It was a day that started with so much promise, only to end in misery.
Pompey knew that victory over Accrington at Fratton Park would guarantee them a spot in the League One play-offs.
But a fine Adam Phillips’ finish secured the points for the mid-table visitors, whose keeper Toby Savin was named man-of-the-match after making a string of fine saves.
And Danny Cowley conceded that his side did not quite do enough to deserve an extension to their season.
The Blues boss said: “It’s bitterly disappointing and I really feel for everyone connected with this football club.
“We can certainly perform better than we did and after starting the match okay, we then lost our way a bit.
“If I’m brutally honest, we could have been further behind at the break, but it was a much better response in the second half. We played with more bravery.
“We know that Accrington are very dangerous when they play direct, while we don’t really have a target man.
"We weren’t quite good enough to get the job done and that something we all have to take responsibility for."
“It’s a young and early group and maybe we’re not developed enough to come up with solutions when the pressure is on. Perhaps we don’t have the confidence or competency.
“Ultimately, I think we finished were we deserved to. I don’t think the league table lies after 46 games.
“We’ve tried exceptionally hard and have given it everything – but we’ve still come up a little bit short.
“We weren’t quite good enough to get the job done and that's something we all have to take responsibility for.”
Cowley was appointed head coach in March in a deal until the end of the season and will now wait to see what the future holds.
He said: “I owed it to the club and supporters to put all my energy into the matches – and that’s exactly what I did.
“We feel the pain and disappointment and if it is to be us moving forwards, I can promise there will be exciting times ahead.
“There has to be because we need to create a team that the people of Portsmouth can be really proud of.”