The Super Blues made it four home wins out of five as two goals in each half sank Hartlepool at a wintry Fratton Park.

Caolan Lavery got the ball rolling with a superb finish and an own goal made it 2-0 within five minutes. Gareth Evans and Marc McNulty made the points safe in the second half to leave Pompey just three points behind third-placed Plymouth.

Lavery and Christian Burgess were back in the side in place of Adam McGurk and Matt Clarke and the opening stages were a little cagey as the windy conditions made good football difficult.

Kyle Bennett was arguably Pompey's liveliest player in the opening half-hour but it was Lavery who opened the scoring on 32 minutes.

A quick free=kick and a couple of intricate passes outside the box led to Lavery being played into space in the box and he lashed the chance into the top corner.

It was 2-0 on 37 minutes when defender Adam Jackson put Ben Davies’ cross into his own net. Although there were 50 minutes to go, it felt like game over.

Brian Murphy was called into action a couple of times in the first half but Pompey were in command.

Jake Carroll put a free-kick only inches wide as Pool threatened for a short spell after the break but Evans made the scoreline a safe when he put away the rebound after McNulty's shot was saved after good work down the left by Enda Stevens.

Ben Tollitt and McGurk came on with the game won and there was a blot on the blue landscape near the end when Christian Burgess had to hobble off after a late tackle.

McNulty made it 4-0, slotting into the corner of the net after Stevens put him in and beat the offside trap.

It puts Pompey in great shape for the trip to Northampton next Saturday, their last game before Christmas.

Pompey: Murphy; Davies, Burgess (Clarke 85), Webster, Stevens; Hollands, Doyle (c); Evans, McNulty, Bennett (Tollitt 75); Lavery (McGurk 80). Subs not used: Bass, Haunstrup, Close, Chaplin

Referee: Christopher Sarginson

Attendance: 15,610 (145 away fans)

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