STEPHEN McLaughlin and Ronan Curtis played 90 minutes as their respective clubs earned valuable League One wins today.
McLaughlin, who hails from the Isle of Dough, was this week nominated for the PFA Player in the Community Award at the EFL Awards.
The former Finn Harps and Derry City winger played today as relegation-threatened Southend defeated Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium to end a 16-game winless run.
Southend had taken the lead through a superbly taken strike from Charlie Kelman early in the first-half only for Dion Charles to nod in an equaliser just six minutes later.
In the second half, the Sol Campbell-managed Southend were back ahead. Brandon Goodship was brought down by Jordan Clark, giving Jason Demetriou the chance to convert. Demetriou rolled the ball beyond Josef Bursik and it proved the winner.
Curtis and Portsmouth earned a narrow 1-0 win over struggling Bolton as Christian Burgess scored the only goal of the game.
Curtis was lively again for Pompey and went close to breaking the deadlock in the first half only to see a powerful shot blocked.
Burgess netted before the break, however, and while Bolton did threaten, Portsmouth maintained their push for the play-offs with a slender win.
