First-half goals from Daryl Murphy and Jay Tabb saw the Blues to an impressive 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough at Portman Road to return to second in the Championship. Murphy netted a rebound from close range in the 25th minute and Tabb headed home the second deep into first-half injury time.

Jonny Parr replaced Tyrone Mings at left-back in an otherwise unchanged Town side. Mings missed out with an infected toe, along with Noel Hunt who took a knock in training. Former Blues skipper Grant Leadbitter started for the visitors.

Tommy Smith headed an early Paul Anderson freekick not far wide as the Blues started the stronger.

Anderson went close to opening the scoring in the 12th minute when he latched onto Murphy’s header on the right, lobbed a defender as he cut in but looped his left-foot shot over.

The Teessiders first threatened in the 14th minute but Daniel Ayala’s header flew well wide of Bartosz Bialkowski’s goal.

On 21 Boro striker Jelle Vossen was booked for blocking an Anderson freekick with his hands at a distance of only around six yards. The subsequent freekick was laid short to McGoldrick, who lashed well over.

The Blues went ahead in the 25th minute with Murphy once again the man on the scoresheet. Teddy Bishop played a clever pass down the left to Tabb, who cut the ball back to McGoldrick 10 yards out.

Boro keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos stopped his low shot with his toe, but Murphy slammed home his 14th goal of the season from the edge of the six-yard box.

Three minutes after the goal Boro defender Ken Omeruo was booked for tripping Anderson and then McGoldrick as the Blues broke.

Boro were exceptionally fortunate to avoid conceding a penalty in the 38th minute when McGoldrick cut inside Omeruo, who tripped to the Town striker.

It looked the most blatant of blatant spotkicks but incredibly referee James Linington gave a freekick against McGoldrick and booked him for diving, much to the frontman’s amazement.

Had Omeruo been penalised the on-loan Chelsea man would almost certainly have been shown a second yellow card.

Boro, who had been somewhat underwhelming throughout the opening period, weren’t too far from an equaliser when Albert Adomah glanced Adam Reach’s left-wing cross wide.

Deep in injury time, moments before the referee’s whistle, the Blues increased their lead.

After an exchange of passes also involving skipper Luke Chambers and McGoldrick, Bishop, who had been outstanding throughout the half, whipped over a cross from the right and smallest-man-on-the-pitch Tabb threw himself between the Boro centre-halves to power home a superb header.

The two-goal lead was the least the Blues deserved after a half which they had dominated.

The third goal which might have come had referee Linington awarded what was a clear penalty when McGoldrick - who along with Murphy had given the Boro backline a very difficult 45 minutes - was fouled.

At the other end, Boro, who could well have been down to 10 men after that incident, had rarely threatened Bialkowski’s goal.

Boro replaced Adomah with Lee Tomlin at half-time and four minutes after the restart Chambers headed an Anderson freekick straight at Konstantopoulos.

In the 51st minute George Friend played a one-two and broke into the area but scuffed his shot to Bialkowski. Two minutes later Cole Skuse was replaced by Kevin Bru, the former Bristol City man having picked up a knock.

The Teessiders had started the half on the front foot and created an opening in the 54th minute when Bamford found Reach in space on the left. The midfielder’s low cross found Vossen, who flicked the ball across goal but to no one and Tabb cleared.

Omeruo astonishingly avoided a second yellow card for a second time in the 62nd minute when he felled Bishop as the youngster broke through at pace as he latched onto a McGoldrick pass. Much to the continued frustration of the Town players and crowd, referee Linington gave the freekick but kept his cards in his pocket.

While the Blues prepared to take the freekick Boro manager Aitor Karanka sensibly removed Omeruo, replacing him with Milos Veljkovic. Kike also took over from Vossen.

On 64, Christophe Berra headed a Reach effort from distance out of the six-yard box with Bialkowski out of his ground. The ball looked to be going wide in any case.

Town were twice within a whisker of making it 3-0 in the 70th minute when Leadbitter cleared Murphy’s header from Tabb’s left-sided corner off the line. The loose ball fell to Smith but his shot across goal struck the foot of the post and bounced away from Berra.

Darren Ambrose replaced the tiring but excellent Bishop in the 71st minute prior to ex-Norwich defender Daniel Ayala hooking a corner well over for the visitors, who had shown more fight after the break but had never seriously tested Bialkowski.

Anderson shot just wide from distance on 77, then two minutes later McGoldrick chested the ball to Ambrose who also hit an effort wide from well out.

After Kike had flicked Reach’s cross from the left wide, Parr turning the ball out at the far post, Conor Sammon replaced Anderson, who looked to have suffered a knock. From the corner, Friend headed well wide.

As the game entered its final three minutes Friend was booked for a foul on Bru. Ambrose hit a powerful, low 30-yard freekick but Konstantoulos was equal to it.

In injury time, Tomlin shot straight at Bialkowski but the Blues weren’t to be denied their eighth home win of the season and second place in the table going into Christmas.

The victory was never in any real doubt once Tabb had netted his brilliant first goal of the season just before the break.

Town had been well on top in the first half - when they might have been three in front had they been awarded the penalty - and comfortably repelled Boro’s second-half fightback with Bialkowski rarely significantly tested.

Given the quality of the opposition and their previous record on the road, the result is as good as any achieved by the Blues this season and Mick McCarthy’s side look more and more like serious promotion challengers with every game that passes.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Parr, Smith, Berra, Skuse (Bru 46), Bishop (Ambrose 71), Tabb, Anderson, Murphy, McGoldrick. Unused: Gerken, Clarke, S Hunt, Bajner.

Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Ayala, Omeruo (Veljkovic 62), Friend, Reach, Clayton, Leadbitter, Adomah, Vossen (Kike 62), Bamford. Unused: Mejias, Gibson, Kike, Tomlin, Whitehead, Wildschut. Referee: James Linington (Newport, IoW). Att: 21,187. (Boro: 1,111).

Photo: Action Images

wokingblue added 17:54 - Dec 20 Ipswich Town ........... Dare to dream ...
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eastwell_blue added 17:59 - Dec 20 Lord Mac - sorry to hear about the kidney infection - is that why you managed to find a stream?
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kaimcneil added 18:04 - Dec 20 Defence was amazing again, Bart was a stand out figure for me, his positioning is the best ive seen in a gk for ipswich in some time. Keep it going town!
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carlo88 added 18:11 - Dec 20 I'm glad Bournemouth won, hope we stay second all season. Keeps the hype and expectation down. We are the real deal though aren't we. Thank you Mick.
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martleshamitfc added 18:14 - Dec 20 Great win, terrible referee, Mcgoldrick was clearly tripped and then ref. failed to send off Omeruo... Amazing! Bishop's two passes for the goals were brilliant, well played.
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karls_dad added 18:19 - Dec 20 Great result, the team played their socks off! but as for the ref? oh my word he was awful! Boro were kicking into us all the time, he just let it happen, and as for the not given penalty, what was he thinking? End of the day we did the job! great feeling to be a town fan again!!
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neillrumsey added 18:20 - Dec 20 Excellent performance and excellent win against decent opposition. Defence were superb especially Bart who commended his area so well and claimed a couple of tricky crosses under pressure. Bishop again showed real quality and Skuse turned in what for me was his best of the season. I often criticise Tabb not for his work but passing and end product. Today his cross for the first was as good as Bishop's for the second and his header was well taken. Didsy first class should have had a pen but a real handful. Murph quieter game but produced the goods in front of goal. Sorry but Anderson for me is poor. As a winger he can't get passed his full back, he cant tackle and is slow. He should have scored when put clean through late on but fluffed his lines then went off. IMO not good enough for this level his second touch is always a tackle. Big negative for me the Ref who was as bad as I've seen. Great game great win role on Brentford.. COYB

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Blue041273 added 18:21 - Dec 20 The football played in the build up to both goals was pure class. If you have to be critical we should have had more but hey it's Christmas let's enjoy it. Happy Christmas to all on here.
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toxtethblue added 18:27 - Dec 20 I know there are no easy games in this league and you cant let your guard down against anyone but we've only got 5 more games against current top 6 sides and 3 of those are at home...
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afrodids added 18:28 - Dec 20 What a great result. We played some great football. What a great squad MM has ensembled. Bart is great he takes so much pressure off the defence by coming for any high balls into the box and being quick off his line to clear Danger. Solid at the back again. Skuse goes off and bru comes on and plays better. Tabb was great tiday, the bish is different class as is Didz altho I think he needs to release the ball sometimes he's a bit greedy and as for murph he just scores when he wants. Nearly forgot Ando he was superb his delivery into the box is first class. Happy happy blue boy tonight. Top 2 and 7 points ahead of the scum in 7th. Merry Christmas everyone.

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oddball added 18:29 - Dec 20 Fab :-) bring on Brentford!
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Bluebongo added 18:39 - Dec 20 Agree with most of the comments on to-days great win, Bish,Didzy &Tabby were outstanding, but so was Jonny Parr, not bad for a stand in left-back.
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airliner added 18:42 - Dec 20 Mick and Terry what a Managerial Masterpiece, they get what other teams can't get. It's like Heineken they reach the heights that others can't. This is is a good team , whatever they are doing in training is working, but if we have a bad result lets not get despondent. If we stay second all season I will be happy. It's a poisoned chalice being top!
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StochesStotasBlewe added 18:44 - Dec 20 Well done ALL. Tactics today for me were spot on. We made a very good "Boro side look average. Our midfield was tenacious in the tackle, constantly harried them & aside from a spell early 2nd half dominated the middle of the pitch. Two well worked goals, a stonewall penalty turned down by a dreadful ref & several baffling decisions for both teams plus other good scoring opportunities ensured an entertaining 90 minutes. The vino will be devoured with a big smile on tonight. Happy Christmas fellow blues. Lets hope for our return to the promised land in the new year.

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buntITFC added 18:54 - Dec 20 What a performance from the boys this afternoon. We made one of the best sides in the division look impotent with the way we played today. Could easily have been 3-0 too and they should have had 10 men. Teddy Bishop is one of our own, he ran the midfield today and was fantastic. Parr was also excellent filling in for Mings at Left Back. We really do have an excellent squad! Merry Christmas

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buntITFC added 18:59 - Dec 20 Also, a goal from a midfielder!! Hallelujah. And Tabby no less. Great leap.
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ArnieM added 19:01 - Dec 20 I want to say Tabb is worth his weight in gold. But he's worth MUCH more than that. Our little ankle biter was bloody awesome today.
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Langdon_Blue added 19:08 - Dec 20 Loved the result, the way we played, the showboating, the fact that I no longer sit in fear of us conceding a bad goal (keeper and Smith mix up aside). Defo penalty, shame we hit the post, Boro' should have been down to 10 men and couldn have lost this by 4 easily. If that's the toughest team we'll face this year then get your party poppers ready this Summer. COYB's Awesome and professional performance!

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warktheline added 19:15 - Dec 20 The Dark Lord has departed... May the force continue to be with us! The deluded one is now delirious.
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ozzie added 19:15 - Dec 20 I do believe goal difference will be the factor at the end of the season.
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airliner added 19:15 - Dec 20 Yes it's great lets keep our feet on the ground , Brentford next who knows this is such a great Xmas present !
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thebeat added 19:20 - Dec 20 Thankyou boys for making me fall in love with football again!!
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TimmyH added 19:24 - Dec 20 Great result without a doubt! - thought Boro would have proven our biggest test of the season at home but have to say the first half performance we just owned them! and thereafter just comfortably saw the game out some good all round performances particularly in midfield, Tabb, Bish, Anderson and even Skuse played well. Fell a bit sorry for Leadboots (he was obviously away with the fairies after last weeks penalty against Derby) and now has been brought down to earth and had another disappointing day at Portman Road :) Well done all (once again) - another big test against the surprise package this season Brentford but another 3 points would make Xmas complete. COYB!

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KiwiTractor added 19:40 - Dec 20 Wow ..... agree with TimmyH, from what I have seen I thought Boro have been one of the best in the Division this season, if not the best.... until today!. So what a feeling to see that we won comfortably, dominated much of the game, could have scored more, kept a clean sheet and some great performances all over the park! Glorious. Confidence is an amazing thing. Merry Christmas to all.

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BlueandTruesince82 added 19:42 - Dec 20 Suggest we all offer up a prayer of thanks to the cornerstones of our religion Sir Alf and Sir Bobby. Awaiting Aitor Karankas verdict of us no doubt being physical etc. Boro are a really good looking side. FPR is becoming the power it once was again. Bournemouth look awesome atm. We will do well to topple them
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