Colby Bishop’s goal earned Portsmouth a 1-0 win over 10-man Watford which sealed their safety in the Sky Bet Championship.
Pompey are six points clear of the drop zone with two games to play but, with Hull and Derby still to play each other, their status in the second tier is secure.
The hosts scored the only goal after 25 minutes through Bishop, who nodded the ball home from close range.
Watford were then reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute when Kevin Keben was sent off for bringing down Josh Murphy just outside the area.
Pompey got off to a bright start and carved their first chance after only four minutes as Bishop helped the ball on to Matt Ritchie who forced a smart double save out of Watford goalkeeper Egil Selvik.
The home side had a narrow escape in the 17th minute when the Hornets’ Tom Dele-Bashiru was found free but fired straight at goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid.
John Mousinho’s men took the lead in the 25th minute when Selvik could only parry Murphy’s cross on to Bishop’s head.
Selvik saved Bishop’s initial effort but Pompey’s star striker reacted quickest to head the loose ball home from point-blank range.
Watford, with nothing but pride to play for, slowly but surely worked their way into the contest and Schmid had to produce a superb save at full stretch to push Imran Louza’s 30-yard effort on to the crossbar.
Ritchie tested the reactions of Selvik at the start of the second half when the former Newcastle man saw his long-range effort pushed around the post two minutes after the interval.
Bishop should have doubled his tally when Freddie Potts put a wonderful cross straight onto his head only to be denied by another smart stop from the busy Selvik.
Watford continued to pose a threat and home defender Rob Atkinson pulled off a brilliant block to keep out Rocco Vata’s effort.
Murphy, one of Pompey’s star performers over the season, then set off on a 50-yard solo run before seeing his shot saved by Selvik.
The visitors’ hopes of a comeback looked over when they were reduced to 10 men as Keben was dismissed for taking out Murphy with a professional foul.
Bishop passed up another decent chance when he miscued a header as Pompey looked for the second goal to seal the precious points.
The match-winner would later be forced off injured along with Murphy, which will be a big concern for manager Mousinho ahead of the last two games of the season.
But that did not dampen the spirit at a sold-out Fratton Park as the south coast side held firm to secure their place in the Championship.
The managers
Portsmouth’s John Mousinho:
To follow…
Watford’s Tom Cleverley:
To follow…