphy who was through on goal, with referee Sam Allison having no choice but to send the Cameroonian defender off for the denial of a goal scoring opportunity.
Murphy, who won the free kick, fired the ball towards the goal, but the winger's effort went just wide of the bottom corner.
Tom Cleverly sacrificed attacker Rocco Vata for defender Matty Pollock, which did not go down well with the visiting Hornet fans, as well as Ryan Andrews who came off for Jeremy Ngakia.
Bishop began to suffer with his hamstring, much like he did away at Norwich at Good Friday, as the number 9 came off for Kusini Yengi, receiving a standing ovation from the home crowd.
And with 3 minutes to go, Callum Lang and Conor Shaughnessy came on for Murphy and Regan Poole, with both returning fan favourites being cheered greatly by the 18,000+ Pompey fans inside Fratton Park.
There was an additional 10 minutes of added time, but Pompey managed to grind out the victory and confirm their Championship status.
Full-time: Portsmouth 1-0 Watford
Next up: A trip to Sheffield for John Mousinho’s side as Pompey visit Hillsborough to face Danny Röhl’s Sheffield Wednesday in the Blues’ final away game of the season.
The last time Portsmouth visited the Blue and white side of Sheffield it was a debut to remember for striker Colby Bishop who netted twice in a 3-3 draw in July 2022.
A win next Saturday would be only the Blues’ 4th on the road all the season, against a Sheffield Wednesday side who sit 23rd in the table based on home form.
Portsmouth: 1. Schmid (GK), 2. Williams (24. Devlin), 5. Poole (6. Shaughnessy), 35. Atkinson, 3. Ogilvie, 45. Hayden, 8. Potts, 30 Ritchie, 17. Aouchiche (15. Saydee) 23. Murphy (49. Lang), 9. Bishop (10. Yengi) (Formation 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 31. Archer (GK), 7. Pack, 18 Bramall, 21. Dozzell
Goals: Bishop 25’
Bookings: Bishop 27’, Aouchiche 44’, Potts 64’, Lang 90+5’
Head coach: John Mousinho
Watford: 1. Selvik (GK), 45. Andrews (2. Ngakia), 4. Keben, 3. Sierralta (25. Abankwah) 26. Wiley, 10. Louza (C), 14. Dwomoh (19. Bayo), 24. Dele-Bashiru, 11. Vata (6. Pollock), 7. Ince, 20. Doumbia (Formation 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 41. Marriott (GK), 22. Morris, 47. Massiah-Edwards, 52. Ramirez-Espain, 60. Sanghrajka
Bookings: Dwomoh 53’, Keben 57’ (RED), Louza 67’
Head coach: Tom Cleverley
Venue: Fratton Park
Referee: Sam Allison
Attendance: 20,451 (including 2,193 away fans)
For full reaction to this afternoon's huge win at Fratton Park, be sure to download and replay the latest Pompey Live: Extra-Time podcast, on which Jake Smith was joined alongside Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson.
Jake will be back on air on Express FM this Tuesday (April 22nd) evening from 6pm with Mark Coates for company for further analysis on today's game.
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