Town continued their return to form with a win over Paul Bracewell's Fulham. A late goal from substitute Martijn Reuser on his debut was enough to see Town hold onto second spot as Manchester City and Birmingham both came from behind to win.

Town lined up playing 4-4-2 with John McGreal returning to the side and Mark Venus playing at left back instead of the injured Fabian Wilnis.

Town dominated the first half with Fulham not having a shot on target until injury time. Prior to that the Fulham goal was peppered with shots, but with Maik Taylor on top form and some of the Town shooting not up to scratch. Matt Holland had a few chances, David Johnson scuffed a shot and Jamie Clapham had a superb shot excellently saved by Taylor.

The second half saw a bit more from Fulham, but the majority of chances still came from Town. Tony Mowbray would feel unlucky not to have scored when his header from a corner was spectacularly put over the bar by Taylor. Clapham had another good shot pushed wide as the afternoon looked to be another frustrating one for Town fans.

Town changed things bringing off the excellent Jermaine Wright and James Scowcroft, giving new boy Reuser and Richard Naylor a chance to prove them selves. Reuser seemed to have been given a free role as he seemed to wander about somewhere between the midfield and forwards. He put in a couple of nice crosses and put Matt Holland through on goal when the Town skipper should have done better than put his shot wide of the post. However, the substitutions didn't appear to have given Town anything more than they had already got. This changed in the last minute when Reuser poked a Jim Magilton pass through Taylor's legs and ran off to celebrate with the Cobbold, his shirt being waved like a flag. Three minutes of injury time and the points were Town's. Starting to look good again isn't it. Town fans will be praying that Grimsby can beat Barnsley on Monday night to keep Town clear on points.

R Wright 7 Little to do

Venus 6 Passing not great (Stockwell 81)

Mowbray 7 Unlucky not to score

McGreal 7 Got forward well

Croft 7 Did well again

Clapham 7 Needs to get forward further

Holland 6 Had five good chances to score

Magilton 8 Passed well

J Wright 8 Playing well at the moment (Reuser 76)

Johnson 8 Caused a lot of hassle up front

Scowcroft 7 Injury for James? (Naylor 75)

Photo: Action Images

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