They say you can only beat who's in front of you. So whie Pompey have yet to test themselves in pre-season against any team anywhere near their own level, they have to be satisfied at the way they have seen off Salisbury and now the Hawks.
Conor Chaplin grabbed the headlines in a 6-0 win at Westleigh Park with his hat-trick making it 4-0 by the interval, adding to a Lee Molyneaux own goal.
Kal Naismith and Curtis Main added gloss to the scoreline after the break and it was another very useful run-out for Kenny Jackett's squad.
A crowd of 2,700 enjoyed the action and although Lee Bradbury's defeat would probably have expected to lose, they'd have been a little upset at the size of the scoreline.
Pompey used 21 players with all outfield players making way for replacements, which gave Jackett a further indication into the depth of his squad.
Jackett was content afterwards though of course is still not reading too much into these early results. He told the club website: 'The pitch was very good and for us it was a very useful pre-season workout. It was nice to see so many supporters. We’re thankful to Lee Bradbury and Havant & Waterlooville for inviting us over. We wish them all the best.
'It’s a game that helps us on our way to the new campaign and in terms of performance, it was a step in the right direction. We'll see where it takes us because we work hard in July to make sure that we’re successful in August and beyond.
'It’s a long and demanding season ahead of us and this time is all about preparing for what’s coming up.'
Pompey: Bass; Evans (Talbot 72), Burgess (Whatmough 72), Clarke (Davies 16), Holmes-Dennis (Haunstrup 46); May (Roberts 76), Rose (Close 57); Baker (Lowe 57), Naismith (Kabamba 72), Bennett (Main 72); Chaplin (Lalkovic 57) Goals: Molyneaux 26 (og), Chaplin 30, 39, 45+1, Naismith 47, Main 74 (pen) Sub not used: Collins
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