Ipswich Town 1-0 Birmingham City

By Blake Peterson (Bloggin’ The Blues)

In a match where neither team really shone, Ipswich Town took all the points thanks to a solitary Daryl Murphy tap-in.

Murphy rolled the ball into Darren Randolph’s net from little over a yard towards the end of the first half to condemn Birmingham to their 15^th league defeat of the season.

For the duration of the 90 minutes neither team had any real spells of dominance however it was Blues who had the better opportunities to lead early on, Federico Macheda going through on goal before being tackled and Lee Novak also fired wide from a decent position.

But the Tractor Boys took the lead on 38 minutes when Frank Nouble’s low cross evaded everyone but Murphy at the back post to tap in from close range.

A misjudged pass back by returning defender Jonathan Spector gave Ipswich a chance to increase their lead early in the second half but Randolph saved smartly from Paul Taylor.

A point would have been a fair result on Saturday and Novak could and should have made sure Blues went home with one. In an attack almost a carbon copy of Ipswich’s goal, substitute Chris Burke fired the ball across the goal mouth with Novak firing over from a couple of yards out.

Blues gaffer Lee Clark made a host of changes for the game despite the 2-1 success at Blackpool a week previous, with returns to the starting eleven for Aaron Martin, Caddis – in an unusual right wing role – and Nikola Zigic, but the team didn’t really get going, for which Clark has received some criticism.

The win leaves struggling Birmingham in 17^th position in the Sky Bet Championship, nine points clear of the relegation zone.

Birmingham boss Lee Clark: “We were a little toothless. We didn’t have enough quality. The defence was solid and we stood up to a big physical team in Ipswich.

“We did the ugly stuff well but we didn’t do enough when we had possession. We lacked that quality and I don’t think we deserved anything from the game.”

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy: “I think it was the right result – just. But I don’t think we dominated Birmingham by any stretch of the imagination.

“They made it difficult for us. They pressed from their half but we kept at it and I was delighted to see the front three players involved in the goal”

Starting line up:

Randolph; Spector, Packwood, Martin, Robinson; Caddis (Ibe 46), Lee, Huws, Novak (Howard 78), Macheda (Burke 58), Zigic.

Subs not used: Doyle, Shinnie, Adeyemi, Blackett.

Man of the Match: Darren Randolph