Bristol-born midfielder Clarke was teed up to bury a sweet half volley by pal Eliot Richards and gave Rovers the lead five minutes before the break. He then revealed:
"I ran towards my Mum and Dad when I scored. My Dad is always winding me up by asking if there's any chance of me hitting the target and things like that, so this will keep him quiet. He'll think it's quite special though and will keep me grounded."
Rookie Clarke, 21, has already had to overcome a cruciate injury and knows how lucky he is to still be at the club. He explained:
"There were about seven or eight of us who signed on the same day in 2009 and only Eliot and I are still here. It's a good he set it up because we've got a sort of bond. The lads even hammer us about having a bit of a 'bro-mance' going!
"I was injured in August 2011and my contract ran out at the end of that season. Paul Buckle was manager, but Mark McGhee took over gave me another contract and John Ward has now given me my chance in the first team."
My piece from this morning's paper
Battling striker David Clarkson sealed the win in the 77th minute.
Midfielder Oliver Norburn left Pompey flat-footed with a defence splitting pass and Clarkson darted into the left side of the box before burying his fourth goal of the campaign from twelve yards.
Clarkson and Norburn combine for the second goal
Rovers manager John Ward said:
"It was a really good team performance and it would be wrong to single out players because they all did well. The attitude from the team was absolutely spot on. Two great strikes and two good saves from their keeper put us in a good position to win the game."
Portsmouth have now lost two games since Richie Barker took charge and the former Crawley boss already has an eye on January's transfer window. He blasted:
"Too many players are going through the motions for me and not doing the right things. There's no point hiding - they've got 10 days to save their Portsmouth careers. They are where they are because they don't do the right things.If you can't change the mindset of some people, you've got to change the people."
"I'm not sure the players recognise how lucky they are to be playing for such a good club. If you can't change the mindset of some people, you've got to change the people."
Portsmouth keeper Trevor Carson had kept his side in the hunt with three great saves early in the second half - the one below from a Clarkson free kick.
Carson shows his class
In the 53rd minute Carson acrobatically turned a Clarkson twenty yard free kick past his post at full stretch and six minutes later he beat away a twelve yard drive from striker Richards.
Carson then did well to get down to another deflected shot from Norburn.
Both teams had chances to score before the break.
Rovers keeper Steve Mildenhall saved a low deflected shot from winger Jed Wallace and Clarkson cracked a shot against the Pompey bar with Carson beaten.
My piece from the Sunday paper
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