Goals from Chris Martin and Ragnar Sigurdsson saw Fulham to a comfortable 2-0 Boxing Day victory over the Blues at Portman Road, their first win against Town for precisely 53 years. Martin opened the scoring with a freekick on 36, then sub Sigurdsson headed home a corner in the 78th minute but the margin of victory should have been wider.

Jonathan Douglas replaced the injured Jonny Williams in an otherwise unchanged Town team.

Andre Dozzell kept his place in a three-man midfield and was making his first home Championship appearance of the season. Leon Best was back on the bench with no place in the 18 for Luke Varney.

Fulham started the brighter and Christophe Berra did well to cut out a cross from the left. Following the corner, Whites skipper Tom Cairney screwed a shot well wide.

Town first threatened to create an opening in the 12th minute when, after good work from Brett Pitman, Dozzell played the ball towards the left of the area to Tom Lawrence who dummied for Douglas but the ball ran behind the breaking midfielder.

The visitors continued to dominate possession, prodding and probing and looking for an opening. On 17 Floyd Ayite was played in on the left of the area by Stefan Johansen but Berra slid in to make a fine saving challenge.

Fulham almost scored the goal their first-half performance deserved in the 32nd minute when Scott Malone crossed from the left and Chris Martin turned the ball towards goal from close range only for Bartosz Bialkowski to somehow keep the ball out with his feet.

Following the corner Kevin McDonald diverted the ball wide at the far post with what looked to be a hand.

But the goal Fulham deserved wasn’t too much longer in coming. After Cole Skuse had fouled Johansen 25 yards out, Martin hit a freekick which appeared to go through the Town wall before nestling in the corner of the net to Bialkowski’s right.

Having gained the lead, the visitors continued to control the game, passing the ball around slickly - the home crowd were chanting ‘we’re supposed to be at home’ with good reason - and a minute before half-time created another opening, Jonas Knudsen doing well to block from Sone Aluko from the right of the area.

As the half moved into injury time, Fulham keeper David Button was forced into his first save of the afternoon, the former Spurs man diving across to his right to palm defender Tim Ream’s header towards his own goal wide.

Town were unable to create anything from the corner and referee Oliver Langford’s whistle was met with boos from the home support.

The Blues had been thoroughly outplayed by the visitors throughout and on another afternoon might well have found themselves further behind.

Fulham had passed the ball around as well as anybody Town have faced this season, while Mick McCarthy’s men were left chasing shadows for the most part. That the closest they had come to a goal was Ream’s inadvertent late header summed up the half.

That the Cottagers ended the half only one goal up was perhaps the only positive, but Town needed to be a very much better prospect after the break.

As had seemed likely, McCarthy made immediate changes of personnel with Pitman and Dozzell, who had never really got into the game, although the 17-year-old was far from alone in that, replaced by Leon Best and David McGoldrick.

Town had more of the ball in the early stages of the second half but the visitors created the first opening when Ayite was found on the left and broke into the area before being halted by skipper Luke Chambers. From the resultant corner, the ball found Michael Madl but the centre-half was unable to get it under control and Skuse cleared.

Fulham had quickly reasserted their dominance and should have made it 2-0 just before the hour when an over-casual Webster lost possession to Aluko and Ayike was sent through on goal but was forced wide by Bialkowski and shot across the face of goal.

Denis Odoi was then harshly adjudged to have fouled Chambers as he shoulder-charged the Blues skipper and played the ball back into the box for Martin to tap home.

Bialkowski subsequently sent Sears away on the Town left and the ball eventually deflected off Knudsen and into the six-yard area before being claimed by Button. The Dane screwed a shot well wide after a later Town attack. On 64 McDonald was booked for a foul on Lawrence.

Despite those attacks, Fulham were still very much in the ascendency and again should have added to their lead in the 69th minute when Johansen crossed low from the left and Ayite smashed well wide when he should have scored.

As Bialkowski prepared to take the goalkick Lawrence was booked for an earlier foul. Soon after, McGoldrick joined him in the book for a late tackle on Madl.

Fulham wasted another opportunity to seal their victory in the 78th minute when, after a free-flowing moving which cut through the Blues, Ayite’s effort was saved by Bialkowski.

But the second goal finally came from the corner, Sigardsson nodding in Johansen’s flag-kick from close range.

The second Fulham goal, which had certainly been coming, prompted shouts of ‘Evans sort it out’ from the Sir Bobby Robson Stand and then later chants of ‘what a load of rubbish’.

Bialkowski saved from Cairney as the game moved into its final five minutes, then at the other end Chambers turned a Lawrence cross from the right well over.

Fulham saw out the final minutes comfortably while sections of the crowd chanted ‘McCarthy out’ and again called for owner Marcus Evans to ‘sort it out’.

Late on, Bialkowski saved from Martin from a tight angle before the final whistle was greeted by further loud boos. Manager McCarthy was booed by a section of the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand support as he made his way into the tunnel.

Prior to kick-off McCarthy said he wanted a unifying performance and result but he got anything but that with the Blues putting in as poor a display as they have this season against an excellent and attractive Fulham side who really should have scored more than two goals.

Town began the game on the back foot and never really recovered with Fulham, the best side to visit Portman Road this season, taking the game to them from the off and they could have been ahead prior to Martin’s goal.

The half-time changes briefly made a difference - and McGoldrick showed his quality in patches throughout the second period - but the visitors continued to dominate and while a repeat of their 10-1 Boxing Day victory back in 1963, their last victory over Town, was never on the cards, the margin could have been more significant if Ayite in particular had been less profligate

The result leaves the Blues in 16th, still eight points from the relegation zone, with Bristol City, who lost 3-2 at Wolves today, at Portman Road on Friday evening.

Town: Bialkowski, Knudsen, Chambers (c), Berra, Webster, Skuse, Douglas, Dozzell (Best 46), Sears, Lawrence, Pitman (McGoldrick 46). Unused: Gerken, Bru, Ward, Emmanuel, Kenlock.

Fulham: Button, Odoi, Ream, Madl, Malone, McDonald, Cairney (c), Ayite (Piazon 83), Johansen (Parker 90), Aluko (Sigurdsson 65), Martin. Unused: Bettinelli, Fredericks, Kebano, Smith. Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands). Att: 19,723 (Fulham: 907).

Photo: TWTD

Gazelle added 20:52 - Dec 26 Since my first match on 11-11-1950 against Bristol Rovers......lost 2-3..... I've seen many ups and downs but never have I seen a Town side so outclassed, so lacking in skills, ideas, interest and confidence. Bart in goal must be wondering how he can get away from this sad mess.
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blueboy1981 added 20:58 - Dec 26 ....... Gazelle - all credit to you for following / supporting the Club for so long - it must be really sad to look back over the years and see what we have seen today, and in recent times. Happy New Year to you.
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WindsorBlueArmy added 20:59 - Dec 26 Like many on this site I've supported Ipswich for years(54!!)and will continue to do so(250 mile round trip today).However,all I will say after today:thank God for Bart,the only player in back 4 who is comfortable on the ball is Webster,Skuse doing the job of 2 in midfield,why were Lawrence and Sears playing as extra full backs,why is Dozzell frightened to express himself and have natural talent coached out of him,why not play the ball to Pitmans feet and support him?At least Didz made a slight difference but Best would struggle at non league level! In the words of fans around me in Sir Bobby Robson Lower "we just want our Ipswich back".Surely Evans,Milne,McCarthy can see what the honourable course of action is.I doubt if they'll be more than 14000 of us there on Friday.Hope my New Years wish comes true!!!!!

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midastouch added 21:11 - Dec 26 So we had our AGM. Well I've got a new acronym for AGM: ARROGANT GROTESQUE MANAGER! What will it take for this Dinosaur of ours to go Missing? There aren't many clubs that would of showed the same patience as we have! He's lucky as there are certain clubs where he would of been strung up by now. Imagine if he was subjecting Napoli fans to such garbage! He's definitely had more than 9 lives at Ipswich and yet he's still here, well this is getting well beyond a joke now! How much more of this rubbish are we meant to endure?

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jas0999 added 21:18 - Dec 26 Gazelle - don't worry about Bart. Marcus Evans would be all to pleased to strip another asset and cash in. Respect to your support. Must be very demoralising watching this utter rubbish served up by MM.
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BrettenhamBlue added 21:38 - Dec 26 Positives Great performance by Bart Best played the best I have seen him in a Town shirt (he was still poor and not Championship standard) Skuse worked hard and did the work of two players Large, enthusiastic and expectant crowd Lucky to come away with 2-0- more like a 6-0 Negatives Bart overworked. Chambers is not a RB and was skimmed all day Beaten in all areas except goal keeping Did their goalkeeper even have a save to make? Did we get a shot on goal? Knudsen skimmed. Passed off the pitch Poor tactics Back to hoofing with no Murphy to hoof 2. All entertainment supplied by Fulham. God we looked poor today; back to our very worst. If we play like this against Lincoln, we will exit the cup

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BrettenhamBlue added 21:46 - Dec 26 Add to positives the fact that we are 8 points away from the drop zone and 5 points behind Norwich. Woeful display, the only reason we might survive relegation is due to how bad 3 other teams are.
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Battyboy added 21:49 - Dec 26 Time to give the under 23s midfielders a chance. They know how to play football and create and certainly keep the ball. Time for change!
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warktheline added 21:50 - Dec 26 Have a feeling McCarthy maybe gone within the next couple of days!
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grumpyoldman added 21:51 - Dec 26 If I could be bothered I could sit and work out all the money I have saved by not visiting PR for over a season, it would be more entertaining than watching the team according to those set in their ways who still attend. Why does anybody bother wasting their time or money still going? What will it take for Evans to make a change, after all his core business is entertaining clients, if any other division of his empire preformed so badly surely he would either change the leadership or sell up and cut his losses.

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WindsorBlueArmy added 22:00 - Dec 26 I see there is some honour left in football.The Port Vale manager has resigned after their latest defeat and things not going to plan!!!Could it happen in Suffolk?
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scooby added 22:10 - Dec 26 MARCUS EVANS PLEASE LEAVE NOW.Evans is the main problem.Yes Mcarthy could do better but give him some credit for what he has done with no money.with Evans in charge we will go nowhere no matter who the manager is.when he took over the club he tried to do the right thing for the club.now he doesn't back the football team in any way shape or form so please MR Evans for better or worse please go

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midastouch added 22:22 - Dec 26 I wish Mick would do what it says on the Fulham shirt but just stay there, and he could take Terry with him so he's got somebody to take photos with Mickey Mouse and Daffy Duck at Disney!
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GiveusaWave added 22:24 - Dec 26 Just can't be bothered, and neither can the team.Honestly think we will have a new manager in the next few days. He will need to do A LOT of work in order to bring this squad up to scratch. Appalling football.
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midastouch added 22:27 - Dec 26 Meant Donald Duck! And ducks seems a rather apt word right now in regard to our club. Our strikers keep coming up with ducks and our owner seems to be ducking what needs to be done, i.e. get rid of McCarthy and open up the chequebook for somebody else to try and repair the damage, which isn't going to be an easy task whatsoever! If Ipswich was a PC I would immediately reformat the hard drive and start again!

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bobble added 22:29 - Dec 26 At least its getting easy to predict the results 1-0 to bristol
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GiveusaWave added 22:30 - Dec 26 "Mad dog" Knudsen missed a bunch of tackles today, does really make me wonder what other nicknames we have in this squad?
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midastouch added 22:42 - Dec 26 I know Knusden tries hard and I was over the moon when he scored against Norwich. But he's obviously nowhere near the level of Cresswell or Mings. Mings had a few rough edges but he still had much more quality than Knudsen. When I heard Knudsen was being considered for a cap for Denmark I immediately thought how far they must have slipped. To think they had great players like the Laudrup brothers and even won the Euros (albeit by way of a back door pass). I know England are hardly pulling up trees but let's be honest, if Knusden was English he wouldn't be anywhere near the England squad and rightly so!

3

Rimsy added 23:09 - Dec 26 Got to the point I hope for relegation, it's embarrassing in this league. Rebuild with a manager who will get us playing football.
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DannyITFC added 23:14 - Dec 26 Today has in my eyes condemned Mick McCarthy for an exit hopefully this week. Quite simply it has not been good enough for weeks, the constant forcing talented individuals out of position is ruining them. Releasing Murphy was a huge mistake..... unless there is an adequate replacement lined up, not Leon Best with all due respect. MM has lost the crowd, how he can return after recent performances and in particular today! He has to be released now..... get Gary Rowett in so he has a shot with the transfer window. Certain player need to be released - Chambers, Douglas, Coke, Best all must go! We need to sign a big striker who is a leader like Murphy was and get Sears playing up front. Secondly we need a quality box to box midfielder...... then Chambers needs replacing with Emmanuel.... then sign another RB as cover. I would also play Kenlock instead of Knudsen. Change is needed now! Hopefully this week is the final straw...... if MM is still here against Bristol (which would be astonishing if he is) then I hope we lose to finally it the nail in the coffin, enabling a new younger manager to take over. #McCarthyOut

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heathen66 added 23:27 - Dec 26 How much longer is this going to be allowed to go on for ??? If I was Marcus Evans I would not give MM any money as he will only waste it on squad players that are no better than we have. We have some good players at this club who lack direction and motivation 8 players know they will play week in week out and here lies the problem. Under Mick we are one paced (slow) and play the long ball. Mick has ruined Chambers, Sears and now Ward, and if he is not careful Dozzell and Bishop may go the same way. Kenlock and Emmanuel will be loaned out in January to get match time, but ultimately remove the threat to Chambers and Knudsen. The should be getting match time with us !!! If Mick is still here come January (or his replacement), then he needs to find a CM to replace Skuse that can play box to box and has just a small amount of pace, and a striker that knows where the goal is and can play as part of a 4-4-2...yes 2 up front !!!

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midastouch added 00:15 - Dec 27 Our American cousins are showing us the way are they not? https://www.facebook.com/Fire-Mike-McCarthy-310362632339772/
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BrettenhamBlue added 01:30 - Dec 27 Heathen66 - other main issue is the quality of training opposition, our back up players are little to be desired. When you play against (frankly) vanarama north players in training you get over confident and when playing against quality opposition it's a big shock. Chambers and Knudsen looked in shock after they had been beaten a couple of times and started shouting/gesturing etc. We went into the game trying to control play and with minutes we went into FM16 contain mode and stated that way for the rest of the games. We wanted to minimise damage by containing goal difference. In the second half McGoldrick and Best picked up the pace a bit but midfielders and defenders were still guilty of time wasting, showing clear intent to minimise damage. We got 3 shots off target all game (1 of which was Douglas' 60 yard hoof towards the goal flag which was counted as a shot cos Cotton had to retrieve it. We urgently need a better overall squad, back up players need to be replaced and quality of whole team needs adjusting. We looked overconfident and were shell shocked and beaten by the end of the first half.

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TractorBoy666 added 02:03 - Dec 27 I stayed away today, I just didn't feel like spending my Boxing Day at PR and it sounded like I made the right decision. The amount of times I heard 'that's a let off for town' the score line could've AND should've been about 6 or 7. Players don't care, Sears being played out wide and has lost interest, wouldn't surprise me if Berra is more looking forward to leaving come the end of the season, Chambers the worst RB in the league, Webster potentially off, Knudsen woeful, Douglas and Skuse I give up talking about, and best just really isn't the best is he. Nobody is enjoying this anymore, since Christmas last year. Other clubs by now would have given them the bullet and I'd rather take a risk than head into league 1 anyway because that's where we are heading with this idiot in charge. Some say it's more down to Evans but Mick signed the Douglas, the Skuse, the best (he isn't, he's awful just like my puns) I just cannot be bothered to go watch Town anymore and I have never had that feeling EVER. MICK OUT

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whiskey added 02:30 - Dec 27 sad
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