New boss Roy Keane was pleased with the 3-0 win at Cardiff and happy with the response of the players in his first few days in charge at Portman Road.
Keane said: "It happened to be our day today. Cardiff missed a penalty and then we scored to put us on top.
"We were forced to change things around when Alex Bruce went off with an arm injury. We had no defenders on the bench and so Jon Stead went on and did very well for us.
"He is a good player and he set up two goals, scored one himself and I am quite happy to have him at the club.
"I have had a good feeling in the short time I have been at Ipswich as the players have responded and we want to finish the season on a high and not just go through the motions.
"I was very, very relaxed at 3-0 but when it was 0-0 and they had a penalty it was very different. In fairness to Cardiff they have had a good season but the missed penalty was the turning point.
"We rode our luck a bit for the first 20 minutes and invited trouble. It was a great save from our keeper. It wasn't a bad penalty but he gambled well and did fantastic to get down to it.
"We had good travelling support and the fans will go home happy, but there is a long way to go yet."
Alex Bruce suffered an injury to his thumb and Keane says he will undergo a scan: "Hopefully it's not too bad but we will know more after the scan."
New chief executive Simon Clegg stood on the terraces with the travelling Town support, having made the trip to Cardiff in one of the coaches.
Cardiff assistant boss Terry Burton took the press conference instead of manager David Jones: "There is no conspiracy regarding Dave's non-appearance, it's just that he has asked me to come in today.
"We are always assessing our performances and in all honesty we have had a very bad week. We have played well for periods but have left ourselves too open and easy to play against and we will have to put that right.
"We got into the right areas today without causing them too many problems but when we missed the penalty and they scored against the run of play, we were always chasing the game.
"Today was the supporters' day but it was a football match for us and the players and staff are as disappointed we were beaten as the fans, but it hasn't been such a bad season and we will be looking for something from our last match.
"The players know they have to work hard and get back to basics and they have been given some sharp words by the manager."