We all knew Pompey had this sort of dominant, goalscoring performance in them — the only question was when they'd produce it. And now they have, they need to keep doing it over and over again — especially at home.

Some questioned my sanity when I said after the 1-1 draw with Mansfield three weeks ago we could win promotion out of this league. We'd played badly for an hour against a very ordinary team and had ended up with a point after a decent last 30 minutes.

Since then, Pompey have been been hot and cold, beating Stevenage but losing at Bury and Shrewsbury, but this visit to Fratton of struggling Carlisle always looked a game in which Pompey could prove, at last, they were too good for League Two's also-rans. And how they proved that.

This was as one-sided a game as you are likely to see this season; Pompey playing flowing football and creating chance after chance — they could have had the 8-0 scoreline some had wanted after two other southern teams had achieved such wins on recent Saturdays — and Carlisle struggling to keep hold of the ball for any period of time and looking vulnerable every time Pompey attacked.

A quick start and an early goal is something Pompey have not produced often enough since slipping into League Two a season and a third ago, but they produced it here and it set the tone for the afternoon. Some were still making their way to their seats when, after 90 seconds or so, Craig Westcarr poked the home the goal he so desperately needed after Ricky Holmes had played in Miles Storey for a shot that the Cumbrians' hapless keeper Dan Hanford.

It must have been soul-destroying for the 300-plus Carlisle fans who'd probably had to set off about Thursday to get to Hampshire in time. I'm sure those fans don't want our sympathy but life must be tough for them with all the long trips they have to make to watch a team who, on this evidence, have to be one of the worst in the Football League.

From the point that opening goal went in, the result was never really in doubt. I can't recall Paul Jones having to stretch himself once; in fact I can't remember the defence having to break too much of a sweat. The only question was whether Pompey could win with a bit to spare or would make the fans bite their nails, as they have too many times this season.

Holmes was a constant menace down the left, Jed Wallace less so but industrious enough on the other side, and Danny Hollands and James Dunne did all they needed to do in the middle to silence those (me included) who'd started the afternoon wondering why Nigel Atangana wasn't in the starting XI.

It was the front two who needed goals and after Westcarr got his — hopefully a strike that will lift his confidence back to the level where he was scoring a goal every couple of games at the start of the campaign — Storey followed suit with one that will take some beating in the goal-of-the-season stakes come May.

It was a quick Pompey break down the right that led to his goal on 26 minutes. Holmes got free, looked up and saw Storey in a bit of space in the centre. Storey took one touch to control the pass then smashed a volley into the top corner, in off the stanchion, to send the home fans wild. It was one of the sweetest strikes of a football you'll see at any level all season — for once, the Football League Show will be worth waiting up for.

After the Cambridge game, Pompey's first victory of the season back in mid-August, I tipped Storey to win Pompey's player of the season prize. He's done little since then to warrant such a prediction but goals now in two successive home games suggest he can yet be an important player for us. The worry is that most if not all of our strikers seem to be confidence players — they're either in-form or horribly out of form, with no middle ground, and if they all struggle for momentum at the same time, we will again be short of goals.

Pompey had this sewn up by half-time but carried on with more of the same dominance after the interval. Chances came, chances went and it was not until the half was 29 minutes old that Hollands — at last — opened his account for the season by volleying in Westcarr's cross from close range, with the Carlisle defence all over the shop.

Late cameos from young pair Bradley Tarbuck and Ben Close kept the crowd's interest going to the end. Tarbuck had long enough to show he may well be able to add something to the team as the season goes on, and was unfortunate to be booked for a minor melee that followed a red Carlisle card that the youngster appeared to have absolutely nothing to do with.

The United man to go was Hayden White for a nasty tackle on Hollands that could have caused him serious injury but happily didn't. That merely put the cap on an awful afternoon for Carlisle and in enthusing about Pompey's victory, it's important to remember how limited a team this was standing in their way..

But the point I made after the Mansfield draw is worth making again in the light of this victory. You do not have to be very good to win promotion from League Two. You just have to rise about the limited and often physical teams out to make life difficult for you. And in any game where you can get your noses in front, you shouldn't have to put up with the mind-numbing and rather pathetic time-wasting tactics we saw from Wycombe and Mansfield.

Pompey have won only six of their first 16 games, and have drawn five and lost five, yet they sit just two points off a play-off spot. True, they'd have been 16th if they'd lost to Carlisle, instead of ninth, but in a tight table, you can see the effect a decent run of, say, five wins from six would have.

If Pompey can keep their strikers in form, keep adding goals from midfield and build a bit more momentum with an FA Cup win over Aldershot next week, then this November could be much, much happier than the last one, which ended with Guy Whittingham being relieved of his duties.

Thankfully the few who were questioning Andy Awford's credentials a couple of weeks ago have fallen silent, at least for now. And if Pompey can despatch a few more of the Carlisles of this world in the coming weeks, we'll all be looking up not down.

Pompey: Jones; Wynter, Robinson, Devera, Shorey; Wallace (Close 88), Dunne, Hollands,, Holmes; Storey (Tarbuck 82), Westcarr (Taylor 79). Subs not used: Poke, Ertl, Butler, Atangana

Referee: Christopher Sarginson

Attendance: 15,533 (347 away fans)

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