Pompey left it late again - and Gary Roberts kept his cool from the spot again - but another game brought another three points as they won 1-0 at Exeter.

The victory took the Blues up to eighth place in the table - a far cry from their return of two points from the first three games. And although they didn't carve out too many clear chances at St James's Park, they probably deserved the victory for having controlled long periods.

With Tom Davies and Milan Lalkovic coming into the team, Pompey started well anf though David Forde had one or two nervy moments, Paul Cook's side looked the most likely to score, with Curtis Main and Roberts going closest in the first half.

As Cook looked on from the stand, serving the first game of his two-match touchline ban, Carl Baker and Christian Burgess might both have done better with clear sights of goal.

A lively first half ended with both sides having half-chances.

Conor Chaplin replaced Baker on the hour and tested home keeper Bobby Olejnik.

Two more changes saw Noel Hunt and Kal Naismith come on and it was the latter of those two who was unlock the Grecians defence with five minutes left.

Naismith collected a Burgess pass and ran into the box and was brought down by Pierce Sweeney, though Exeter complained he had made a lot of the challenge.

Roberts wasn't worried about the rights and wrongs of the decision though as he smashed the penalty down the middle, easily beating Olejnik.

Exeter threw everything at Pompey in the final minutes in a bid to salvage a point and Michael Doyle had to throw himself at one effort to keep the lead intact.

Afterwards Cook's No2 Leam Richardson said: 'Last season we perhaps didn’t have luck on our side and so hopefully the tide has turned this time around. We deserved three points because of the way we passed the ball and also the way we defended. Players were throwing their bodies on the line. You could see the desire that we have to win games and how much heart there is in this squad.'

Pompey: Forde; Talbot, T.Davies, Burgess, Stevens; Rose, Doyle (c); Baker (Chaplin 64), Roberts, Lalkovic (Naismith 74); Main (Hunt 74). Subs not used: O’Brien, Barton, Linganzi, Evans

Referee: Gavin Ward

Attendance: 4,512 (1,215 Pompey fans)

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