George Hirst bags brace as in-form Portsmouth cruise past Crewe

Portsmouth made it six wins from their last seven in impressive fashion at bottom club Crewe as two headers from George Hirst and a tap-in from Tyler Walker earned a 3-0 win.

Crewe’s dismal defending was soon exploited by Danny Cowley’s side with Hirst rising at the back stick to head home Connor Ogilvie’s cross for the third-minute opener.

Walker should have added a second after Dave Richards parried Ronan Curtis’ free-kick but he side-footed the loose ball straight at the Crewe keeper.

However, he could hardly miss as Crewe crumbled again under more pressure when Sean Raggett’s deflected shot was gloved by Richards into the path of the loan frontman at the back post in the 31st minute.

After the restart, a piece of quality from Ogilvie was thwarted by a fine save from Richards as the winger latched onto a Curtis free-kick to strike a sweet volley.

Richards then beat out a Hirst effort but could do nothing about his downward header from another Ogilvie delivery, which bounced into the top of the net for Portsmouth’s third after 66 minutes.

Chris Long’s close-range effort came back off the underside of the bar amid a goalmouth melee before the Crewe striker squeezed a stoppage-time consolation under Gavin Bazuna’s legs from a tight angle.