Blues boss Paul Jewell felt his side thoroughly deserved their 1-0 victory over West Ham at Upton Park with former Hammer Lee Bowyer netting a late winner. The result was an early birthday present for Jewell, who celebrates his 47th birthday on Wednesday.

Jewell said: “I thought in the first half we were terrific, we passed the ball really well. Chops had a good opportunity and we’ve hit the inside of the post.

“Obviously they were always going to be a threat from set pieces and stuff, but I thought we really passed the ball well in the first half and should have gone in ahead. In the second half we weren’t quite as fluid but we dug in and were resilient.”

The Blues boss says Upton Park is somewhere he enjoys visiting: “It’s quite strange, when I was at Wigan, we used to beat West Ham most times here and they used to always beat us at home.

“It’s a great place to come and play football. It’s a lovely stadium, it’s a passionate ground. We knew we had to do a job on the crowd first and try and keep the ball and try and make them impatient. Credit to our players, I thought in the first half we were terrific.”

Jewell, whose side are up to 11th but on the same points as Peterborough in seventh, was pleased with the way his team kept going to the final whistle, despite most of them having played a lot of football over the last week: “It’s three games in eight days and it’s been the same team.

“Football’s a funny old game, as they say, and confidence is there. A month ago we looked bereft of ideas. We looked as if we couldn’t pick our feet up. We’ve had a little bit of a change of fortune and the players are full of confidence.”

The Town manager says Bowyer has a good goals record against his old club: “I think I read in the programme Mark Noble saying that Lee Bowyer has a habit of scoring against West Ham. It was obviously a great moment for him getting his first goal for us.

“In the first half I was expecting the one that hit the post to go in. You start to wonder if it’s going to be your night, but we kept going and on the break we had some good situations that we didn’t make the most of, but fair play to the players, I thought we deserved the win tonight.”

The clean sheet was Town’s third in a row, the first time they have achieved such a run since March 2005 when they beat Nottingham Forest 6-0, Cardiff City 1-0 and then drew 0-0 with Gillingham.

Jewell was full of praise for his two new centre-halves: “They’ve been terrific, Sonko and Danny Collins. You know what you’re going to get out of them — honesty.

“It’s a tough place to come. Carlton Cole and then John Carew on as substitute, they’re a handful and we did really well. We’re not the biggest team in the world and I was pleased with that side of the game as well.”

Overall, the Town manager was looking forward to Wednesday’s birthday celebrations: “It’s a great birthday present, it’ll make the 40th tomorrow very happy!”

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was angry that his side conceded their fourth late goal of the season but admitted his team were second best, particularly in the first half.

Allardyce says the Blues are the best team the Hammers have played so far and expects them to be in the shake-up come May: “For two years now they’ve spent a lot of money. What was it £18-£20 million that Roy spent in his first year?

“Jagger [Jewell] hasn’t spent that much but like myself has picked up some good experienced players that have got a lot of experience in the Premier League.

“They came together very nicely in the Coventry game and at Middlesbrough, and certainly today they’ve punished us.

“I think they’re as good a side as we’ve met, I have to say, even though we were poor and I was disappointed with the way we played. Some of that you have to put down to how well Ipswich played.”

Photo: Action Images

dan_itfc55 added 08:46 - Sep 28 Superb result! - I was in the West Ham end.. Bobby Moore lower by the corner flag... was so hard no to jump up and scream when we scored - but if i had of i think i'd have been leaving in an ambulance!!! Well deserved win... And it just had to be Bowyer that scored!!!
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Help added 08:55 - Sep 28 Happy Birthday PJ
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brian_a_mul added 08:56 - Sep 28 A fantastic win against one of the top teams. 7pts from 9 is a great return in 8 days with the same team. Brighton lost 1-3 at home last night and certainly wont fancy coming up against us! The team is starting to gel and the defence looks so solid, now we just need to get Chops back in goal scoring form!
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brittaniaman added 08:59 - Sep 28 WHY is it that the last 3 teams we have played, there managers have turned round and said we were off form and below par ?? they would not admit that Ipswich were good and that is why they were below par hey !! come on give us some credit please.
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brittaniaman added 09:06 - Sep 28 My remark above was said before I read what big Sam had to say
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itfc1981 added 09:18 - Sep 28 ^^^ made me laugh
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Sibelius8 added 09:24 - Sep 28 A magnificent result and such a pleasure to witness, our first half display was arguably our best performance for years. It's amazing, but depressingly predictable, that the London Press (Evening Standard) described the game thus: "A first half that lacked any real quality.......things failed to improve after the restart but Ipswich stole all three points in the dying minutes......"

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ventilator added 09:27 - Sep 28 Predicted 0-0 for this one, and it looked like that was what was what it was going to be. Great to get a goal near the end - COYB !!
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roytheboy added 09:33 - Sep 28 Have a good Birthday Paul, you deserve it, the team is playing some super football now, well done.
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cornishnick added 09:39 - Sep 28 Fantastic. My only worry though is that possibly our 3 best players - Andrews, Stockdale and Collins are only on loan
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simplesuffolkfarmer1 added 10:00 - Sep 28 victory will happen- your the hooligan
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fourth added 10:13 - Sep 28 Last minute winner. Sign of a good team!
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Rossm added 10:19 - Sep 28 Playing well... winning.... clean sheets, can you ask for anymore? make the loans full time and we can have a real crack of getting to the big time i feel! great win, even better when you deserve it!
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26_Paz added 10:24 - Sep 28 Well done Town and Happy Birthday PJ from all at the Ipswich Punishment Squad
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austractor added 10:24 - Sep 28 Happy Birthday Paul, thanks for turning this club on its head and putting some hope back in the stands.
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StowTractorBoy added 10:24 - Sep 28 Really pleased for Lee Bowyer last night and not just for hitting the woodwork and scoring. Perhaps the knockers of a couple of weeks back will leave the guy alone now. Terrific result as I would have taken a point before the match. Sonko and Collins definitely the answer to our past defensive problems. Long may it continue - really looking forward to Saturday now.

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bluelady added 10:34 - Sep 28 Cornish nick aren't Collins and Andrews with a view to a perm deal? Surely if so they will be desperate to sign if we carry on like this.. stockdale will be replaced next season my guess is by Loach just a hunch
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Essexnblue added 10:44 - Sep 28 Great result, best we have played away for years. We now have a spine to our team and confidence was high last night. Incidentally anyone know how many supporters we had there last night, it was loud and very very proud. A couple of there supporters said to me on the way out-best team we have played home or away, by a mile. COYB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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johnwarksshorts added 10:44 - Sep 28 Happy birthday PJ. Now for more of these performances!! Onwards and hopefully upwards. Bring on the seagulls!!
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bluenut added 10:52 - Sep 28 Well done lads. I said after the Coventry game that if we pick up at least 4 points from the next 4 game i'd be surprised! Very very happy with 4 from 2, happy days, go get at least another 4 from the next 2. Happy Birthday Paul, knew you'd turn it around. Blue Army
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IvorFeeling added 11:08 - Sep 28 Have just seen the highlights (all about 1 minute) but the most telling aspect of it was that all 10 outfield players celebrated LB's goal. This demonstrates a togetherness and a desire to play and celebrate as a team. Bring on Saturday as the team are now flying.
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bluetractor73 added 11:27 - Sep 28 Fantastic result would have been happy with one point but all three was execellent happy birthday pj
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Paulc added 12:09 - Sep 28 I'll get me coat! I have stated in previous posts that I was not convinced of the PJ appointment, and whilst I have not been one of the "idiots" calling for his head, I have aired the odd frustration. I am convinced that the secret to the current success is that we have found some stability. One great result (Coventry) then being able to field the same team for the next two games has clearly helped not just performance but team harmony and an "I've got your back" mentality. We will never know, and it may prove irrelevent, but I wonder what the start of the season would have looked like if the same team that beat Bristol City 3-0 had started versus Northampton in the league cup rather than the 9 changes we saw. Keep the stability, keep the loan signings, find a RB (before carlos does some bird:-)). COYB

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Bluemania added 12:27 - Sep 28 Well done boys another great game, I work with a West Ham fan, he's not in a very good mood today I wonder why!!!
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alfromcol added 12:29 - Sep 28 Great to be at Upton Park last night and be part of the support. Great atmosphere, at the end you would have thought we had won the cup. Best performance from a Town side for a very long time, we should fear no one in this league with this set of players. Haven't enjoyed a better result since we won the cup and score late on against Arsenal. Still need a right back and a keeper.

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