Portsmouth boss lauds 'perfect ending' as Blues end stunning season on a high at Lincoln

John Mousinho hailed the ‘perfect ending’ as Pompey bid farewell to League One with a victory.

Late goals from Myles Peart-Harris and Paddy Lane secured a 2-0 triumph at play-off hunting Lincoln.

It brought the curtain down on a magnificent title-winning campaign which saw the Blues amass a staggering 97 points.

And for Mousinho, Pompey’s impressive boss, it marked a fitting finale to a stunning season which has entered club folklore.

He told The News: ‘It feels like the perfect ending.

‘We’ve managed to go back into that dressing room with the group of players and I’m not moaning about the result, which is great.

‘I wouldn’t have done that anyway, but it was a characteristic performance of what we’ve been able to do this season.

‘And the other part of it, which was really pleasing, was we managed to bring in players who have hardly played at all this season and they fitted in and did superbly well.

‘Obviously we knew if we’d won we would be on 97 points, but to go and look at the league table and see us five points clear of Derby and 10 points clear of Bolton is brilliant.

‘The only disappointing thing is we didn’t get to 100, but you can’t have everything and we weren’t at it last week, But it was good to have a week back where everybody was settled down physically and mentally and at it again.

‘I’m delighted with the day’s work because, with everything that has gone on over the past 10-15 days at the football club and the highs we’ve had, we have been able to come back down to earth and prepare against a side which had everything to play for.’

Peart-Harris opened the scoring in the 81st minute with a first-time finish from Lane’s pass, before Lane wrapped it up after substitute Abu Kamara’s shot struck a post.

It ended Lincoln’s play-off hopes, while ensured the Blues finished the campaign having lost one of their final 19 matches.

Mousinho added: ‘To beat them in their own backyard was brilliant. It was a terrific game of football and one we thoroughly deserved to win.

‘We had a lot of control in the first half, although didn’t create a huge amount in the opening 30 minutes.

‘The second half was slightly different, Lincoln pressed us a bit higher and that opened up other opportunities at the other end of the football pitch.

‘That was part of our thinking in terms of bringing Christian, Abu and Kusini on, with that extra physicality to open them up.’