A stroll in the Park, Saints racked up their most convincing win ever at Fratton Park as they showed how much the gap has widened in the 8 years since the last trip.

This meeting of the sides saw the biggest ever gap either way between the two clubs when they have met and it showed, storms were expected at Fratton Park but in Fratton Park it was little more than a bluster from the home side.

As expected they looked lively in the first 20 minutes and probably should have taken the lead a superb save from McCarthy keeping the scores level.

But this was the last significant attempt on goal the home side would have, as within minutes Saints had taken the lead with a great goal from Danny Ings, who being the only Southampton born player in the Saints team relished the occasion.

Almost a quarter of the travelling Saints army didn't relish it though, they were still trying to get into the ground after their train was held up and arrived over an hour late.

That calmed the Saints nerves and they took control of the game in difficult conditions, now the weather and the Pompey team and crowd were blustery but little more than that for the rest of the game.

If Pompey's team talk at half time was going to be all about being only a goal down and still in it then Kenny Jackett had to rewrite his script when Saints broke at speed and put a glorious through ball in for Danny Ings to race on to, the keeper looked favourite but the Saints striker got a toe in and dinked it over the keeper to double the lead.

The second half started like the first, Pompey came at us, but they had little in either invention or quality and it was starting to look men against boys and Saints just needed to finish it off which they did with 15 minutes to go, Danny Ings doing some great work and getting to the byeline and cutting it back, hesitancy in the Pompey defence saw Cedric nip in and poke it home to send the fans behind the goal wild.

All that was left now was the question of how many, not just goals but how many Pompey fans would be left in the ground by the end, with a mass exodus to both sides of us.

Also the traditional things in Pompey's authentic matchday experience, the goading of our players and abuse when taking throw ins and the comical surge in the North Stand as a small group tried to break through a bigger group of Police and then clamber across a security net to earn life long bans.

If the ground was emptying fast in the final minutes as the realisation sunk in that the game was up, it accelerated even faster when Nathan Redmond scored a corker with 4 minutes left.

There should have been only one team celebrating at the end and that was Saints, but as they headed to their supporters at the final whistle to do so, we had the bizarre sight of Pompey's own team doing a lap of honour !!!!.

In true Pompey fashion the Fratton End had stayed to celebrate a glorious drubbing as they did against Arsenal a few years ago, however this time they unsportingly did not sing the name of an opposition player, strange.

All in all this game went exactly how we thought it would, two unevenly matched teams with the superior one dominating the game for most of the play, a good nights work.

Photo: Action Images

halftimeorange added 09:25 - Sep 25 It would be ungracious of me to dwell on any downside of Saints performance after a 4-0 thrashing of the enemy but, one thing did worry me. Che Adams was never in the game, seemingly often in the wrong place (for example, he should have been close enough to have taken Cedric's goal) and he was subdued walking off the pitch with Jack Stephens putting his arm around his shoulders apparently saying "Your time will come". Maybe a couple of outings in the Under-23s could help. And, oh for a big attacker - we really need more height!

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clunk76 added 09:48 - Sep 25 Good summary Nick. Halftimeorange is correct tho. I had to watch the game from my sickbed and from the TV coverage Che Adams was bloody awful. He's obviously got something about him to have been signed in the first place but i do wonder how we are going to get him up to the necessary standards. Time will tell i guess...
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dirk_doone added 09:53 - Sep 25 Fair report, Nick. It was good to see another Saints fan, Danny Ings, following in the footsteps of Steve Moran and scoring in a win for Saints at Fratton Park. It means a bit more when they are doing it for the club they've supported all of their lives.
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Consigliere added 10:00 - Sep 25 Great game and great evening - I watched it in the hospitality lounge at St Mary''s, £10 for a curry and a pint and the chance to see the game with other fans and enjoy the atmosphere. Nice gesture from the club and greatly appreciated.
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underweststand added 10:05 - Sep 25 Agree with halftimeorange - life must be tough for Che Adams as every game highlights the lack of form he showed last season. A few games aat the lower level should help him. As for the game...4 goals against Pompey at Fratton -what could be better?. We withstood the Pompey avalanche in the first 20 minutes and then Danny Ings scored with our first real chance and his second before HT must have killed off their enthusiasm. Danny was a worthy MoM but there must be a few honourable mentions. Although goalless - Obafemi starts to look the part and his pass for Ings' second was perfect. JWP showed his true colours with some robust play and good attacking chances, but surely Cedric must be one of the most improved players in the squad. He looked pretty green when he arrived but grew whilst playing alongside Jose Fonte, but lost his way after Fonte's move away. The shortest man on the pitch, but he gave 100% and his now routine forays upfield in the last 10 minutes paid dividends this time. Maya Yoshida was well worth his place in the team and put himself about very well. Altogether a good night to remember, and for Ralph a real introduction to exactly what " a Pompey derby game " really means to us on the South Coast.

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1970 added 11:06 - Sep 25 Conor Chaplin,Jamie o Hara,Alan Knight,Fred Dineage your boys took one hell of a beating coyr.
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saintlee added 11:47 - Sep 25 I only have 3 words to say : GET IN THERE !!!
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landsdownsaint added 11:56 - Sep 25 Starting to worry for Che Adams last night was a perfect time to notch his first goal,I think they should get SRL to give him tips on positioning...every now & then I think was Carrillo given any chance ? I think he would’ve scored last night .. maybe ??
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spmonkay added 12:01 - Sep 25 So wanted che to score last night!! I think he’s trying to hard and is not playing his game! I think once he’s scores and breaks that duck he’ll relax and just play his game without over thinking it! Here’s hoping anyway!!
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helpineedsomebody added 13:28 - Sep 25 che adams 1 the championship/EPL shows what a huge gap there is 2 his fitness his 1st touch his awareness in his positioning of where to be is not there yet its slowly coming but every game he will get sharper 3 BUT HE MUST START TO TAKE A FEW RISKS & START SCORING 4 he is to important to be dropped becouse he is the main front man the rest of the forwards are wide players or playing at no 10 5 the problem for me is our midefield all of them have no pace & more importanly at the critical time they lose the ball plus i notice now when we build out from the back weve gone back to sideways football all the top 6 sides play through the middle, positive football they beat a man then a gap opens up then you pass through them SIMPLE

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bstokesaint added 14:44 - Sep 25 Very pleased with the result. Pompey are (an even more) sorry sight these days. On The subject of Adams, the boy will come good. He’s young and needs backing from the more senior players and management. He’s being asked to do well in a role that no Southampton striker has done for a few seasons! It’s a huge ask.
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BoondockSaint added 14:44 - Sep 25 Great win, but as other have mentioned, with the difference in leagues (money) any different result would have been humiliating (and they had their chances). I was glad to see Ings and Adams starting as they would have more experience with the tough physical play of the the lower leagues than our other options. Worked great for Ings, but not for Adams. Sooner or later he has to score.........hopefully sooner!

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saintmark1976 added 15:21 - Sep 25 You can only beat what Is in front of you. Let's be honest Portsmouth were pretty poor, but who cares, it's the result that counts. My highlight of the day other than the result? Seeing a clip of what appears to be a Portsmouth fan punching a police horse on the head then running away straight into a group of Plod only for them to wrestle him to the ground and give him summary retribution with batons.

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aceofthebase added 17:15 - Sep 25 I was just about to have my usual moan about Cedric as he ambled forward and to the left wing. " What's he up to?", I thought, well the little so and so hits a wonderful goal.
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SanMarco added 18:01 - Sep 25 That was good. Although we looked a bit dodgy until the goal I was delighted that we managed to clearly show we were a far classier team. If I think back to that crisp afternoon 35 years ago I remember a dire game where we went down to their level and could have even lost before the golden Moran moment. This time there was no such doubt. Still pleased that McCarthy made those 2 early saves though! As for Che Adams I am not going to give up on a player named in honour of Che Guevara. He is clearly taking time to adapt and is perhaps trying too hard. I am sure he will score soon if we look after him properly.

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SaintPaulVW added 08:20 - Sep 26 It was interesting to see the gulf in ability between Pompey and Saints. I don't remember there being such a gap between leagues. Once we started playing our way Pompey were outclassed and the game was over. Great win. Now let's take that attitude to Spur and make Mo Po's mind up about leaving.
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BarnetSaint added 12:59 - Sep 26 We were poor for the first 20 minutes, need to start games better. But in the end the gulf was far bigger than the reverse game at ours when d James had a blinder
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