Liam Daish was pleased with how his young Pompey charges fared for the first hour of their Hampshire Cup tie at Farnborough.
The quarter-final clash against Southern League promotion chasers was goalless and the visitors started to pose a threat.
But it was the more senior hosts who ultimately secured comfortable progress, as Mitchell Parker’s brace and goals from David Pratt and Michael Fernandes sealed a 4-0 win.
Daish knew it was going to be difficult for his academy players against a men’s team, although he felt some of the goals were avoidable.
Pompey’s professional development phase coach said: “We had a strategy to stay in the game and we did that, coming in for half-time at 0-0.
“It was always going to be difficult and we’ve got a few players out injured, but we kept our shape and remained patient.
"The younger lads who played were excellent, but we perhaps wanted to see a little bit more from some of the older ones."
“The lads had a good idea of what they were up against by that point and we were looking to show a bit more composure and creativity.
“We started the second half really well, but we conceded some soft goals – from the first right through to the fourth.
“You can get away with that under-18 level at times. When you’re up against men, however, they’re far more clinical.
“Our hard work for an hour went down the drain because of some poor moments and our disappointment after the first two lasted too long.
“The younger lads who played were excellent, but we perhaps wanted to see a little bit more from some of the older ones.
“We’ll have learnt a lot from the experience of playing in this competition and now they have to put that to good use.”