Daryl Murphy scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season as Town defeated Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage. The Championship's top scorer netted on five and 45 in a first half in which the Blues could have been further ahead, before Ross McCormack pulled one back for the Cottagers 16 minutes from time but the three points were never seriously under threat.
Tyrone Mings, Kevin Bru and Jay Tabb returned to the Town starting line-up with Jonny Parr and Stephen Hunt dropping to the bench, while Darren Ambrose missed out having picked up a hamstring niggle.
Dean Gerken was replaced on the bench by Paddy Kenny, the former Colchester man having suffered a hand injury, while David McGoldrick was left back in Suffolk having also missed the 2-1 home victory over Sheffield Wednesday with a thigh problem.
Irish U21 international winger Dylan Connolly was named as a sub for the first time since joining the club, while Cameron Stewart travelled but missed out on a place in 18.
Adam McDonnell, still unavailable with his clearance from FIFA yet to come through despite having been signed in September, also made the trip.
Former England international Scott Parker was back in the Fulham starting line-up, alongside ex-Blues loanee Ryan Tunnicliffe.
The Blues, backed by a following of more than 4,000, including 250 who had made the final leg of the trip by boat, started with a midfield diamond matching the home side’s system with Bishop at the most advanced point, Tabb on the left, Bru on the right and Cole Skuse in the deeper role.
Town might have gone ahead within the first minute, Murphy crossing low to strike partner Freddie Sears but his shot was straight at Fulham keeper Marcus Bettinelli.
The Blues continued to threaten and in the fifth minute Shaun Hutchinson was forced to turn a Sears cross from the right behind.
And from the corner Murphy grabbed his 20th goal of the season to put his side in front. Tabb sent the ball in from the left and the Irishman’s header struck a defender before beating Bettinelli.
Murphy suffered a blow to his head as he scored his goal, what appeared to be a nose injury subsequently requiring lengthy treatment and a new shirt, so the celebration was somewhat muted for a man who had just become the first Town player to net 20 league goals in a season since David Johnson scored 22 in the 1999/00 season.
Fulham had most of the ball in the period after Town’s goal but without being able to cause the Blues any real danger. All too often they eventually resorted to long balls over the top which came to nothing.
On 22 skipper Luke Chambers failed to deal with a deep ball from the right, allowing Alexander Kacaniklic to cross low from the left but Christophe Berra cut it out.
At the other end, Bishop, by now playing in a wide right role with Bru in the centre with Skuse, fed Sears inside the area to the left, but the former Colchester man’s shot was blocked.
But, with rain now falling heavily, the game mostly consisted of Fulham playing the ball around in midfield but unable to find a way through the Blues’ backline.
Town looked the more dangerous side on the break, a defender’s toe preventing Murphy’s 30th minute cross from the left from finding Sears. From the corner, the ball came out to Bishop but the midfielder hit his shot into the ground.
A minute later Cottagers skipper Parker brought the ball forward before feeding Hugo Rodallega, but the Colombian’s first touch let him down and Bartosz Bialkowski claimed.
On 33 Kacaniklic cut in from the right having switched flanks earlier in the half and hit a low shot which Bialkowski pushed around his post.
The home side were beginning to put the Blues under some pressure, Parker lifting a shot just over from the edge of the box after a corner had been cleared to him.
However, Town came close to making it 2-0 in the 36th minute when, after good work from Skuse and Bishop as the Blues broke, the ball ricocheted into Sears’s path in the clear to the right of goal. Fortunately for Fulham, Bettinelli blocked his shot.
The Blues again should have added to their lead a minute later when Murphy held off Hutchinson down the left and crossed. The ball reached Sears, who moved it on to Bishop but Bettinelli acrobatically saved to his left.
Town finally scored the second goal their first-half performance fully deserved in the final scheduled minute. Bishop won the ball on the right just inside the Blues half. Bru found Skuse, who brought the ball forward and moved it left, where Tabb fed Mings.
The left-back whipped over a low ball, which deflected to Murphy on the right of the area, the striker taking a touch before curling home his 21st goal of the campaign.
After Tabb, who had earlier required treatment to a head injury having been blocked off somewhay cynically by Jazz Richards, was replaced by Jonny Parr, the half-time whistle was blown.
Town fully deserved their lead and probably should have been even further ahead with Sears and Bishop both squandering decent chances.
Having got the early goal, the Blues challenged Fulham to find a way through them but Bialkowski in the Town goal had rarely been seriously threatened.
The Blues always posed more danger on the break with two-goal Murphy once again outstanding as he took a season’s total beyond the 20-goal mark.
Former Town loanee Ryan Tunnicliffe shot over shortly after the restart as the home side looked to get back into a game which already appeared a lost cause.
On 50 Bettinelli was off his line quickly to claim at Parr’s feet after a sharp first-time through ball from Bru.
The second half begun in much the same pattern as the first with the home side unable to seriously test Bialkowski. In the 56th Lasse Vigen Christensen crossed from deep on the right but Rodallega couldn’t keep his header down.
At the other end, Parr scuffed a shot wide from distance before Berra was somewhat harshly booked for a foul on Kacaniklic. Ross McCormack, who came close to joining the Blues during Roy Keane’s time as Town boss, curled the freekick well over.
In the 68th minute, after Murphy had been penalised for a high boot as he looked to hook a Berra header from a corner beyond Bettinelli, Noel Hunt replaced Sears, who was warmly applauded off by the large Blues following. Fulham switched Rodellega for Brian Ruiz to cheers from the home fans.
As the game moved into its final 20 minutes, Kacaniklic was found deep inside the Town box but Bru did enough to prevent the Swede from getting in a clean shot at goal, forcing the ball behind from a corner, which Town defended comfortably.
Bishop hit a 73rd minute strike from the edge of the box after Parr had brought the ball forward along way.
A minute later, Fulham pulled a goal back out of nothing. Tommy Smith missed a cross in from deep on the left and McCormack behind him made no mistake from close range.
The goal seemed to finally wake the home side and their fans up and the Blues found themselves under serious pressure for the first time, Kacaniklic hitting a shot on the turn over.
Soon after, Paul Anderson replaced Bishop for the Blues, then Bru was booked for a foul on Konstantinos Stafylidis.
Town twice came close to making it 3-1 in the 82nd minute following a freekick on the left.
Hunt hooked the ball back in from the right towards Murphy, but it was deflected out to Mings, whose powerful shot was blocked on the line by Stafylidis, who handled according to a number of Town players. The loose ball fell to Berra, whose shot was superbly tipped over by Bettinelli.
Skuse was booked for a foul on Ruiz as the game moved towards its final five minutes, then Patrick Roberts replaced Kacaniklic for the Cottagers.
On 89, with Fulham’s push for an equaliser having stalled somewhat, Tunnicliffe was booked for a frustrated late challenge on Mings.
In injury time Hunt required lengthy treatment after an aerial collision with Hutchinson and was eventually taken off on a stretcher with the Blues ending the game with 10 men.
Despite McCormack’s goal giving the home side hope of grabbing a point in the closing stages, anything other than a victory would have been harsh on Town, who really ought to have taken more of their chances in the first half.
After the brief flurry following the Cottagers’ goal, the Blues, who have put their tricky spell firmly behind them, were never in any real danger of conceding a second and Mings and Berra were unfortunate not to add to the Blues’ lead at that stage.
With Middlesbrough and Derby in FA Cup action this weekend and Bournemouth drawing 1-1 at home to Huddersfield, the result sees the Blues remain in fourth but now only two points behind the Cherries, who return to the top, and Boro and one off the third-placed Rams.
Fulham: Bettinelli, Richards, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis, Christensen (Woodrow 64), Tunnicliffe, Parker, Kacaniklic (Roberts 85), Rodallega (Ruiz 68), McCormack. Unused: Kiraly, Burn, Grimmer, Fofana.
Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Mings, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Bru, Bishop (Anderson 76), Tabb (Parr 45), Murphy, Sears (N Hunt 68). Unused: Kenny, Clarke, S Hunt, Connolly. Referee: Mark Haywood (West Yorkshire).