A brilliant Brett Pitman overhead kick four minutes from time against his old club saw Town to a 2-1 victory over Bristol City at Portman Road. Kevin Bru gave the Blues a 1-0 half-time lead, but the Robins hit back through Tammy Abraham seven minutes after the restart before Pitman’s superb strike sealed a much-needed home win for Town.

Boss Mick McCarthy made four changes to his side with Bru, Myles Kenlock, Grant Ward and David McGoldrick all starting, while Jonas Knudsen, Freddie Sears and Andre Dozzell dropped to the bench and Jonathan Douglas was left out of the 18.

Town, operating in a 4-4-2 system, started brightly but had been unable to create a chance before Josh Brownhill hit a bouncing freekick through to Bartosz Bialkowski in the 12th minute, which the Blues keeper claimed comfortably.

On 15 Pitman skinned his man on the right but his low cross was cut out ahead of McGoldrick.

A minute later, a freekick on the Town right was cleared out to Kenlock, who sent in a cross, which Pitman stabbed to McGoldrick as the visitors’ defence hesitated. The Irish international curled his shot wide as Pitman claimed he’d been fouled.

Robins striker Tammy Abraham broke through on goal in the 17th minute but Town skipper Luke Chambers got across to muscle the on-loan Chelsea man off the ball as he looked to shoot.

Grant Ward, who had made a lively start to the game, sent McGoldrick away on the right of the box in the 19th minute but the Blues’ number 10 shot across the face of goal from a tight angle.

Brownhill shot through to Bialkowski three minutes later, but Town were still on top, however without having been able to carve out the opening which might lead to a goal.

The Blues continued to dominate as the game reached the 30-minute mark with Bristol City unable to get out of their half. However, crosses were being cleared before they reached Town players, while a Bru shot smashed into a defender.

But in the 39th minute the Blues went in front. Following a corner on the left, Webster won the ball midway inside the Robins half and played a clever pass ahead of Lawrence on the left of the area. The on-loan Leicester man took a touch before sending in a cross which Bru turned into the net at the near post, the Mauritius international’s first goal of the season.

Bristol City quickly looked to hit back but Lee Tomlin’s shot was blocked by Chambers having been found by Abraham.

The goal forced the visitors into a more attacking outlook but they were unable to force any further openings before the break, while Town made a couple of potentially dangerous forays forward on the counter-attack which ultimately came to nothing.

Two minutes before the end of the half Pitman was booked for a push on Robins defender Hordur Magnusson.

The Blues deserved their half-time lead having dominated, passing the ball around patiently in midfield in spells. However, until Bru’s well-worked goal it had looked like the half might end goalless with few chances having been created.

At the other end, Bialkowski dealt with a couple of difficult bouncing balls from distance, but otherwise had been untroubled by what had been a poor Bristol City side.

The Robins made two changes ahead of the second half with Taylor Moore and Joe Bryan taking over from Mark Little and Scott Golbourne.

The visitors started the half brightly and three minutes after the restart Luke Freeman, scorer of a superb volley in the game at Ashton Gate, beat Kenlock on the Blues’ left and hit a shot which Berra diverted wide.

The Robins kept Town pinned in their own half and in the 52nd minute it came. Sub Bryan crossed from the left, Berra collided with Bialkowski as the Blues keeper sought to claim the ball and Abraham stabbed home his 15th goal of the season.

Town looked to hit back immediately, Ward heading to Robins keeper Fielding after Berra had nodded Lawrence’s freekick back into the box after it had been punched to the back of the area. Soon after, Brownhill was booked for a foul as Ward broke.

Having made a slow start to the half and lost their lead, the Blues were struggling to reassert their earlier dominance but just before the hour Marlon Pack inadvertently sent a right-wing cross looping off his own cross-bar. Pitman reached the loose ball first but his overhead kick was easy for Fielding.

On 66 Callum O’Dowda replaced Magnusson for the visitors, the Icelander having suffered a hamstring injury.

Two minutes later, McGoldrick fed Ward down the right and the former Spurs man moved the ball on to Lawrence, who hit a well-struck shot which was too close to Fielding.

The Blues made their first change in the 72nd minute with Dozzell replacing goalscorer Bru.

On 74 Abraham turned and shot over for the visitors, but the Blues began to get back on top with Dozzell making an immediate impact making two incisive passes which led to Town chances.

First Lawrence broke to the edge of the area and hit a shot which Fielding saved, then Webster brought the ball forward from deep and hit an effort which deflected wide.

From the resultant corner Town claimed a penalty for handball but referee David Coote wasn’t interested. Soon after Sears took over from Ward.

The Blues continued to press and another clever Dozzell pass found Pitman, who turned the ball inside the Sears, who was breaking in on goal. A mix-up between Fielding and his defenders allowed the Town sub to get on the ball with the keeper out of his ground but his shot on the turn was blocked by Robins.

Moments later, Sears was fed by Kenlock on the left and stabbed at goal but without troubling Fielding, then seconds later Pitman cut it back to the former West Ham man from the right but the ball hit the striker on his standing leg and bounced out of play.

Town kept up the pressure and Dozzell found McGoldrick with another excellent pass but the Blues number 10 shot wide.

The home side had created enough opportunities to reclaim their lead and when the second goal finally came what a goal it was.

Sears was sent away down the right by Lawrence and sent over a deep cross to Pitman at the far post, from where the former Robins striker smashed a brilliant overhead kick into the net, the Jersey-born frontman’s fourth goal of the season.

McGoldrick was swapped for Luke Varney with a minute of scheduled time remaining and the Blues saw out the additional minutes with little trouble - aside Lawrence picking up a booking for a foul on O'Dowda - to record an important home win.

Having gained a deserved lead in the first half, the Blues surrendered the impetus by conceding a bad goal, as they have on so many occasions this season.

But they gradually got themselves back on top with Dozzell making a huge difference when he came on, the 17-year-old making the most significant impression of his senior career so far.

The winning goal when it came was worthy of winning any game and will have particularly delighted Pitman coming as it did against his former club, who have now lost eight of their last nine.

The win moves the Blues up to 16th with few Championship sides in action this evening, now only two points behind Norwich, who play Brentford tomorrow.

On Monday Town travel to take on QPR, who have lost their last six and face Wolves at Molineux tomorrow.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Webster, Berra, Kenlock, Skuse, Ward (Sears 78), Lawrence, Bru (Dozzell 72), McGoldrick (Varney 89), Pitman. Unused: Gerken, Emmanuel, Knudsen, Best.

Bristol City: Fielding, Little (Moore 46), Flint, Magnusson (O’Dowda 66), Golbourne (Bryan 46), Freeman, Brownhill, Pack, Tomlin, Wilbraham (c), Abraham. Unused: O’Donnell, Paterson, Reid, Engvall. Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire). Att: 15,640 (Bristol City: 470).

Photo: TWTD

Brownie added 22:41 - Dec 30 Wasnt at the game but radio commentary made it sound better than Boxing Day. Then again it couldn't have been much worse. Good to get a win though. Trying to take glass half full attitude & at least it's a good excuse for couple of beers tomorrow to say goodbye to what has not been a good year for ITFC. Looking forward to joining the blue army on Monday! Happy New Year to all on TWTD & COYB!

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Tractorboy1985 added 22:41 - Dec 30 Credit where credit is due... a fantastic strike and more of that will get bums back on seats at Portman road.. however nothing changes for me.. we have a dull manager who will install his favourites again and an owner who needs to dig deep in 2 days time.. I'm not holding my breath...
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StochesStotasBlewe added 22:43 - Dec 30 Great goal from Pitman, positive performance from Dozzel when he came on, still took 67 minutes to register our 2nd shot on target though. Bristol were poor, we were slightly better so a fair reflection of the scoreline. The beer is tasting much better tonight. Wont be getting even slightly carried away though, there is much to improve on. QPR on monday is a must win to give us a bit of breathing space as the fixtures coming are real toughie,s.

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heathen66 added 22:47 - Dec 30 Well just back from the game and what I will say is a win is a win. Glad to see Kenlock Ward and especially Bru start tonight. Ward started brightly and looked back to his best early on but tailed off as the game wore on Kenlock again looked assured and deserves a run in the side (the next 5-10 Games) to actually see if he is indeed the real deal A game here and there we will never know. Bru for me was the difference, Got on the ball passed creatively (mostly forward), hassled the opposition from minute one and was rewarded with a very well taken goal. Will probably be disappointed to be substituted when the ineffective Skuse gets the full 90 mins ...again. People say Skuse does the things you don't notice, but there does come a point where I need to know what that actually is, apart from pass sideways when in acres of space and point at other players to do things (in fairness did contribute 2 tackles in the second half). The introduction of Sears (strangely enough playing as a striker) also changed the game at the end and turned 1 point into 3. A very good substitution from Mick, but you would have to ask what has he been doing for the last 18 months...wasted talent unfortunately. So 3 welcome points and now onto QPR. Lets hope the change in team selection is a permanent one with Bru and Kenlock playing the next few games. btw excellent finish from a class finisher to seal the 3 points

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mrmorisato added 22:48 - Dec 30 Do I dare say that Mick may just be starting to listen to his critics? It was a better more positive performance going forward tonight and it showed. Kenlock had a decent game at left back although the football was a bit stop start at times I left the ground a happier man :)
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GiveusaWave added 22:48 - Dec 30 Good 3 points and we are pulling away from the possibility of relegation, so congratulations to the team today. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a winning run in 2017. More shots off and on target than the opposition and good degree of possession. The team deserves credit today for this result, this is how we should be playing every game. For once pretty happy, we have a few difficult fixtures coming up and a poor result against Bristol City could have pulled us into an unwanted relegation battle.Only 300 signatures for Mick Out Campaign? Shows a large majority of fans still back Mick which is a surprise to me.

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Suffolk_n_Good added 22:50 - Dec 30 My 5 point summary of tonight's game. 1. Here we go, one win & suddenly the deluded ones all appear & think we're world beaters!! 2. McCarthy has finally bowed to the pressure from the fans & decided drop Douglas, Knudsen etc.... not before time. 3. We have beaten a poor Bristol side (Tomkin apart, we could do a lot worse than signing him!) 4. Lovely to see Kenlock, Dozzell playing, & Sears being played correctly!! 5. We will not achieve promotion without (A) serious investment & (B) a manager with attacking intent, who sets out to win games.

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blueboy1981 added 22:51 - Dec 30 Any 3 points is a good 3 points in my book - however it's amazing how excited some people become after a win against a very poor side....... and everything is once again perfect .. !!! Easily satisfied is the one and only apt description of such folk. Well done all - a win is a win. But now let's see how we shape up against another poor side - QPR - before any euphoria sets in ... shall we ???

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sgtlargent added 22:57 - Dec 30 Chambers wearing under armour tonight. Lad.
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MicksZzzTactics added 23:02 - Dec 30 Breaking News: Mick McCarthy "escapes" with yet ANOTHER Houdini Stunt!!!! This it the 4th time in about 2 months time he has been kindly broken out of jail so to speak at the very 'Death' of things by one of his proper blokes just BEFORE "Hangtime" (85 min very lucky bouncer vs. Wednesday, 95 min last sec gasper vs. Rotherham, 88 min "robbery" vs. Wigan ... and now this late 87 min spectacular clincher vs. Bristol, and oohh don't forget either recent additional quite fortunate things like Varney's equalizer vs. Cardiff which took a massive deflection of Gunnarson to side-foot their keeper, and the penalty awarded to Lawrence which was truly softer than even a freakin' Kleenex!) , and STILL the Deluded One had the ultra lame dinosauric audacity to about a a week back boldly proclaim, while unmistakably clearly whining in the process! that: "we sob sob sob sob were having absolutely NO luck whatsoever as a team???!!! (btw also happily forgetting the extreme good fortune of simply having King Bart between our posts, and him being in MOTM form time and time again!!!). Considering Evans' (supposedly written by him) indirect/direct shameless blue stamping of pretty much everything McCarthy-like here at ITFC the last several years .... well I for one fed-up loooongtime fan certainly now not only think MM will survive in his job until 2018 but fully expects he will be here to AT LEAST 2020!!!, meaning the clueless & indifferent Evans will happily invoke him and TC's a contract option for another 2 years!!! Njoy him and his prehistoric football ideology for another 2-4+good folks .... because given Evans' input of today yours truly -- partly in consultation with my wife and my oldest dog :-) -- have hereby decided I'm gonna extend my personal "boycott" of ME&MM's ultra freewheeling & sideshow-like ITFC to simply stop live partaking in any future matches in general as well any form of ITFC related merchandise etc etc. anymore.... and this is REGARDLESS of how many points we "somehow, someway" i.e. read: mostly unmistakably fortuitously!!!!!!!!! scrape together in this or any future given Championship season under The Dino, with the possible exception of the always awesome by default East Englian derby and/or whenever some incredible "football uniformed" :-) business associate of mine or my wife kindly offers us a couple of free away tickets which has in fact been known to happen on several annual occasions in the past! But Happy New Year to everyone here at TWTD .... aye that also includes the many many "McCarthy next-akin" (especially "@Mrs.McCarthy"!) accounts here on TWTD ... aye you all know whom I'm referring to :-) lol ..... which undoubtedly will pop of of the old woodwork tonight in sheer NUMBERS (already were some out earlier resulting in some quite hefty debating going in view of today's big articles even before kick-off I noticed) and have themselves a regular 'Field Day' .... which likely includes down-voting galore each and everyone who still dares to criticize or just remain objectively skeptical & distrustful about the current Regime and everything deplorable that goes with it!!! here AFTER the icing on their "Pro-MM cake" i.e. tonight's from a mere 'Simpleton-like' exclusively result & points fixated view just all-embracing soooooo wünderbar (read: extreme conveniently papering-over-the-still-existing-very sizable-cracks lol) final score! Njoy your evening all! :-) And oh also happy New Year to "The Lads" and "Proper Blokes" wearing the the ONCE proud shirt as well of course! Everything considering incl. the strength or rather fairly clear lack hereof of today's opposition! there obviously were a number of real positives today beside the Douglas-less starting XI I gather, so like any other fan I too hereby salute you for the full 95 min hardworking engagement and the very welcoming 3 points ,which steers us well clear of trouble..... for the time being at least!

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BrettenhamBlue added 23:05 - Dec 30 Any 3 points is a good 3 points - however this result doesn't paper up the large cracks we have in our team. Everything is far from perfect. But well done to team. Now 3 points needed at QPR.
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Knightsy added 23:05 - Dec 30 Papering over Cracks....springs to mind.
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Bert added 23:13 - Dec 30 Good team selection and substitutions at the right time. Not a vintage performance but so much better than the Fulham game. Ok, Bristol City were poor in the first half but after their goal they gave us a game. If MM continues with a more attack minded selection and the players build their confidence, the gloom will be lifted and supporters will be back. The die hard outers will live on for as long as MM is around but if progress is made with the youngsters and we are attack minded I will forgive his doggedness. Well done BR stand for getting behind the team and let's hope 2017 makes us all feel that sense of belonging again.

3

BrettenhamBlue added 23:22 - Dec 30 To add - 300 signatures seems low. Happy New Year to everyone at TWTD COYB for a good 2017
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 23:24 - Dec 30 Not sure why some people are saying others think everything is rosy again. The majority of posts indicate a sense of relief tempered by the one swallow doesn't make a summer feeling. Can't see many people on here strongly believing Mick should stay. There is a minority who need to read before they post or stop anticipating posts before they are made.
6

midastouch added 23:24 - Dec 30 When you've been starved for so long even a few scraps and crumbs can feel like a hearty meal! So I'll take the 3 points all day long. However, after reading Evans' statement I'm feeling seriously underwhelmed about our future. And just Imagine if we did fluke promotion one season via the Play Offs with Mick still in charge. I know that's very hard to picture but just try your hardest. Think how embarrassing it would be trying to nick points against top teams playing in such a negative style. 90 minutes would feel like 900 minutes! Mick is a million miles away from the likes of Dyche and Howe. Mick is well behind the times. Yes we can nick the odd point here and there and grab a win now again from relatively weak teams. We might even spring the odd shock every once in a while like away to Sheff Wed. But when you think back to not that many seasons ago when teams used to come to Portman Road to defend. Now look at us, teams come to attack. I expect even Lincoln will! We've slipped so far and McCarthy simply isn't the man to bring the good times back to Portman Road. But credit to the lads tonight, they got the points, it's a bonus. But is it going to restore the faith and appease the general discontent? Not really, because we need to see a lot more than that to believe we're really heading in the right direction again.

7

milliem added 23:27 - Dec 30 It's nice to see that blueboy1981 has made his usual appearance on here, the halfwit pretendy Town supporter who couldn't find Portman Road with an A 2 Z.
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ianmarshall10 added 23:40 - Dec 30 Can see why Dozzel gets the hype now brilliant tonight but I'd keep the same 11 against Q.P.R. Hopefully back to back wins for the first time this season also prefer Kenlock to Knudsen and think everyone one here would much rather see Bru in the team rather than Douglas. Well done Mick and the lads get in..
4

ArnieM added 23:40 - Dec 30 For a team clearly low on confidence, this was a very.good effort by the Town lads tonight. We tried to knock it about on the deck with Bru and Didsy changing the direction of attack , ( Bru especially) with long 30 yd across field passes which often had Brizzle on the back foot. The ref was the usual disgrace - giving.nothing in Town's favour the whole game. We hit the bar, had a stonewall handball penalty in the 2nd half denied us, a Brizzle clearance off their line which their player knew nothing about. How the hell we didn't stick 3-4 goals past them I'll never know. Bart did his usual cock up for their soft goal , but Town players to their credit never dropped their heads. In fact mid way through the second half saw a Town attacking patch that I haven't seen at PR for nearly 2 seasons now and Brizzle were struggling to hang on. Sears had 3 shots on goal inside 2mins of coming off the bench and a.great assist for Pitman fabulous winner. Nothing more than Town deserved. Now do it again on Monday lads and we.posdibly be above the scum! Oh and in Kenlock we have a Naturally gifted left back that should be keeping his place until the end of the season. Dozzell should continue to be drip fed into midfield alongside Skuse and when he did come on the youngster fed some telling through balls to the front men. We DO have the squad to play decent football. It just requires some self belief by the players and Mick to continue to pick the right combination of players for the games. coming up. Well done SBR stand tonight.....a bit like old times with the constant chanting. Let's keep right behind the lads and who knows either a couple of additions the second half of the season may be in total contrast to the first half. COYBS

7

WashbrookBlue added 23:46 - Dec 30 God I wish this site just had the excellent news articles and reports without giving the same old suspects the platform to trot out the same opinion again and again and again, no matter what the story or what the result. Is there some sort of app that allows people to automatically upload the same opinion every day to whatever article appears without even having to read it or connect fingers with keyboards?? Does anyone really think that people want to hear them say the same thing every day??! Its so boring, especially so when your team wins for Christs sake. For the record , before the pathetic "Mick loving" nonsense starts, I put the blame for our sorry demise firmly at the door of the entire ownership and management regime who have succeeded in alienating many supporters including myself with their arrogant and complacent approach, not to mention dreadfully negative and dull football. Taking tonight in isolation, however, I thought the whole approach from selection to attitude to substitutions was way more positive and am both relieved and delighted that we achieved the victory we deserved. It is truly sad that some cannot bring themselves to simply say that about their team and sadder still that, if they can't, they can't just keep the same old tired negativity to themselves. The day we consider social media to = "public opinion", we have truly gone to hell in a handcart. COYB.

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shakytown added 23:52 - Dec 30 If that useless git douglas ever plays for this club again mick should be shot and knudsen is no better.
-2

blueboy1981 added 23:58 - Dec 30 milliem - easy to be abusive and call someone that from behind a keyboard - somewhat different to the face may I suggest. That is something I know you would not dare do. FACT. And incidentally I have probably been finding Portman Road for far more years than you .... Clever man ? - Clever post ? - I think not.
1

BlueandTruesince82 added 00:09 - Dec 31 Good time to play them. Can we win 2 in a row? Coyb
2

WindsorBlueArmy added 00:12 - Dec 31 How much better was tonight's return journey than Boxing Day?!!I don't know if anyone at the club reads comments on this forum but tonight it certainly seems that way.Much improved team selection,tactics,pressing the opposition and playing the ball on the floor.I thought Kenlock,Bru and McGoldrick made a massive difference.This was complimented by positive/inspired substitutions and a wonder goal to win the game.More of the same at QPR will do nicely. Credit where it's due tonight and I totally agree with the half full brigade!! Happy New Year to everyone.

5

Walk_the_Wark added 00:14 - Dec 31 gippeswyk - MM may have once been your hero, but he's NEVER been mine. Worst manager we've had bar Duncan in 36 years of my supporting Town
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