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Portsmouth are safe in the Championship for another year Portsmouth confirmed their Championship status for another year with victory over Watford at Fratton Park. The Blues now have a six point gap to the bottom three with two games remaining - and Hull City and Derby County to still face each other below them. The Blues took the lead in the first half through Colby Bishop, who capitalised on Watford failing to deal with a cross to nod the ball home from close range. The Hornets had a man sent off in the second half, Kevin Keben brought down Josh Murphy just outside the area and was shown a red card by referee Sam Allison. A bouncing Fratton Park knew that a win for the home side would be enough to secure Championship safety. And the hosts came close to opening the scoring when Bishop flicked the ball on to Matt Ritchie who had two close-range efforts saved by Watford keeper Egil Selvik. Portsmouth then took the lead on 25 minutes, Selvik spilt a cross from Josh Murphy and Bishop was there to head the ball home for his 11th goal of the season, and the goal meant the number nine is now Pompey's top scorer for the campaign. The Hornets came close to an equaliser minutes later, Imran Louza took a shot from distance and forced a brilliant save out of Nicolas Schmid, who pushed the effort onto the crossbar. Watford were reduced to ten men just before the hour mark as Keben brought down Pompey's Murphy on the edge of the area. Then ten men of Watford piled pressure onto Portsmouth in the final moments but Pompey held with the home crowd celebrating wildly as the full-time whistle sounded. Portsmouth boss John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent: "I thought we played so well in the first half and didn't manage to put it to bed in the second. "I think the boys had nerves with the severity of the occasion and how important it was to pick up the three points. "It's a brilliant achievement but it's the next building block for where we need to go as a football club. We need to establish ourselves here now; we will go again and improve from where we have been this season. "Survival hasn't quite sunk in for me yet because of the emotion of the game. I will definitely have a beer tonight though! " Watford boss Tom Cleverley told BBC Radio Three Counties: "The sending off was a complete guess from the referee. "This level of football when you make a big decision you have to get it right. Kevin (Keben) gets the ball and it's a really disappointing decision. "We seem to be suffering a lot of red cards and in a hostile environment here I think he has sided with the home side. "We must play well in our last two games to finish the season well, it's been a really tough period. "I don't think there is enough consequences at this club for not doing your job at times; some people deserved to come off today. I'll be much more demanding in the next two weeks for sure. " Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 21st April 2025 at 19: 27 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: John Mousinho Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Tom Cleverley Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: John Mousinho Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Tom Cleverley Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Portsmouth have won each of their last four home league games against Watford, since 1-0 loss at Fratton Park in April 2002. After winning the reverse fixture 2-1 back in December, Watford are looking to claim a first league double over Portsmouth since the 2001-02 season. Portsmouth are unbeaten across their last 10 league games played on Easter Monday (W7 D3), since a 4-2 loss at Vicarage Road against Watford in 2007. Watford are winless across their last seven away league games played on Easter Monday (D4 L3), conceding 2+ goals in five of those matches. Portsmouth have won four of their last six home league games (D1 L1), with each of those wins at Fratton Park coming via a one-goal margin. Match ends, Portsmouth 1, Watford 0. Second Half ends, Portsmouth 1, Watford 0. Foul by Imrân Louza (Watford). Kusini Yengi (Portsmouth) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Imrân Louza (Watford). Christian Saydee (Portsmouth) wins a free kick on the right wing. Corner, Portsmouth. Conceded by Egil Selvik. Attempt saved. Christian Saydee (Portsmouth) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Freddie Potts. Attempt saved. Callum Lang (Portsmouth) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Christian Saydee. Callum Lang (Portsmouth) is shown the yellow card. Tom Ince (Watford) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Callum Lang (Portsmouth). James Abankwah (Watford) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Kusini Yengi (Portsmouth). Offside, Portsmouth. Isaac Hayden is caught offside. Attempt blocked. Jeremy Ngakia (Watford) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by James Abankwah. Foul by Jeremy Ngakia (Watford). Matt Ritchie (Portsmouth) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Fourth official has announced 10 minutes of added time. Offside, Portsmouth. Kusini Yengi is caught offside. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.