Blues boss Paul Jewell felt his side deserved their 1-0 home win against Barnsley and was frustrated that the margin of victory wasn’t larger with scorer Daryl Murphy and Lee Martin both missing good chances.

Jewell said: “I think we deserved it. I think we should have been out of sight. We missed three or four gilt-edged chances at 1-0 and we nearly paid the price.

“I think sometimes we get a little bit too cocky when things are going well. We’ve had two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper and not hit the target.

“We fully deserved it but because our lack of ruthlessness or not being clinical enough we’ve ended up having to rely on Arran to make a really good save not so far from the end.

“On the balance of play I thought we were the better team, but I’m a little bit disappointed that we didn’t see them off.”

The Blues boss is pleased that his side have continued their good run, stretching their home unbeaten record to eight matches and having lost only twice in 13 overall.

He says it’s important to keep that up with one eye already on the 2011/12 campaign: “The end of the season is important because whatever happens this season, hopefully if you can have a good finish, it can keep up the momentum towards next season.

“We’re delighted to win 1-0 but if our standards are going to be higher, and we want them to be, we’ve got to just make sure we don’t over-elaborate.

“At times I think we can be over-elaborate when there’s no need to, complicate the game when there’s no need to, and like today we’re waiting for that final whistle.”

But overall, after completing March’s marathon of eight fixtures having picked up 15 points and only losing once, Jewell is pleased with his squad, particularly their form at Portman Road: “I think the players deserve terrific credit because they’ve won six out of the last seven home games and up until then we have been very edgy at home.

“We were quite flat in the first half, started the second half really well and got the goal. We should have been three or four up, didn’t take our chances and Barnsley are a good team, they’ve got good footballers and they were always going to push us back.”

Scorer Daryl Murphy was pleased to net for the fourth time since rejoining the Blues on loan from Celtic: "I was delighted with the goal and it was a good win for us.

"Chops played me in with a great pass and I managed to hold off the defender before firing into the corner.

"I actually thought it was going to come back off the post, but thankfully it went it and I think overall we were worthy of the win."

Tykes boss Keith Hill also thought Town deserved the win: “To be honest, it would have been harsh on the opposition [if Barnsley had equalised] with the way they started the second half. They huffed and puffed themselves in the first half, a lot of long distance speculative shots at goal, nothing really got through.

“But the way they started the second half and the way we started was disappointed from our aspect, but obviously encouraging for Ipswich’s point of view.

“The manner in which they scored the goal was disappointing from a defensive point of view, but after that, on the counter-attack, maybe they should have sealed it more comfortably.

“I can’t be too disappointed with the courage that my players showed, the endeavour, the effort and the commitment, but we’re not making good decisions in the final third, and that’s obvious, especially away from home.”

Photo: Action Images

buryblue77 added 11:00 - Apr 1 Dissboy, thanks. I try to think about what I want to see from Ipswich and it's success. Success is measured by points, which is gained from wins. On contrast of what I had said about Man Utd winning ugly (and Chelsea used to do that under Mourinho) how many times have teams been relegated playing pretty football. I remember agreeing with a couple of Nodger mates of mine when they were in the Prem last time round, how they had played some really good stuff, but just couldn't see games out and hence they were relegated. The same could be said about some teams in the Championship and I don't want us to be the team who gets relegated playing attacking football, but losing because we get caught on the break. I feel like I'm just repeating myself about these hard ground out wins when they happen, over and over, just using different words, but as you say, history will only reflect the result, not how well a team played. And as for Murph, I only hope we sign him on a permanent deal in the summer, he's totally the opposite of what we have in JET playing on the other side, but he's an unsung hero, as you say. Our own version of Dirk Kyut but he plays on the left.

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Ebantiass added 11:00 - Apr 1 Three points are three points so Im delighted with the win. Our home form is picking up and we could yet have a say in the play off race. Well done town and Jewell and the players. Not too sloppy a turnout yesterday either . Well done to the blue army.
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bluelady added 12:07 - Apr 1 Diss and Bury spot on re Murphy, his level of fitness is excellent too, we were watching him yesterday and the guy marking him was huffing and puffing trying to keep Murphs under control, Murphy in contrast was not looking like he had broken sweat! He is a strong player and the comment someone made about him having a quiet game (the same poster having a go at others football knowledge) was ridiculous, he worked very hard, but as you say often off the ball, creating space annoying defenders and showing a real strength. I like the stark contrast of him and jet works well IMO. Not a classic win yesterday but two losses in 13 Is the stat I'm going to quote :-)

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Garv added 12:28 - Apr 1 I don't mind keep ball, by all means pass it around and don't let them have it. But one man on his own trying to shield the ball in the corner is not keep ball. It just annoyed me that's all, I don't think we'd have seen such things in Burley or even Jim's days in such a game.
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Dissboyitfc added 12:32 - Apr 1 Thanks bluelady and buryblue....Another thing about murphy is he compilments Cresswell very well and When as in the first half as was the case yesterday, cresswell had by his own high standards a below par showing( silly little mistakes, a poor first touch) Which he is entitled to, Murphy was carrying out his defence duties, covering for Cresswell. Cresswell is imo a quality player and a fantastic signing. Murphy is not as appreciated by some as he should be. I really rate carson, but as a complete player Murphy offers so much more to the team....Coyb

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buryblue77 added 12:33 - Apr 1 Bluelady, re the Murphy comments, spot on. Some people think that to be a good players it's all about how many players can you dribble past and how many step-overs along the way. I used to think like that, when I was five! Now you watch a game played as a whole, and you can only really see that at a match, as on TV you don't see the players who make space off the ball, timing intelligent runs etc.... as the focus tends to be about what's happening around a ten metre radius of the ball. I don't get along to nearly as many matches as I'd like due to working commitments, but having played football (at a very low local level I admit) I have an understanding of what needs to happen to bring your own players into play and dragging opposition players away from where you want the ball to go. At the level I've played at I suppose I am similar to Murphy, but a bit less energy and a bit more weight!!!

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bluelady added 12:35 - Apr 1 Garv its a tactic many teams use, understand your frustration if ten mins to go but it was right at the end and in fact the guys behind me all shouted take it to the corner let's just see this game out.......
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village_blue added 12:35 - Apr 1 Agree Murphy very much an unsung hero, he does a lot of good work for the sake of the team, football is not just putting the ball in the net although he was the one who did that yesterday.
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stu_ward27 added 23:12 - Apr 1 Murphy is a decent player, who has been very consistent throughout the season, he just had a quiet game on Saturday! And saturday did show why we need a new number 1, I never feel confident when ALB is in goal! You could say it was all about the three points, but it wasn't a great performance in front of the legends, and it was hardly a performance to encourage fans to come back to portman road, I think that's what some people are getting at!

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Dissboyitfc added 08:02 - Apr 2 St_ward....some of the points you make are correct and indeed i think most of us are aware what some are getting at. The point i am getting at is this, 3 points a clean sheet and an ugly win, the type of games we need to win. Lets face it there havent been many 1-0 wins, had there been a couple more we would have indeed been right in the mix for the play offs. I can remember, not so long ago, games where we have played superbly for 60-70 mins only for the wheels to come off ie blackpool game. Winning and losing can be a mental state of mind, i want us to have a winning mentality, not at all costs though. Its nice that teams that will come to PR and not expect us to be a soft touch and walk away with all the points. Speaking of points, murphy scored and ALB( our second possibly third choice keeper come next season) made a superb stop to keep those points in tack, he did have a dodgy moment or two, remember there isnt the reserve games for the players these days, to keep up match sharpness, you cant beat playing. The guy has been a model pro, give a little credit where its due. We all know we need an established no 1....coyb

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roytheboy added 09:27 - Apr 2 Well done Barrett for some good saves which were all clearly crucial as we could only manage to score one goal, personally I felt Leadbitter played a very good game, I would like to see Murphy sign permanently and I think it's high time that we were able to see Bullard play again, he was brilliant at times last season, I find myself wondering if there are other issues with him that we are not being told about ?

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rickw added 16:26 - Apr 2 I agree with many others, Leadbitter kept the ball well, ALB made 2 brilliant saves but I was scared everytime he had to make a kick - as he can't!! JET + Martin both were good, but completely ran out of energy at the end, and for some reason we had no wingers (I mean Carson!) on the bench, so Martin had to stay on.... Looking at our fixtures I see no reason why we can't win them all - that would put us with a good chance of making the play-offs, 1 slip-up though and that'd be it

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