Scott Arfield’s second half goal saw league leaders Burnley to a 1-0 victory over the Blues, their first win at Portman Road since January 1970. The midfielder stooped to head home in the 80th minute of a tight and keenly contested encounter.

Mick McCarthy named the expected unchanged line-up for the fifth game running with the only switch of personnel in the matchday 18 Jack Marriott coming on to the bench in place of Anthony Wordsworth. Championship leaders Burnley were also unchanged.

Clever work on the left from David McGoldrick conjured the first opportunity in the fifth minute. The striker found space for Ryan Tunnicliffe on the left and eventually received the ball back from Daryl Murphy inside the area, but ex-Canary Jason Shackell got across to block as the Blues’ top scorer looked to shoot.

Town had the better of the early stages of a game played on a wet surface with drizzle continuing to fall. Burnley’s only significant foray forward had been an early break down the left from Michael Kightly but his cross was easily cut out by Cresswell.

The Blues continued to have most of the ball but without threatening. At the other end, Dean Gerken had little trouble with Scott Arfield’s weak 22nd minute effort, then Christophe Berra did well to take the ball away from Danny Ings as the striker looked to take it down and past him on the edge of the area.

On 28 Hyam won the ball midway inside the Clarets’ half, Cresswell eventually crossing into the box where it fell to McGoldrick eight yards out. The striker tried to find space to shoot but could only scuff an effort goalwards which was cleared by Shackell. At the other end, Sam Vokes shot high and wide from a tight angle but having strayed offside.

Burnley right-back Kieran Trippier did superbly to reach a David Jones ball down the right in the 31st minute, his low ball flashing across the area.

Blues keeper Gerken suffered what appeared to be a knee injury in that incident as he and Vokes collided and, having received treatment on a couple of occasions, was eventually forced off, Scott Loach taking over in goal and making his first appearance since the Leeds defeat in August.

On 40 Kightly intercepted from Berra on the Burnley left but his low cross was cut out by Luke Chambers. Two minutes later, Paul Anderson headed past the post from a wayward Burnley clearance.

Just before the break Cole Skuse twice came close to opening his Town goals account. First he slammed a loose ball inside the area into Trippier's face inside the six-yard box, then Tunnicliffe teed him up 20 yards out and his strike flew narrowly past Tom Heaton’s left post.

Town just about had the better of the first half, although without having tested Heaton significantly. At the other end, the Blues backline had largely managed to nullify the threat presented by 19-goal strike pair Vokes and Ings, with Kightly, who was plucked from non-league Grays Athletic by Mick McCarthy during his Wolves days, the main threat down the left.

Soon after the break, Berra reached a Cresswell freekick from deep on the right but could only guide his header into Heaton’s midriff.

Anderson threaded Murphy through on the right of the area but Shackell got back to force the Town striker away from goal and eventually the ball out of play.

On 53 Vokes was sent away on goal by Scott Arfield but Chambers similarly got back to make a vital saving tackle and then clear the danger.

Four minutes later, McGoldrick flicked the ball into the path of Cresswell, but the left-back’s strike hit Shackell, referee Graham Scott waving away Town’s handball protests.

Burnley’s Dean Marney was left in a heap on the hour after he and Tunnicliffe chased a ball out of play and he collided with the advertising hoarding after appearing to slip on the Fieldturf surrounding the pitch. After treatment, the former Spurs man was OK to carry on.

Anderson shot wide from the edge of the box, then Skuse just failed to find McGoldrick with a flick over the Clarets’ backline from a similar area.

The game was evenly balanced. For Burnley, Ings tried to take a ball into feet past Berra but the Blues defender was alert to it. The resulting corner was cleared but quickly returned and Kightly hit a low shot after cutting in from the left, which Loach saved comfortably.

McGoldrick hit another strike wide in the 64th minute with the Blues still not testing keeper Heaton often enough.

The sides continued to largely cancel one another out and clear cut chances were rare with McGoldrick’s 75th minute looping header too high to threaten Heaton’s goal.

With 10 minutes remaining, Burnley went in front. Town half-cleared a cross from the left and Trippier returned the ball from deep on the right. Arfield had got away from his man, who looked to have been Hyam, who had only recently undergone treatment for a knee problem, and flicked a header beyond Loach and into the net.

McCarthy switched Jay Tabb and Frank Nouble for Anderson and Murphy as the game moved into its final five minutes with the Blues not particularly threatening to get an equaliser.

A minute and a half before the end of scheduled time, Shackell dispossessed Tabb in a dangerous area on the left inside the area, then Ings wasn’t far away from netting Burnley’s second as the match went into three minutes of injury time, his 25-yard shot flying past the angle of post and bar.

Late on Berra was thrown forward as an extra frontman and twice almost sent McGoldrick through on goal, but referee Scott’s whistle came soon afterwards to condemn McCarthy’s men to only their second home defeat of the season and Burnley’s first win at Portman Road in more than 43 years and only their second in their history.

The win and QPR's 2-2 draw at Millwall increases the Clarets' lead at the top of the table to two points with their start to the season now their best for 116 years. Town remain in 11th but now seven points from the play-offs.

It was a game in which the defences were largely on top and which could have gone either way. A draw might have been a fair reflection but Arfield took his side’s chance when it came, while all too often Town failed to make the most of their opportunities with Heaton tested too rarely.

While disappointed to lose, and probably with the manner of the goal, Mick McCarthy is unlikely to be too unhappy with his team’s display against the division’s surprise leaders.

Town: Gerken (Loach 39), Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Anderson (Tabb 85), Hyam, Skuse, Tunnicliffe, Murphy (Nouble 85), McGoldrick. Unused: Hewitt, Mings, Edwards, Marriott.

Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Mee, Marney (Edgar 88), Vokes, Ings, Jones, Kightly (Treacy 82), Arfield. Unused: Cisak, Lafferty, Stanislas, Long. Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire). Att: 16,062 (Burnley: 670).

Photo: Action Images

blueboy1981 added 19:20 - Oct 19 ..... this is all symptomatic of why MM will not be in as much demand as some of these people think - can't honestly see too many throwing mega bucks at him - including the FIA.
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AbujaBlue added 19:21 - Oct 19 Well that was an unfair result, made worse by the fact that their player kept the ball in quite blatantly with his arm in the same attacking move that led to their goal. How can the referee not have seen that? It was quite obviously deliberate . So poor, poor refereeing but we shouldn't have been so sloppy to let that goal in. Burnley are a top draw side that we should have been able to contain.

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Walk_the_Wark added 19:23 - Oct 19 JustSpivvy- spot on. Hope he goes to Ireland
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Tonyitfc82 added 19:47 - Oct 19 If we are still on this league for another couple of seasons I honestly dont think we will get more than 10thousant fans watching. My soon is now 8 years old and has never seen ipswich in the premiere league. MM needs to come and say if he is staying or going. This isnt good enough from him. Clearly he would go if he gets call from IFA. I honestly hope if he goes the so be it. Im sure there are plenty of better managers out there. MM might be a good championship manager for some but we could all agree that he is a very poor Premiere league manager. Rant over. Bring on Bolton.

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TimmyH added 19:54 - Oct 19 Yet another post not far off the mark jas0999 - see my post re: points dropped. So far with 12 games gone: W4 D3 L5 - Which basically tells us we're as inconsistent as ever, I wonder how many more points we should have had? 7/8 points? Only 2 clean sheets as well, can't help feeling with the steps we took forward last season in relation to the organisation of the team and the good defense which by the time MM took charge we would have ended up in 6th place. This season I feel we've taken a step backwards.

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ONENIL78 added 20:10 - Oct 19 Barnsley,next at home....that'll bring the crowds flocking back,especially as its getting near christmas
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firmfoundations added 20:20 - Oct 19 I really cannot believe some of the comments I have been reading. This is our team you are talking about and yes I agree some had off moments but look at where we are compared to this time last season. Don't forget we hit the post twice and had one shot whistle past the post. Lady luck has deserted us so far this season and that was the difference today. OK some of you will say that you make your own luck but come on we've not had any luck this year apart from David M's deflected goal and I think we all cheered that. So none of you have bad days at the office - how would you feel if your so called colleagues slatted you on a public forum just think what impact these negative comments have on our players and as for the negative comments on MM don't forget what he has done for us in the past twelve months. Lets have some positiveness and get behind the players and manager. Now there is one person I would willingly criticize and that is Marcus Evans about time he stopped being the invisible man and fronted us on his real ambitions for the club. No wonder he has buckets of money result of having short arms and deep pockets!

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Steelmonkey added 20:31 - Oct 19 My opinion is that the Ireland managers job has been decided for some time, when MM goes don't be too surprised to see George Burley reinstated. Shame, although he was not my choice for replacing Jewell, he has steadied the ship, he has come in and done the task he was asked to do. I also believe that this is why he has not been given funds by ME to strengthen the side, that will go to the new manager. Made sense to take that clause out of his new contract so that we would be entitled to compensation from the IFA when he departs. We have played today a team that's top of this division, riding high and full of confidence so a 0-1 defeat is not a major surprise, there seemed very little difference between the two sides in the first half and we were unfortunate not to go in a goal to the good at half time. Second half we just didn't turn up the wick, we don't seem to have depth on the bench to alter a game, change the style of formation. Nouble seems to offer no more than Nathan Ellington did. Not the impact player that you need to have when going a goal down and ten minutes left on the clock. Chins up lads COYB's

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Hegansheroes added 21:05 - Oct 19 I wasn't at the match today & didn't hear the Radio Suffolk commentary but I am not surprised at the result or the comments. MM has done his job at PR by keeping ITFC in the Championship, job done now please go. If Ipswich are going to move forward we need to play football. Very surprised Wordsworth was not even on the bench & Nouble was, this sums it up. McCarthy is a dinosaur, his tactics inept, his comments inane, the man is a waste of space. Please go to the ROI and bore Ireland.

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Kirbmeister added 21:11 - Oct 19 So we're half way through October and the comments are mostly slagging off MM and already taking about possible replacements. We don't take long to turn on our managers do we??
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fifeblue added 22:05 - Oct 19 I was at the 1-0 defeat against Burnley in January 1970. Pretty sure it was a Tuesday night. Poor result against an average team. But Ipswich will improve. They won't.
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Cakeman added 22:07 - Oct 19 Very ordinary fare today and the season thus fare, forget the results the entertainment is poor. Mick has built an excellent team spirit but the collective ability is somewhat wanting. I fear he has got the best out of the small squad he has so I do not see a lot of change over the coming months. Attendances will continue to drop and with it Micks squad strengthening purse. I think a lot of Town fans are believing this season has already just about fizzled out. Sorry for the negative post but it was not good today was it?

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ArnieM added 22:27 - Oct 19 at least we haven't spent £25m on second rate foreign imports (having abandoned our home grown lower league workman like roots) and now languish in the relegation zone, unable to buy a win, with clubs such as Man City, Man Utd , West Ham all to play in the coming month. It could be worse couldnt it !
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ChestnutSe added 22:40 - Oct 19 I thought we played the better football today and looked the better side. Unlucky to lose and a draw would have been a fair result to 2 teams that both competed really well. All these rubbish comments about Mick depress me, how can people be so stupid as to think we will be better off without the manager that has improved us at least 100% since he came here. Some people are so fickle. Apart from Leeds we have turned up and performed pretty well every game with only the top sides shading us for a result. It's a long season and we are not dead yet. Have a bit of faith that Mick's revolution will continue to progress at ITFC. All our previous successful managers have needed a bit of time to build their teams.

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shoopdelang added 01:39 - Oct 20 Justspivvychops.... We are where we are you are right. And thanks to Mick McCarthery thats the Championship instead of league 1!
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BrandonsBlues added 07:19 - Oct 20 Have said this before and will say again. We are half the team we need to be and only play half the game. So mid table at best this season.
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yun added 08:40 - Oct 20 The game stats tell the story once again. Plenty of chances but not enough penetration to make them count. We need a penalty box predator. Perhaps Taylor can do it when he comes back, but Frank Nouble certainly doesn't seem to be the answer.
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karls_dad added 09:09 - Oct 20 Said it before, so i,ll say it again, our Mr Nouble could not hit my garage door at 5 paces! Why does Mick persist in playing him? We need as above that game changer, that predator in the box, maybe Taylor is the answer? i don,t know, but things have certainly got to change and fast otherwise its another mid table finish. A squad of 18 is just not enough, why was,nt young Jack given a chance, scoring for fun in the youth team, young legs and desire, As for the rumoured move for MM, well as we should expect Mick will say nothing until its done, and i think he will go, get a 5 year contract and then retire, with a healthy bank account, and why not? who would,nt?

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GFH added 09:52 - Oct 20 Come on Mick show us some commitment so we can all get behind you. If you want to stay and see the job through just say you are but if you are considering the Ireland job just come out and say so, either way stop dicking us around its not good for the players or supporters. Todays performance wasn't bad, Burnley aren't top for no reason we just aren't quite there yet. COYB

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bluey123 added 11:18 - Oct 20 Too many players out of position Chambo & Smithy were awesome last season why break them up, Berra is a good player but been fitted in at the cost of breaking up a great partnership. Tunnicliffe wasted on the wing especially as Hyam having a poor season. As for Murphy very poor, we need a striker, we need some width act now or be happy with 15th or lower
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bluelodgeblue added 11:23 - Oct 20 Come on everyone, dont get at MM he's doing well with the team we have? if you have a go aim it at ME who has so far failed to back the best manage we have had for a while??
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Count_Arthur added 12:27 - Oct 20 Agree, with most comments, and I begin to question some of MMs tactics, I think he leaves it too late to bring on subs and it's always Tabb or Nouble that come on despite him bringing Mings and Marriott to the bench. I think a couple of young faces in the team might shake things up a bit, it's like he's playing it safe - but safe isn't grtting us goals! I also think Anderson will do really well for us, I'd rather have him see the whole match out than sub him towards the end, he's got us a couple of goals and think he'll get more when he settles in a bit more. I'm suprised his ratings are always on the low side on TWTD. Would like to see more from him Wordsworth & Marriott, rather then "Fall over" Frank up front! Did anyone notice he said after the match "I'm not interested in the Ireland job" and then paused and said "speculation"!? We've thrown two points away yesterday and four points from the previous two away games! Could do better!

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blue_moon09 added 12:30 - Oct 20 What a bunch a moaning and whinging part time fickle fans Town have it's embarrassing, MM saved our club last season, Town are not world beaters but if you actually went to games you would see that town are playing better football under MM and are just missing a couple of three players that might take them to the next level. Stop moaning on here and watch the team, IDIOTS.

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algarvefan added 12:52 - Oct 20 I'm not moaning blue_moon09 honestly, but think it's time for a bit of tinkering and experimenting with the team. Having a settled team is great providing you're winning but we're not! I would like to see Chambers go back in to partner Smith and work for the future by putting in Mings and Hewitt to make up the back four. Move Cresswell forward to do what he does best and move Tunnicliffe inside to partner Skuse in the centre. My jury is still out on Anderson but keep with him for now. McGoldrick is imo the best striker we have but Nouble has done nothing, get Marriott in and playing, he's a goalscorer. Oh and Loach is marginally the better keeper for me This football management is easy!!!

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PSGBlue added 13:05 - Oct 20 I don't know about anyone else but I find the whole ITFC experience dull! For the last 10 seasons its been mid or low table football, I am just fed up with it all, especially as there is at least another season of it to come. Just cast your minds back to last Tuesday England/Poland, how many of us were feeling sick with nerves with ten minutes to go with everything riding on the match. When was the last time we had that sort of drama at PR - under the Joe Royle days I suspect! Its no wonder we have falling attendances at PR, its not price but the product. Average football played by footballers and a manager who don;t really give a hoot about Ipswich (Hyam excepted). As MM will prove when he is lured away by something he thinks is better. The ITFC problem started with the taking over of ITFC by the faceless ME. How can anyone feel anything for a club when we don't even know who our leader is!

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