Ternent's men temperamental as Pompey power ahead

Burnley 0 Portsmouth 3

Portsmouth tightened their grip at the top of the First Division, ending Burnley's 12-match unbeaten run in the process, but this game could have swung the other way if the home side had shown a little steadiness at both ends of the pitch. Outplayed to an embarrassing extent in the first half, Burnley could still have continued a sequence stretching back to August but for a goalkeeping howler and a missed penalty in the second.

The first of the key incidents came after 57 minutes, when Svetoslav Todorov scored the sixth and softest of his goals so far this season. The Bulgarian international achieved little at his and Harry Redknapp's previous club, West Ham, but he proved a real handful yesterday. He did not quite deserve the gift he was given, however, when he took Matthew Taylor's pass, wandered infield and hit a tame shot at Marlon Beresford.

The Burnley goalkeeper had a horrible moment when the ball bobbled in front of him and left him helpless as it embarrassingly sneaked inside his right post for a goal that eased the pressure on Portsmouth.

"He came in and apologised to the lads. A goalkeeper of his quality would expect to save that,'' said his manager, Stan Ternent. "But for every one he throws in, he saves an awful lot more.''

Worse was to follow 15 minutes later when, on one of their many second-half attacks, Burnley won a penalty after Lee Briscoe's cross was handled by Steve Stone, the former England midfielder making an eventful debut to begin his month's loan from Aston Villa.

When Dean West skimmed the Portsmouth crossbar with a spot-kick taken with more power than accuracy, Burnley knew it was clearly not going to be their afternoon.

"The second goal was completely against the run of play and we had some good chances in the second half," said Ternent. "The side showed a great appetite for it, but there's no doubt that Portsmouth have got top-quality players at this level and it will be a good side that finishes above them.''

Portsmouth had shown that quality in abundance in the first half, when they overran Burnley in midfield and could have had more than the single goal they scored.

That one was a good one, Stone finding far too much space on the right flank and releasing Todorov, whose ball to the edge of the area gave Nigel Quashie the chance to measure his shot just inside Beresford's right-hand post, no blame attaching to the goalkeeper with this one.

"We played so well in the first half that we should have been in a much stronger position,'' said Rednapp.

Instead, Pompey had to weather a genuine Burnley revival as they went close to an equaliser on several occasions, notably through the lively but less than clinical Robbie Blake.

All that promise was undone by that double blunder from Beresford and West, but it was still cruel for Burnley when Stone once again exploited the wide open spaces on the right with five minutes to play and the substitute, Kevin Harper, got on the end of his cross to volley the ball home.

Still, as Redknapp said: "To come here with them on a 12-match unbeaten run and beat them 3-0, that has to be our best result of the season.''

In the light of Norwich's defeat, Pompey's position looks stronger still. "There is no doubt they are the best side we've played this season." said Ternent, and more may well echo those sentiments before the season is over.

Burnley 0 Portsmouth 3
Quashie 21, Todorov 58, Harper 86

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 15,788