Leeds came from behind to beat the Blues 2-1 and inflict Town’s first home defeat of the season. David McGoldrick put the Blues ahead with his first goal of the season during a dominant opening spell but the Whites hit back via Luke Varney and Ross McCormack either side of half-time to win at Portman Road for the first time since September 2001.

Mick McCarthy named an unchanged side with midfielder Cole Skuse over his Achilles’ injury. Second-choice keeper Dean Gerken’s return after a dead leg was the only change on the bench with 17-year-old Michael Crowe dropping out.

Leeds made one change from the side which drew 1-1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday last week with Noel Hunt replacing youngster Dominic Poleon.

Town started brightly as persistent drizzle fell steadily, Aaron Cresswell hitting a low shot through to Paddy Kenny in the fifth minute, then Tabb turned a loose ball home after the former Tranmere man had crossed from the left, but with the linesman’s flag having been raised.

The Blues went ahead in the 12th minute via McGoldrick’s first goal of the season. The striker latched on to Murphy’s flick and took the ball past Tom Lees, who lost his footing on the slippery surface, before hitting a low strike beyond Kenny from the edge of the area and into the net.

Leeds looked to hit straight back, central defender Jason Pearce, a Town target in his Portsmouth days, diverting a corner from the left well over.

There was a scare for the visitors in the 15th minute when Carlos Edwards’s mis-hit corner from the left bounced across the six-yard box, Lees doing well to put it over his own bar.

Town continued to press in a very one-sided opening to the game. On 19 Skuse won a tackle not far outside the Leeds box and fed McGoldrick, whose quick feet saw him into space, but his pass was just beyond Daryl Murphy.

Pearce headed over from a corner in the 22nd minute, but overall Town had dominated the first quarter of the game.

A minute later, Cresswell and McGoldrick combined on the left and the full-back hit a superb strike which cannoned off the corner of bar and post. The rebound was played to Tabb by Edwards and the former Reading man hit a low shot which was only just wide.

At the other end, Hewitt made an important interception from one-time Town target McCormack’s cross from the right, McGoldrick tidily clearing the danger.

On 28 Leeds drew level. Town sat too deep and allowed McCormack to hit a shot which struck Luke Chambers and fell to Varney just inside the area and the former Charlton man slammed a shot past Scott Loach and into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

Although the Blues had been on top for the majority of the half, the Whites had started to come more into the game, although Mick McCarthy will feel it was a poor goal to concede.

McGoldrick hit a low shot to Kenny after brave work from Tabb in the 32nd minute, then shortly afterwards Murphy headed a corner wide at the far post and moments later nodded a cross to Kenny.

There was a scare for the visitors not long before the break when there was a mix-up between Kenny and Pearce on the edge of the area. Murphy looked to get on the ball, which may have struck a Leeds hand as it was cleared, although the protests were mainly from the crowd. Not long after, the whistle went for half-time.

Town had been very much on top in the opening 20 minutes, playing their best football of the season with Cresswell and Skuse outstanding. They fully deserved their lead when it came via McGoldrick’s excellent strike, while the equaliser probably flattered the visitors when it came, although in the closing stages of the half they were much more in the game.

The second period was only four minutes old when Leeds went in front. McCormack brought the ball on from the left and hit a shot which deflected off Skuse and beat the unlucky Loach down to his right.

On 52 Tabb crossed from the left and Hyam flicked a header across the face of goal at the near post. Three minutes later, Leeds skipper Rodolph Austin was booked for a somewhat wild lunge at Cresswell.

Town gradually began to get themselves back on top and in the 62nd minute Skuse found Hewitt with a clever pass, leading to a succession of Blues corners, although without leading to any significant danger.

Varney headed over from a cross from the right in the 64th minute before Paul Anderson replaced Edwards and Ryan Tunnicliffe took over from Tabb.

Town continued to push for the equaliser, Noel Hunt clearing Murphy’s 68th minute header off the line, with his hands according to some, but not referee Dean. The former FIFA official angered home fans moments later when he allowed Kenny to pick up what appeared to be a passback from Austin, albeit one from distance.

The Blues were winning a lot of freekicks 10 or 15 yards from the area, but all too often they came to nothing. In the 74th minute, Cresswell hit a 25-yard strike into the wall, then McGoldrick sent a subsequent effort well over the bar. Moments later, Frank Nouble replaced Murphy.

Loach saved well from Hunt after clever work from Austin on the right, then Paul Green shot into the sidenetting with the visitors looking more likely to add to their lead than Town to pull a goal back.

Hyam shot into the sidenetting after a corner as the game moved into its final 10 minutes with Town still only fleetingly threatening to get back on terms.

Skuse’s 90th minute strike deflected wide, then from the corner Chambers headed into the ground and over.

As the game moved into injury time, Cresswell crossed from the left and Hewitt headed wide at the far post. The Blues won a flurry of late corners but couldn’t turn them into a goal.

On the balance of the first 20 minutes there was only going to be one winner, but after Leeds had equalised and then gone in front soon after the restart, the Blues huffed and puffed but couldn’t replicate that excellent early spell.

Town had a lot of the ball against a determined Leeds side and won a lot of freekicks and Mick McCarthy will be disappointed that his side made so little of them.

As has already been the case on a number of occasions this season, Town failed to kill the game off while they were on top during the first half, then conceded after the opposition came back into the game in the second period.

Town: Loach, Hewitt, Cresswell, Chambers, Smith, Edwards (Anderson 64), Skuse, Murphy (Nouble 74), McGoldrick, Tabb (Tunnicliffe 64), Hyam. Unused: Gerken, Berra, Veseli, Taylor.

Leeds: Kenny, Peltier, Warnock, Lees, Pearce, Murphy, Green, Austin, Hunt (Tonge 85), Varney (Poleon 64), McCormack. Unused: Ashdown, Drury, Smith, Diouf, Wootton. Referee: Mike Dean (the Wirral). Att: 18,322 (Leeds: 1,950).

Photo: Action Images

thechangingman added 17:52 - Aug 24 I want to believe, i want to have faith in the team and MM, really I do, but we seem to be stuck in a never-ending cycle of soul-destroying mediocrity. I certainly feel that MM is a better manager than PJ and RK and JM and yet that's hardly a ringing endorsement is it? I honestly can't see where the hoped for positive break-throughs might come from and fear that all the evidence points to us sliding further and further into footballing obscurity and irrelevance. Please don't think I am glad about this - nothing could be further from the truth. I am just being honest and wanted to get these concerns off my chest. Painful, painful days.... :(

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jas0999 added 17:53 - Aug 24 Whichever way we try and package this up - we have played five competitive games this season and lost four of them. Nowhere near good enough. We can't keep saying we are 'playing good teams' - we should be good enough. Sadly, although I think MM has done a good job with a small budget given to him in the Summer, the reality remains we need a striker; Murphy does NOT score enough goals. We need creativity in midfield; Hyam and Skuse are too similar. As for Loach - well, I have never really rated him - but surely he has again proved to not be good enough. Can't command his area and makes mistake. Interesting his defenders were berating him during the game. Mid table at best I'm afraid. MM needs more backing from ME. Disappointing.

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RetroBlue added 17:55 - Aug 24 Town have just gifted a very average Leeds team all 3 pts today. Loach not good enough , Hyam and Skuse too similar and Hyam too easily bundled off the ball. Muprhy again not good enough. For Brum we need to see changes in MF and up front and Gerkin needs to have a run in the side.now.
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StochesStotasBlewe added 17:55 - Aug 24 £34.50 to watch that utter garbage. Loads of minuses for me, but apart from the first 20 minutes when Leeds were there for the taking, it was long hoofball to the ineffective Murphy. We,re going to struggle this season on this evidence & our saving grace will be that there are half a dozen sides in this league that are more sh**te than us. There is NO improvement & we have NOT moved forward at all. Long hard slog ahead. I for one will not be wasting too much of my hard earned dosh for much longer.

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algarvefan added 17:56 - Aug 24 I really thought we would push on from last seasons form, winning tight games and keeping mostly clean sheets and make no mistake about it you can get promotion by doing that, boring as it may seem. I really think it's time to shake the bag of players and try to bring a bit more flare into the side, we looked rather lack lustre today especially in the final third a partner for McGoldrick is a must and with Taylor still a long way off we need to bring one in, even if it's on loan. I don't hold with all the gloom and doom merchants on here, there are some real positives but scoring has been a problem for too long now and it needs to be sorted Mick & Marcus Evans as the team is not far off being a promotion contender!!!

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Blue041273 added 18:00 - Aug 24 Agree we weren't particularly clever today. Too many individual errors cost us ultimately. The big disappointment for me though was the lack of any player to take responsibility, to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and act like a real leader. When the going got tough all of our guys retreated into their shells and pretty much let Leeds get on with it. We won't win many games if we collectively raise the white flag as we seemed to do today.

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ManningtreeBlue99 added 18:03 - Aug 24 North Stand in fine voice today, well done. Did the club proud even if the team didn't.
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Sebastian added 18:06 - Aug 24 Too bad we didn't get that penalty, handball, could have changed the game for the last minutes.
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aylesburyblue added 18:07 - Aug 24 if you spend nonthing you must expect nonthing in return every town must not be surprised with this, we are now paying for not buying quality in the transfer window, and get use to the idea that we are a middle of the road championship club and to stop hyping up the club as though were about to win this league
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Loring added 18:08 - Aug 24 Football, 1 hour & 30 minutes completely changes my mood for the day. I hate life, beer me.
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Blueman211 added 18:31 - Aug 24 I agree with many of the comments and I'm disappointed we've yet again thrown away a game like last few seasons. However I'm surprised it's taken so long for some people to realise Murphy isn't enough, he's not a goal scorer for us I'm afraid. He can poach the rare goal but as everyone is saying lately, we do need firepower.
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TractorBoy666 added 18:33 - Aug 24 For the love of god, please drop Murphy already. Did he win a header in that game?! It's so blinding obvious we need someone creative to get the goals, why can't Mick or even Evans see we need someone else?! If we continue with the squad we have, I expect another mid table finish. We are far from contenders of getting promoted. Before people come in and say 'we're only 4 games in' yes we are, but we cant afford to fall behind so early. Every season we start slow, and look where that gets us. Makes me worry when Mick says he wont be signing anyone else. Like a lot of people, I'd like Tunnicliffe to start next game as he looks good when he comes on, he's also different to Skuse and Hyam. Also I'd like to see Anderson start for Edwards and a new captain is something that has to be looked at too. Chambers would suit that IMO. We cant give the excuse this week that we lost to a 'promotion contender' because every seems a promotion contender to us. We are mid-table at best.

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BillBlue added 18:35 - Aug 24 Sorry, three points from four games is disaster area and totally unacceptable. Keanish will accuse me of taking this opportunity to have a pop at Mick but I am not. Last year I think he did an excellent job and on at least three occasions I used the word excellent to describe his achievement but that was last year so what has changed? Well last year Mick was playing a team put together by his predecessor and this year he is playing his own team, that is the difference. I am unable to get out and go to matches so I am in a worse state than you who are lucky and can go, it gives you the opportunity to vent your anger by shouting it out, I cannot, all I can do is sit there and listen to Mick Mills (whom I dearly respect) feeling and describing every error to me. Today when dirty Leeds equalised I switched off because I knew it was the end. Our team do not have the bottle nor the coaching to come from behind and fight for a win. This is probably because they are coached to play for a draw and when they do score they go into their shells. I am very, very, unhappy. I do not want to upset anybody but that is the way I feel and I always try to speak the truth.

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Tonyitfc82 added 18:42 - Aug 24 I have said it all along that Loach its NOT good enough. Gutted...........
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TimmyH added 18:44 - Aug 24 @Billblue - and this time Sir it is me agreeing with you! yes I can't help feeling this is Mick's managerial style to play not to be defeated and if we can scrape a last minute goal all well and good and hence the calibre and style of player he prefers. To me as you put it IS Mick's 'season' as he will have a whole term with his 'own' players to achieve his goals not from the throws of the previous manager, so we can truly judge Mick on what happen's this season, and so far it hasn't started well but it's clearly early days but as mentioned many a previous season we don't want to be playing 'catch up' going into October. Also would be nice to see ME back Mick with some sort of finance this season or has it all gone on Mick's 1M bonus on keeping us up?

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directorsbox added 18:45 - Aug 24 I have long felt that we should make more out of the various set piece kicks near goal, whether free kicks or corners. In the second half we had nine corners, and three free kicks in the attacking third. Yet , other than a good header from Chambers at the death which just bounced up and over, very little positive emerged. There is absolutely no shame in scoring the majority of goals from such occasions.I believe that this is the single most important part of Ipswich's overall game that requires serious improvement.

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bluefeast added 18:48 - Aug 24 Today im afraid I was right despite all the minus of last weeks comments by me. Today we lacked creative ability and pace by our front 4 apart from 20 mins of first half. Macgoldrick was sound throughout. The reason we play longer balls is the lack of anything from Edwards absolutely terrible today and Tabb ineffective apart from 20 mins of first half.Murphy is struggling at the moment but with balls lumped at his head its hardly a shock.

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bluefeast added 18:49 - Aug 24 Edwards performance. He does not speak on the pitch. He put no crosses in to the box. His corners were terrible. Drop him for the good of the team.
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bluefeast added 18:51 - Aug 24 4 league games , 1 win 3 losses is to early to judge how a season is going to pan out. However Our problem is obvious ,we are not a team with goals in it.
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greentractorboy added 18:53 - Aug 24 Loach out!!!
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BillBlue added 18:57 - Aug 24 Thanks Timmy - bluefeast, I gave you several positives last week, did you really end up with a load of minuses? Mind you, you have some way to go to catch me, my best to date is 25!
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runaround added 18:58 - Aug 24 We were brilliant for 25 or so minutes & could have been more than 1 up with Cresswell very good. Unfortunately we didn't get the second goal & Leeds got lucky with a ricochet for the leveller. The injury at halftime to the orbzorber quietened the crowd & team were very slow out of the blocks with Loach seemingly at fault for McCormacks goal. After this we huffed & puffed but never looked like scoring despite getting plenty of corners but ball just wouldn't drop right. Midfield lacked creativity until Tunnicliffe came on & Edwards & Hyam were poor. No need to panic yet but we need to win at Brum now as my preseason hope is starting to diminish

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whosroundisitanyway added 18:58 - Aug 24 Despite being told that there is competition for every position on the pitch, today more than one looked happy with their "automatic" selection & played accordingly. Time for Mick to make some sweeping changes because the desire that has been touted by the managemet & players was somewhat lacking today in certain areas. If you were there you dont need telling who I'm talking about. Might be time to let some of the kids loose & give a wake up call to some of Micks favourites, cos like all managers he clearly has some.

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Casbo added 19:16 - Aug 24 Great first 20 minutes, fantastic goal from McGoldrick and then all down hill from there. Feel quite depressed as missed the Millwall game. Off to St Andrews next week but we must improve on that. Feel a few drinks are on the cards tonight.
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BillBlue added 19:18 - Aug 24 TimmyH - I just noticed you were talking about Henderson. Well last week I was reading Wetshams fans boards and many of them were saying that Henderson is no longer required and they were expecting us to go in for him. They are in the process of offloading several players after new people have come in.
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