Pompey and a travelling army of more than 1,000 enjoyed what this season has been a rare away victory as Matt Tubbs and Jed Wallace found the net to beat Mansfield.
Tubbs tucked away a penalty in the second minute after Ritchie Sutton fouled Wallace in the area and was sent off for a professional foul.
After that Pompey took a while to kill off their hosts - although looking largely in control - but when Wallace added another long range goal to his season's tally, an awkward bounce beating Stags keeper Lenny Pidgeley to give the Blues some daylight.
Just as Pompey looked like they would win with plenty of breathing space, Jack Thomas curled home a shot beyond Paul Jones midway through the second half.
But there was no late collapse of the sort the Blues have suffered too many times this season, and they held on relatively comfortably for only their third win on the road in the league this season.
Craig Westcarr and his late replacement Conor Chaplin both missed half-chances to make it 3-1 but Pompey and their support were happy enough as the whistle signalled an away win.
Caretaker boss Gary Waddock told The News: ‘A win’s a win, it’s away from home and I thought we played extremely well during the course of the first half when we controlled it.
‘We identified an area where we could get at them and it worked straight away with the penalty. I was pleased with the first half but we made it much harder during the course of the second half and afterwards I said to the lads we needed to manage the game better.'
Pompey: Jones; Devera, Ertl, Webster, Butler; Dunne, Close (Shorey 85), Wallace, Hollands; Tubbs (McCallum 88), Westcarr (Chaplin 81). Subs not used: Poke, May, Fogden, Atangana
Referee: Graham Horwood
Att: 4,222 (1,091 Pompey fans)
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