It had to end sometime - Pompey's impressive run of clean sheets was halted by title-chasing Shrewsbury.

Two second-half goals earned the Shrews the points and left Pompey hoping to recover with a maximum return from two Christmas week home games.

In a fairly featureless first half Matt Kennedy, restored to the starting line-up, went closest to breaching a resolute home defence with a bouncing shot that was awkward for the keeper.

Early in the second half Shaun Whalley was judged to have been brought down by Luke McGee but when he stepped up to take the penalty, McGee was equal to it.

That proved a temporary reprieve for the Blues, though, as Whalley followed up to score when McGee couldn't deal effectively with a Joe Nolan shot.

Stefan Payne made the points safe for Paul Hurst's team late on, leaving Pompey coming to terms with their first defeat for just over a month.

Afterwards Pompey boss Kenny Jackett told the Blues website: 'It hurts me to say it, but Shrewsbury were better than us. They were relentless and deserved to win. They closed down very quickly and we couldn’t get any momentum on the ball, while the second goal really typified the way the game went.'

In the grand scheme of things Pompey fans won't be too upset at this defeat - their side lost to a better one, and there are more winnable games to come.

The festive action comes thick and fast with AFC Wimbledon visiting Fratton on Boxing Day and Northampton following on Saturday.

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