Ipswich Town 3-1 Birmingham City

Written By: The Bluenose Bible

Ipswich Town secured survival and maintained their status as the longest serving Championship side with a 3-1 win against Birmingham City to record five wins from six at home.

During the opening seconds of the match a strong tackle by Guirane N’Daw led to the ball popping, which coincidentally foreshadowed Birmingham’s bubble bursting minutes later.

Captain Carlos Edwards wasn’t closed down properly from 25 yards out and unleashed a stunning shot that nestled into the top corner of Jack Butland’s goal.

The longer the half went on, the more Blues looked like they were on their holidays and just ten minutes after the first poor marking by Clark’s side led to a free header for Luke Chambers to double Ipswich’s lead.

Birmingham’s only real chance on goal was a header into the net by Nikola Zigic which was subsequently ruled out for offside.

In similar fashion to the first, the second 45 minutes started with a lot of pressure from the hosts.

Daryl Murphy put the game beyond doubt with a fine turn and low driven shot from the edge of the box before the hour mark.

Nathan Redmond attempted to make the score more respectable with a couple of good runs and shots well saved by Scott Loach.

But the traveling fans did have something to cheer late on as substitute Chris Burke calmly slotted home from a Shane Ferguson cross.

This led to a conga formed by Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader and Mini Elvis at the front of the away end, proving that despite a poor result, the away fans had an enjoyable day out.

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy:

“I’m not really happy that we went round applauding our crowd because we’d stayed up, having been scrapping to avoid relegation.

“I’d prefer to go round thinking we’re in the play-offs. I didn’t enjoy that.

“But it was a lap of appreciation from us to them, for their support.”

Birmingham manager Lee Clark:

“In English football it’s all about playing with a high tempo, purpose and intensity.

“We were too flat to start with and that first-half performance is not what we’re about.

“I’m three stone overweight and even I could have gone out and played at that tempo.”

Man of the match: Frank Nouble