Jordan Clark (right) was the first Luton player to score a goal in league victory goal since the win over Derby County on 20 December
Luton Town climbed off the bottom of the Championship as Jordan Clark's first-half strike earned victory over Portsmouth and ended a miserable 12-game winless run.
Clark started and finished a delightful counter-attack, scoring from close range following some smart work by Jacob Brown, to give manager Matt Bloomfield his first win in his ninth game in charge.
Pompey, who had moved nine points clear of the relegation zone following three successive wins, were second best throughout and only managed one attempt on target - a Connor Ogilvie header.
The defender should have rescued a point in the closing stages, but wasted a glorious chance when he somehow headed over over from six yards with the goal gaping.
Had Ogilvie got his radar right from substitute Christian Saydee's inviting right-wing cross and secured a point, it would have have been a gut-wrenching end to a gutsy performance by the hosts.
But Luton held on, surviving a nervy six minutes of stoppage time, to go up to 22nd in the table - and to within two points of safety as they attempt to avoid back-to-back relegations.
Clark's goal came just after the midpoint of the first half and was a deserved reward for an impressive opening 45 minutes.
An angled Alfie Doughty shot almost doubled the lead before the break, but Pompey improved on the resumption - having more possession and threatening with a couple of blocked shots.
The Hatters withstood the pressure, however, keeping the visitors at bay through a combination of disciplined defending and total commitment, while they were convinced they should have been given the chance to wrap up the points from the penalty spot when Clark seemed to be tripped by Regan Poole.
But Clark's fourth goal of the season - and Ogilvie's miss - was enough for Luton to avoid matching their longest winless run in the English Football League (EFL) since a 13-match sequence between January and March 2008.
'The result will build belief' - reaction
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"It is a relief to get the first one [win]. It has been too long. It isn't what I wanted when I joined but it was lovely to share that moment with the supporters at the end.
"This result doesn't dissipate the disappointment of recent weeks, that is going to drive us on, but it will build belief.
"If you look at recent home games we have started games fast and it is the same today. Getting the first goal proved to be a decisive moment.
"I didn't think there were going to be too many goals in it today so to get ahead and give ourselves something to defend was what we needed. I thought the character and discipline in the second half was fantastic."
Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent:
"It is difficult to sum up really. There was very little in the game. We killed ourselves in the first-half, I thought we were dreadful.
"I didn't think we did the basics right. The thing that sums up the first half is after about five minutes one of our central midfielders is on a booking for a ridiculous challenge and we are giving away free-kick after free-kick, it is a 180 [degree turn] of the gameplan.
"The attitude wasn't right. We were much better in the second half but it was too late. It was far from good enough.
"I don't think we were getting torn apart by a side that did anything extraordinary, we just made horrendous decisions. The goal came from our free-kick.
"Today was a massive opportunity to put a bit of daylight between us and the bottom three and we decided not to take it."
