Blues hit five goals in latest triumph
Pompey kept alive their chances of defending the Premier League Southern Division title with a 5-1 victory at West Ham.
The result means that the Blues are still 10 points behind Brighton, but have two games in and on the leaders.
They broke the deadlock after just seven minutes in east London, with Molly Clark firing a free-kick into the top corner.
And Leeta Rutherford doubled the lead moments later, running in behind the defence to power home a header.
Ellie Bloomfield then doubled her account for the season midway through the first half by converting Lucy Quinn’s cut-back.
It was the prolific Sarah Kempson who took over after the interval, notching Pompey’s fourth from close range following more good work by Quinn.
She then completed the scoring from the penalty spot after the lively Quinn had been brought down inside the box.
The only bright spot for the hosts arrived late in the game when Liz Berkeley grabbed a consolation with a neat chipped effort.
Blues boss Perry Northeast said: “We did all our best work in the first half and ensured that we had a good lead at the break.
“We didn’t actually create that many clear-cut chances, but we were clinical and took them when they presented themselves.
“It was a bit sloppy after the break and we actually came off the pitch thinking we could have done more, which is exactly the attitude I want to see.
“There are still some things we need to work on – both attacking and defensive – in training and a lot of hard work to be done.
“But we’ve scored 11 goals in the past two league games and that can only help improve the girls’ confidence.
“There are five games left to go, so we just need to try to win all of them and then see where we end up.”
Pompey: Beazley; Taylor, Sievwright, Rutherford, Bazan (C.Benson 59); Kempson, Bloomfield (Atkinson 70), Clark, Quinn; Hillier, Sherwood (Stephens 70)
Sub not used: A.Benson