It has to be hoped that the new benefactors did not make the trip to Portman Road. They would have been heading south at half-time with cheque-books hidden away.

Portsmouth were pretty pathetic. It cannot be easy for players to maintain concentration when their futures are in doubt but, even so, Portsmouth could not even fit in one serious effort on the Ipswich goal and were fortunate not to have been on the receiving end of a much heavier defeat.

Ipswich were a delight. Their football has pace and power, intelligence and vision. But manager George Burley will surely be working on the finishing of his wayward strikers.

Richard Naylor, who had scored their first two goals, should have had a hat-trick but missed two good chances in the second half. Perhaps Ipswich took their foot off the gas, presumably because it was all too easy.

Ipswich were so far ahead in terms of technique and tactical awareness that they had the game sewn up by half-time. When they trotted off to a standing ovation from their delighted fans, they were three goals ahead and might easily have had three more.

Portsmouth had been cut to pieces by a team determined to feature in the final stages of the promotion race.

The hero of the 45 minutes was 21-year-old Yorkshireman Naylor. When everyone is fit, Naylor is usually found on the substitutes' bench but he took his chances gloriously, scoring twice within two minutes midway through the half.

Samassi Abou, the on-loan striker from West Ham, put him in for the first and a devastating pass into the heart of the Portsmouth defence by Mark Venus set up his second.

The highly-rated Keiron Dyer scored the third in the 31st minute and Ipswich squandered further chances, notably from Matt Holland, Bobby Petta and Abou.

Portsmouth manager Alan Ball threw his three substitutes into action after the interval but it made not the slightest difference. They had been outplayed, outfought and overwhelmed.

Daily Telegraph