Boss Mick McCarthy felt his side were worthy of their 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough at Portman Road, despite the visitors having been on top in the opening spell.

McCarthy thought it was a deserved win: “It was, after the first 20 minutes when I thought we were better than us.

“I didn’t see the goal coming from a corner kick though, that disappointed me, but I thought that actually kick-started us. I thought we played well after that and got a deserved equaliser.

“And their keeper made a number of saves. He made one off Dids [David McGoldrick] in the first half, Tunners at the start of the second and a third one from Luke Chambers in the first half.

“Dean Gerken’s not had that much to do considering, so I think it was a deserved victory. But they made us work hard because they can play. They’re a good football team.”

The Town boss was delighted to see his Chambers, his right-back, get on the end of a cross from Aaron Cresswell, his left-back, to put the Blues in front just before the hour mark.

“It’s nice when it works,” he said. “I thought we got better in the first half when we got Luke Chambers further forward. It was a bit alien for him because he’s been playing centre-half for so long.

“Cressy got further forward and we got other players in midfield and it sorted the game out. I’ve been encouraging them all week to take a chance and get in the box.

“I was fuming at half-time because we’d had a corner kick that Chambo headed and none of them were running in at the far post and it would have been a goal for somebody. Chambo got his goal through taking his chance by getting in the box.”

He believes his team has been playing as well as they did today in previous games but without getting results: “I think so. Sometimes managers come up and tell lies and wear rose-coloured spectacles. I don’t think I do that.

“I think I’ve been telling the truth, we’ve been playing well but we’ve lacked the goals. I thought Didsy was magnificent today.

“We had one of the lowest conversion rates, so to get three goals and to make their keeper make three really good saves. Certainly off Tunners, off Luke Chambers in the first half and McGoldrick. We worked the keeper as well, so it’s been good.”

McCarthy had praise for half-time sub Murphy — “excellent” — and two-goal McGoldrick: “Terrific. I’m so delighted we got him.

“To be fair, Marcus supported that one from the start. He came in [initially on loan], we looked after him and he’s been fabulous for us. I’m really delighted, good player.

“I thought he was outstanding today and I think he has been. If you consider his performance at Birmingham two weeks ago, he hasn’t been getting his goals but the keepers have been making unbelievable saves from him and it looked like it might be the same today.

“He puts a real shift in as well, he drops in, you can link up off him, he’ll run the channels for you. I think he’s a proper player and I’m really pleased that we’ve got him, I think we’re lucky that we’ve got him.”

McCarthy was pleased with keeper Dean Gerken, who was making his home debut, and who he said had stitches at half-time: “He had a nasty cut on his knee, about a one-inch slice, it was just like he’d fallen on a blade.

"I don’t think he has but it was a deep cut and he had it stitched before he went back out for the second half. I’ve been pleased with him, he’s been great Deano. He just went for a ball and dived.”

Middlesbrough boss and one-time Town skipper and coach Tony Mowbray admitted the Blues were worth the three points: “I thought for 20 minutes we played some pretty decent football. We got ourselves in front deservedly.

“I think Ipswich are a team that do the basics of the game pretty well. They close down, they play it forward, they ask questions of you defensively and I think we fell a bit short defensively today.

“I have to say over the 90 minutes that Ipswich probably deserved their victory because of their honesty and hard work.”

He says he was expecting Town to get in a lot of crosses: “The Prozone statistics came out last week and Ipswich are the number one, top of the table for putting the ball in the opposition box.

“We knew that, there were no surprises, no secrets, they deliver it forwards and ultimately we didn’t deal well enough with that.”

Photo: Action Images

bluefeast added 19:00 - Sep 14 Lower the prices lower the prices lower the prices
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Robbie12345 added 19:05 - Sep 14 If we are top for putting the ball in the box, get in a decent striker on loan for the season (like Watford did for Vydra) and we will be un-beatable!
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TractorBoy666 added 19:17 - Sep 14 Honest comments from Mowbray like always, we were much better than them after 20. I'd rather see a more attacking midfielder in the middle though who will be able to get in the box and take a chance, Wordsworth springs to mind. Dave is such a good player, every time he gets on the ball I feel like something will happen. Murphy improved today too. Happy all round, now lets get 3 more points on Tuesday! Have to say the crowd were alive today, very good atmosphere for 14k of us in the stadium, just lower the price please Marcus.

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bluefeast added 19:19 - Sep 14 we cant halve the prices to double the gate , however drop them by 50% and get another 10000 in , do a buy 1 ticket get 1 half price could also work.
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eastwell_blue added 19:33 - Sep 14 who Dids?
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1Finshefki added 19:49 - Sep 14 we were better than us. I guess that's good..
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oscarwhiting added 20:00 - Sep 14 East well blue, dids is mr mcgoldrick. Sounds like a good performance today, but to here that there was only 15k in the ground is a bit disappointing. I think we could do with another striker to pair mcgoldrick and a creative midfielder aswell. My optimism is still sky high as it has never lowered my faith. Another 3 points on Tuesday please lads COYB.
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Mark added 20:06 - Sep 14 "here hear" re. lowering ticket prices. I wrote to the club and they responded that this is to reward season ticket holders. As a season ticket holder myself, I do not like to see the stadium half empty like today. That said, those who were there did create the best atmosphere for some time. It was a worrying start to the game, but we grew into it and it was a good match. McGoldrick is such a key player for us now, as he clearly is our best goal scorer since Bent. Let's hope he stays fit though, due to the lack of goals from his colleagues! Well done lads. Same again Tuesday please, then we'll be onto 10 points.

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bluedart added 20:19 - Sep 14 A bit of a porky in the write up. Deano cut his knee in the warm up, went up the tunnel got treated came for last 5 mins of warm up. Taylor was dragged by webster out of the main pack to warm up Loach... I was impressed today with Berra, Tunnicliff & Gerken dont think Big Frank and Andersen done themselves any favours.... on bbc suffolk Mick Mills disagreed with Berra playing instead of Chambers and hewitt at right back. You never made it as a manager Mills!!! Well done McCarthy for making the decisions. CMON U BLUES.. The guy in the wheel chair in front of section 5 sir bobby lower got the crowd going which resulted in us taking the lead..

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blueherts added 20:28 - Sep 14 Good atmosphere today - best for a while Murph was great when came on with DM - who is a class finisher Tunners !! is looking a really good player Hyam miss in second half summed up his game - would have swapped him for Wordy Skuse solis as ever AC and LC good overlapping Nouble - no thanks Anderson - yet to see him beat a man Very good day today and maybe we should go behind earlier more often - best we have played second half for a while and got deserved result Well done MM and TC

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bluemikey100 added 20:49 - Sep 14 thanx for prozone stats top for puttin crosses in so just put the ball in the net
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DerryfromBury added 20:55 - Sep 14 Good all round performance, with the exception of ??? who spent the whole of the 2nd half on the bench. Who would have thought some guy in the BR stand on the Big Base Drum could infuse 14,000 fans, Well done whoever you are!!!! you could see the enthusiasm of the crowd really cajoled the players on the pitch. Why cant it be like this every home game, fantastic atmosphere. Onwards and Upwards COM U BLUES......

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ArnieM added 20:55 - Sep 14 Why the hell don't we play the ball to feet, and especially McGoldrick. He will beat his man . I'd have Taylor with McGoldrick, and playing the ball on the deck. Those two would cream most defences.
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stoofer added 22:18 - Sep 14 like I said on a a previous post the drummer lifted the crowd ,please turn up every home game
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Keaneish added 23:13 - Sep 14 I thought we knocked the ball around well on the ground today ArnieM and mixed it up with a few aerial balls to Murphy quite nicely. Great to see him win all of his headers too. Looked like he wanted it a bit more today. Played the man to give himself a yard before going up for the header. Hopefully a bit more technique training rubbing off from TC!? Good to see the Britannia lower getting involved in some rhythmic clapping too!! Where did that come from!!? Mark - What does the club mean 'it's to reward season ticket holders'? Don't understand what you meant there. 15,000 is the lowest league attendance i've seen in a long time. No wonder we got off to a slow start, the atmosphere was dire in the first half!

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Mark added 23:50 - Sep 14 > What does the club mean 'it's to reward season ticket holders'? Don't understand what you meant there. They wrote that they set match day ticket prices in order to reward season ticket holders. It does not make sense to me either. I have posted the club's reply here: www.twtd.co.uk/forum/280791/i-wrote-to-the-club-about-ticket-prices-and-received-this-reply/#0
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Keaneish added 08:59 - Sep 15 Got it, cheers Mark. However, that's such a nonsense strategy! Why price people out as they haven't got a season ticket!? It doesn't make any sense. The policy is ludicrous and isn;t rational from one match day to the next. Millwall at home was £21 on the gate. Middlesboro £30. Where is the £9 difference coming from!? The supporters club need to get involved in this. 15,000 is not an acceptable attendance for any supporter whether season ticket or not. Did i read it was £63 in the Cobbold stand for a match day ticket!!? Anyone know when the next AGM is?

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tallguy6767 added 15:09 - Sep 15 Really chuffed we got 3 points,lets get another 3 on Tuesday and hopefully the season will be kick started. Its sad to see ground half empty, the club should take a good look at themselves they take the piss out of the fans with those prices!
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Langdon_Blue added 18:44 - Sep 15 Agree with the above comments regarding match day prices. To enable my child to get a good view I prefer to sit in the upper South Stand (rather than family areas which are usually unavailable or offer seats at pitch level) which for the two of us totalled £47.50!!. Although we won I still left feeling it was a rip off. Added to that the ridiculous decision to close the ticket office from 1:30pm on Saturday. Like many Ipswich fans we travel an hour to get to home games, so closing the ticket offices as the crowds begin to arrive at the ground is ridiculous....then to top it off after 1:30pm you can only pay by cash at some turnstiles, so was directed by Ipswich staff in the shop to walk about a mile away from the ground to draw money out. Not very customer friendly, considering the Clubs attendance on Saturday suggest they need to be attracting at least another 5-7,000 customers to attend their matches.

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bobble added 05:40 - Sep 16 guess if you are unemployed theres no football for you...
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bobble added 05:40 - Sep 16 guess if you are unemployed theres no football for you...
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muccletonjoe added 06:10 - Sep 16 Wheather the team is winning or not the pricing of these matches remains out of reach for many many people. As I have said previously , the club needs to get used to 15,000 gates and maybe less than that if they are too inflexible to change
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