Skipper Luke Chambers headed home an injury time winner as Town came from behind to beat QPR 2-1 at Portman Road. Junior Hoilett put the visitors in front in first-half injury time but Jonathan Douglas levelled on 77 before Chambers’s dramatic last-gasp winner.

Mick McCarthy named an unchanged team for the sixth successive match, while Luke Hyam was on the Blues bench for the first time this season having been recalled from his loan spell at Rotherham.

The visitors, who were without injured star striker Charlie Austin, included former Town man Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and ex-Blues loanee Massimo Luongo on the bench.

Town were first to threaten in the fifth minute, Ainsley Maitland-Niles feeding the overlapping Chambers to his right and the Blues’ skipper sending over a low cross which QPR centre-half Grant Hall inadvertently diverted to his keeper Rob Green from the edge of the six-yard box.

Four minutes later, Daryl Murphy out-battled Gabriele Angella from a Jonas Knudsen long ball down the left but the Irish international striker’s shot flew across the face of goal.

The Blues continued to make most of the early running, winning a couple of corners which came to nothing, before Maitland-Niles just over-hit a through ball for Freddie Sears, then on 15 Murphy saw a shot deflect away from goal off Karl Henry.

There was a scare for Town on 17 when QPR’s lone striker Sebastian Polter escaped behind the backline but lost his footing as he sought to turn inside Christophe Berra as the Blues defender chased back. Referee Darren Drysdale showed no interest in penalty appeals which mainly came from the crowd.

The Scotland international was caught in possession by Hoilett before he could clear but the Canadian international took the ball out of play.

Alejandro Faurlin forced Dean Gerken into his first save of the afternoon on 19, the Argentinian midfielder curling a freekick from 25 yards towards the keeper’s top left but the ex-Colchester man claimed.

Five minutes later, Berra required treatment after a clash of heads from a corner but was OK to carry on, albeit while sporting a bandage.

Town weren’t too far away from the game’s opening goal in the 38th minute when Sears’s cross from the left reached Murphy, whose shot was blocked. The ball ricocheted to the one-time West Ham trainee, whose subsequent effort was diverted over the bar by Hall.

As half moved into injury time Chambers went close, nodding Maitland-Niles’s corner from the left wide at the far post with keeper Green nowhere. The Blues captain clearly thought he should have scored.

The half, which had never really burst into life, seemed set to end goalless until the fifth minute of injury time when Leroy Fer whipped over a cross from the right and Hoilett got in front of Chambers to head past Gerken from a couple of yards at the near post.

There was no time for Town to hit back before referee Drysdale blew his half-time whistle.

The Blues had had the better of a not overly enthralling half until conceding the late goal - another Town will feel they ought to have defended - however, without QPR keeper Green having been forced to make any serious saves. Until the goal, Gerken had similarly been under-employed, aside from Faurlin’s freekick.

Goalscorer Hoilett scraped the second half’s first shot well wide two minutes after the restart.

The visitors went closer on 52 when, after Sears had been caught in possession midway inside his own half, Matt Phillips crossed from the right and Tommy Smith did well to get to the ball ahead of Hoilett.

Town were inches away from getting on terms in the 55th minute when Chambers crossed from the right, Douglas flicked it on to Brett Pitman, whose curling shot struck the outside of Green’s left post.

Two minutes later, Maitland-Niles hit the Rangers wall with a freekick from 25 yards that the on-loan Arsenal winger had won himself.

As the game approached the hour mark, Berra made an important challenge ahead of Polter as Hoilett whipped over a ball from the left. Soon after, Ryan Fraser took over from Maitland-Niles.

Cole Skuse prevented the visitors from doubling their lead in the 66th minute when he cleared off the line from Fer. The former Norwich midfielder had been played in by Phillips and had rounded Gerken but had taken the ball wide and allowed a number of Town players to get back.

The Blues quickly broke and Paul Konchesky tripped Sears as the Blues striker took the ball between the former England man and another defender, the full-back picking up the game’s first yellow card.

After the freekick had been somewhat wasted, Tommy Oar replaced Pitman with Sears moving up front with Murphy.

On 70 Sears cut the ball back from the right to Fraser, who slid in but his effort was blocked. The loose ball ran to Oar but his strike was similarly snuffed out.

The Blues had spent the half pushing for an equaliser, not always convincingly, but had started to get closer and in the 77th minute the leveller came.

Sears’s deflected cross from the right fell to Murphy, whose shot was diverted off target by a defender to Douglas, who acrobatically hooked his third Town goal across Green and into the net from close range. It was the Blues’ first home goal for 293 minutes.

As the game moved into its final scheduled 10 minutes Hoilett hit a 20-yard strike straight at Gerken, then on 84 Fraser smashed a low effort wide of QPR keeper Green’s right post from the edge of the box.

On 88, with QPR by now putting the Blues under pressure, Oar was booked for a foul on Konchesky and from the freekick the visitors almost regained the lead. Faurlin sent the ball over towards skipper Nedum Onuoha, whose header Gerken did superbly to tip past his left post.

But two minutes into injury time, it was the Blues who would claim a dramatic winner. Sears whipped over a right-footed cross from the left and Chambers steamed in at the back post to power a header past Green and into the corner of the net.

The skipper was mobbed by his team-mates as Portman Road went wild, while the QPR players stood around disconsolately. There was was no time for them to hit back and referee Drysdale’s whistle confirmed that the three points were Town’s.

Having been a touch unfortunate to be behind after a drab first half, Town took the game to the visitors in the second half with Pitman unlucky not to have equalised when he hit the post.

The Blues had gone close again through Fraser just prior to Douglas reacting quickly and acrobatically to grab his goal.

If anything QPR had appeared more likely to claim a late winner until skipper Chambers - who had been at fault for the visitors’ goal - arrived at the far post to thump home his second goal of the season and to send the large Boxing Day crowd home happy.

The result - only Town’s second home win in 10 and their fourth successive victory on Boxing Day - sees the Blues stay sixth but now only a point behind fifth-placed Burnley, who lost 3-0 at Hull City.

Town are next in action on Tuesday when they travel to fourth-placed Brighton, who drew 0-0 at Brentford.

Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Smith, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Maitland-Niles (Fraser 60), Sears, Murphy (Varney 90), Pitman (Oar 68). Unused: Bialkowski, Malarczyk, Hyam, Bru.

QPR: Green, Onuoha (c), Angella, Hall, Konchesky, Henry, Faurlin, Hoilett, Phillips (Chery 83), Fer (Sandro 70), Polter. Unused: Smithies, Hill, Emmanuel-Thomas, Luongo, Tozser. Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire). Att: 23,615 (QPR: 974).

Photo: Action Images

solentblue added 22:01 - Dec 26 Generally non-football for most of the game; but impressed by the endeavour in the last 20 to get back into it. Sears always a threat, Berra solid. Chambers might not be a right-back by trade but clearly the captain of this side. Utterly bored by the moronic 'season ticket holders' around in right side of North Lower who felt it necessary to drop the c-bomb to everyone - Town, QPR and ref alike - set off flares, inform everyone how their meaningless accumulators were working out...your support is worthless if you're not actually paying attention to the game

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bohslegend added 22:04 - Dec 26 Blueboy thought you don't want me to read your posts? You are a total hypocrite. You don't merit the term Ipswich Town fan. You claim you support the club "in other ways" but won't elaborate. You're a fake.
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dirtydingusmagee added 22:12 - Dec 26 pretty uninspiring game all round,half expected it to be a bit dull,often the games over xmas period prove to be that way.Still with the next two games being tough prospects,the 3 points are more than welcome.Although Freddie was a little quieter today he still showed his class,just wish Mick could or would play him to his strengths .Anyway ,if we can get anything from Brighton and Burnley at least we will be going into the 2nd half of season well placed .COYB

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Warkys_Tash added 22:23 - Dec 26 We were desperate for that home win & to get that monkey off our back..well done lads. We just needed 3 points today. Agree with most though the style of football is poor.
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DerryfromBury added 22:28 - Dec 26 Both teams had an off day, good job Charlie Adams wasn't available. still, a wins a Win, 3 points onwards and upwards.
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jayitfc_ added 22:48 - Dec 26 Lets be honest, it was an awful footballing display from us. But results like this are important if we want to reach the play-offs, which is our main goal. To the people who are complaining: Why? Why are you complaining? Yes it was ugly, but ultimately, we done as much as is possible in a game, which is to pick up the 3 points. I am happy with this result, the atmosphere was electric when Chambo scored! I love the passion he has for the club, you could see how much it meant to him when he scored it!

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pitseablue added 23:51 - Dec 26 We WON,,,We got three points….COYB'S
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blueboy1981 added 00:10 - Dec 27 ...... typical response from bohslegend ........ didn't answer my question, and what's more the reason for that is his truthful answer could have been embarrassing for him. I'm there every week - where are you ??? - so don't keep spouting pathetic vitriol from afar.
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blueboy1981 added 00:16 - Dec 27 ...... and in addition to paying the Club to be there every week - money every month of the year leaves my account in the direction of the Club for the Academy, etc, etc. How about you ?? ..... until you can answer that, I suggest you close it. Post haste.
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StowTractorBoy added 00:38 - Dec 27 I am going to bed happy tonight because we won and we got 3 points. That's why I watch my team and if entertained with wonderful football its a bonus. A winning goal in the dying embers of the game, so we shouldn't we all be happy, but apparently not on here. You had to be at the game to see the euphoria of our fans when the winner went in which is not reflected on this board.

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Minneapolis_ITFC added 02:00 - Dec 27 Would you be castigated if you said we played poorly, but still picked up a victory, albeit over a poor opposition who offered little themselves ? Reading through various post-match opinion that appears to be the size of it. Guess a large number will simply overlook it and the three points is the end all and be all, but would hope to see the team win with a bit of flair and creativity. All said, it's three much needed points for the cause and it was imperative to bounce back after the Derby game, so however the victory went down today, we remain on course for another play-off opportunity, but being realistic, we should hope to improve on today if we really ARE to get out of this league.

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blues1 added 06:46 - Dec 27 flewitt. we won against a good qpr team???? no, we beat a very poor qpr team by the skin of our teeth and tbh deserved nothing from the game, nemore than theyd have deserved to win. some on here, such a jas0999, bluefeast, have often accused me of being over positive and yes, ive always tried to be pragmatic over our performances. but however pleased I'm sure we all are with the result the fact is that was an absolutely dire performance. even mm said so himself. and that kind of performance will undoubtedly keep the fans away, and wont bring us many points against better teams than qpr. this game convinced me of something ive thought for some time, that as well as mm has done to get us out of the crap we were in when he took over, he wont take us ne further. and before ne1 says that's because me wont invest, he invests millions every season, and just because we pay very little in transfer fees doesn't mean we haven't improved the squad. imagine for instance how much pitman would have cost had he not come realistically as part of the mings deal. also he was told money was available for transfers but decided not to use it due to his theory that team spirit is more important than nething else, so wanting to get the right characters in. not saying theres nething wrong with that, but sometimes you do need just a little more. I truly believe that the players we have are capable of playing a much better style of football, but wont while the dinosaur that is mm insists on such a dour brand of football.

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blues1 added 07:06 - Dec 27 battyblue. what are you on about? gerken did absolutely nothing wrong today. in fact there wasn't really any occasion he needed to come to collect the ball today as they never put any balls in the box that he should have come for. plus he made a couple of excellent saves that had he not made the late comeback could not have happened
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bluelady added 08:19 - Dec 27 Ironically I thought chambers had a decent game! In the first half he was the only one to show any real passion. Sears only started to shine when played in his correct position second half not sure he even touched the ball first half. Douglas was diabolical for much of the game. Skuse saved our butts on more than one occasion yet again and Berra despite the head injury won everything in the air. Two observations why do we defend so deep which leaves us with no chance of a counter attack and also means when we clear our lines it ALWAYS goes to the opposition and why oh why do Berra and smith simply smash the ball into touch when I'm fact much of the time they have time to at least clear upfield or dare I say it control the ball and pass to a town player? One great save from Gerkin other than that poor, no command poor with crosses and stuck to his line. Would love to see Bart given a go. A dire game which for once changed with our substitutions both of which looked so up for it when they came on. can't judge Varney on 4 mins play but did look rusty which is to be expected

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warktheline added 08:58 - Dec 27 @blueboy, you should know by now! Bohslegend lives in a world where any kind of 'negativity' towards HIS CLUB, sends him ape! Sadly totally void in the art of constructive dialogue. Let's not forget here what you're dealing with, he stated 'nothing else matters bar 3 points '. If this is the case, why aren't ALL happy! Take it easy Bohslegend, I wouldn't expect you to even try to answer that!!!!!!!

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hogster1970 added 09:47 - Dec 27 well what a great result, we huffed and puffed and scraped it in the end against a not so great qpr side but they did defend well, i missed the goal as had to leave on 88 min so i could get to work and beat the traffic. but like i said before the derby game its apparent that our engine room need a crank regrind a new set of shells and rebore with new pistons and rings. in other words the midfield neads a overhaul for the start of the games not 3/4 of the way through leaving us the game to chase. how ever we know fraser hasnt got 90 mins in him yet, but would have liked bru to start instead of douglas, some one to get his foot on the ball and deliver the defence splitting pass. if you looked at the southampton arsenal game they had 35% possion but won 4 nil, why you ask because they brok with speed and just used simple forward passes to stretch the defence, somthing we havnt done for ages, its this is were we need to improve on if we are to challange for the play offs, we are to slow on the brake meaning its easy for teams to defend or its just a lump up the pitch. we have the players now to start thinking this way but defo need sears up front to make that happen, and as said when we do hoof it we dont win the second ball and again i feel thats because sears isnt up there. i have nothing against pitman or douglas but we need more enterprise in that engine room. so for me when fit i would like to see fraser scuse bru niles, or fraser scuse bru and varny when fit or oar as i thought he played well when he came on. but yes we do have players coming back from injury, our bench yesturday all the subs except the pole and bart only has 20 to 30 mins in them prob except bru who i would have prefered to start. but hey ho its brighton next and a point there and at burnely would be great 3 at one would be even better

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GiveusaWave added 10:20 - Dec 27 Really, really pleased that we finally won a game in the final moments. This will prove to be an important 3 points
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bluelady added 10:23 - Dec 27 Nothing worse than someone marking you down but not having the courage to post themselves 😄
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Elizabeth added 10:26 - Dec 27 Well done the lads for digging in and claiming all three points ! It wasn't pretty but effort and commitment was apparent ! A big test at Brighton .. COYB !
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VulpineBlue added 11:00 - Dec 27 A great 3 points, but as many have written it was a poor spectacle. Again from the kick off we immediately ceded midfield to the opposition. Poor second balls, square/ reverse passing. Playing a deep defending midfield is fine if you are keeping clean sheets, but we are not. Exactly the same thing happened against Derby as happened with QPR yesterday. The trouble is that with keeping this same midfield strategy is that opposing teams don't even need to research us - our tactics have now been public domain for the last 3 months.

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jas0999 added 11:20 - Dec 27 Blues1 - I don't recall ever accusing you of being over positive, you like everyone else, is entitled to their opinion. Many disagree with me that we need to invest more in the playing squad and that we lack quality. That's fine. I generally try to post a comment based on my feelings at the time. That's the point of this board. The only thing which annoys me is certain poster saying your not a true fan if you are anything but 100% positive all of the time. Or daft comments like don't go. That's not aimed at you though.

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TimmyH added 11:24 - Dec 27 Delighted with the win yesterday and to be honest would have expected the 3 points if we are to take ourselves seriously as a play-off cnadidate although it does appear QPR to like to get more than their share of draws of recent times. Yet again not a pretty spectacle especiallt the first half and as others have mentioned AMN needs to be replaced by Fraser and to a degree shame that Douglas scored yesterday as this will just cement his place in the starting 11 (by and large performances being mediocre at best). Would be good to see Bru have a start. Will be interesting to see how we perform against teams at the top away this week as we're now not playing against the likes of MK, Charlton or Rotherham - people say a great time to play Brighton but they have only lost 1 of their last 10 and again another team who have their fair share of draws. Interesting week coming up!

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blrmy added 11:35 - Dec 27 Well I pay for the whole experience, and celebrating that goal in front of some nasty QPR fans was totally worth it! Game was poor, but I was so happy going home. Ticket £30, experience priceless!
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blueboy1981 added 12:04 - Dec 27 essex57 ....... is back - never to be seen or heard again on this forum ..... ??? Supporting his buddies posts as usual - just had to be done, I guess ..... !!!
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Hatman added 12:22 - Dec 27 Great to get the win..., but we were awful first half. Always in the air, never to feet, down the channel, turn the full back around and try and pick up scraps. So negative, it's as if we're defending a 2 goal lead from the off. 2nd half better, more to feet, switching play, attacking space, doubling up in the wide areas, getting crosses in. But why did we not play like that from the first whistle?! Come on Town - 2 home wins from 10, and we're in 6th place! If we can play some football at home and improve there, we can still push upwards from here.

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