David McGoldrick and Joe Garner were on target but couldn’t prevent the Blues from falling to a 3-2 defeat away against leaders Leeds United. The Whites went in front via Pierre-Michel Lasogga on 13, McGoldrick equalised on the half hour, before Kalvin Phillips’s goal two minutes later gave the home side a 2-1 half-time lead. Town improved after the break but went 3-1 behind when Bartosz Bialkowski dropped a corner over the line in the 67th minute, Garner pulled one back four minutes later but the Blues couldn’t find an equaliser.

Jonas Knudsen returned at left-back for Town, who were wearing all blue, after missing last week’s 2-0 victory over Bolton with a hamstring injury.

Tristan Nydam, 17, was handed his second Championship start at left midfield, while Callum Connolly and Myles Kenlock dropped to the bench having started against the Trotters. Dominic Iorfa moved to right-back in a 4-4-2 system.

Leeds made one change with skipper Liam Cooper replacing Pontus Jansson at the heart of the defence.

Jordan Spence picked up an early yellow card for a foul on Samuel Saiz 25 yards out, Lasogga slamming the freekick into the wall.

Leeds dominated possession in the opening minutes but without being able to create an opening.

However, on 13 they made their early superiority tell. Conor Shaughnessy threaded a pass for Lasogga, who was afforded a huge gap in the Town defence as he ran through and hit a powerful shot past Bialkowski to his right.

Joe Garner headed Town’s first chance over from a Grant Ward corner on 20 with the Blues having more of the ball after going behind.

On 23 Luke Ayling hit a shot wide from 25 yards after the Blues had failed to clear, then at the other end David McGoldrick seized on some hesitancy from Shaughnessy and brought the ball into the area on the left but his cutback was behind Garner.

In the 28th minute McGoldrick deftly took down a high ball and drove into the area before Ayling slid behind for a Town corner with the Blues’ flag-kicks - along with the woefully uncertain kicking of keeper Felix Wiedwald - causing the home side most danger.

And on the half hour it was a set piece from which the Blues scored their equaliser, albeit a freekick wide on the right. Spence sent the ball into the box and an unmarked McGoldrick nodded his fifth goal of the season past Wieldwald.

But parity lasted only two minutes. Saiz played the ball into the right of the box for Phillips, who reached it ahead of Bialkowski and took it past the keeper to his right before slipping it into the net from a tight angle to make it 2-1.

Knudsen joined Spence in referee Geoff Eltringham’s book in the 38th minute for a foul on Ezgjan Alioski, the freekick coming to nothing.

Leeds should have made it 3-1 in the 43rd minute when Pablo Hernandez played in Saiz on the left of the box but Blues skipper Luke Chambers dived in to make a vital block.

As the half moved towards injury time, Skuse found Garner on the left of the area with a well-weighted cross-field pass. The striker brought it down but his shot was deflected over.

The Blues went close to their second equaliser of the afternoon from the resultant corner. Chambers rose highest to head goalwards but Vurnon Anita nodded off the line at the post.

Although Leeds deserved their lead on the balance of the half overall, the Blues could easily have found themselves level at the break.

Having gone behind to a goal the Town backline will want to forget after a first quarter of an hour dominated by the home side, the Blues came more into the game and had looked dangerous from several set pieces prior to McGoldrick’s goal.

After immediately conceding another poor goal, the Blues were on the front foot towards the break with set pieces - and keeper Wiedwald’s hesitancy with the ball at his feet - remaining their main threat.

The Blues tweaked their midfield ahead of the second half, switching to a diamond with Nydam at the most advanced point, Adeyemi to the left, Ward to the right and Skuse deepest.

The switch appeared to pay immediate dividends with Town enjoying a long spell of possession early in the half. However, other than a Nydam shot which was blocked by Cooper, they were unable to create a significant opening.

But the Blues continued to look the better side and on 12, after McGoldrick had been felled as he broke towards the box, Knudsen hit a freekick into the Leeds wall.

Three minutes later, Garner sent a teasing cross from deep on the right towards McGoldrick bursting into the area on the left, but Ayling brilliantly slid across to block the Town number 10’s goal-bound effort. As Town prepared to take the corner, Leeds swapped Anita for Gaetano Beradi.

Leeds began to get back on top and on 63 Chambers made a superb saving challenge after Lasogga’s header had fallen to Saiz a few yards out.

Two minutes later, Alioski cut in from the right and hit a shot into the side-netting when a cross was a better option.

In the 67th minute the Whites were gifted their third goal. Hernandez’s corner from the left looked an easy one for Bialkowski to claim but the Polish keeper spilled the ball and allowed it to bounce behind the line, the referee quickly indicating that the goalline technology had confirmed it had crossed.

Town switched Nydam and Ward for Freddie Sears and Bersant Celina and only four minutes after the own goal pulled one back.

McGoldrick fed Iorfa wide on the right and the on-loan Wolves man whipped over a cross which was too close to Wiedwald. However, the Leeds keeper dropped what should have been a comfortable low catch and Garner slammed his fourth goal of the season into the net.

Cooper was booked for a foul on Garner then on 76 Leeds replaced Hernandez with Stuart Dallas.

As the game moved towards its final scheduled 10 minutes the Blues continued to take the game to Leeds with Celina starting to cause the home side’s backline problems with his direct running.

With six minutes remaining Town swapped McGoldrick for Martyn Waghorn, while Leeds replaced Lasogga with Jay-Roy Grot.

In four minutes of injury time Skuse was booked for a foul, then Town won two quick corners on the right from which Iorfa and Celina sent in subsequent crosses and Sears saw a shot blocked.

Leeds broke and Saiz curled an effort wide then, with Town still pushing for an equaliser, referee Geoff Eltringham ended the afternoon to the great delight of the Leeds contingent in a 34,002-strong crowd, whose side remain top of the division.

While Leeds deserved of their first-half lead, Town were better in the second half, keeping the ball as well as they have for a while, and will feel that a draw ultimately wouldn’t have been an unfair result.

Bialkowski’s own goal, a rare error from Town’s double Player of the Year winner, came at a time when the Blues were in the ascendency but was quickly cancelled out by Wiedweld’s mistake at the other. Despite pinning the home side back in their box in the closing stages, the chance from which Town might grab their third goal never came.

The result sees the Blues drop to sixth ahead of back-to-back home games against Sunderland, who lost 2-1 at home to Cardiff today, and Bristol City, who drew 0-0 at Norwich, on Tuesday and next Saturday.

Leeds: Wiedwald, Anita (Beradi 60), Cooper (c), Shaughnessy, Ayling, O'Kane, Phillips, Alioski, Hernandez (Dallas 76), Saiz, Lasogga (Grot 86). Unused: Lonergan, Pennington, Klich, Roofe.

Town: Bialkowski, Iorfa, Spence, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Ward (Sears 68), Adeyemi, Skuse, Nydam (Celina 68), Garner, McGoldrick (Waghorn 86). Unused: Gerken, Connolly, Kenlock, Woolfenden. Referee: Geoff Eltringham (County Durham). Att: 34,002 (Att: 693).

Photo: Action Images

Walk_the_Wark added 00:58 - Sep 24 Unlucky lads. I think we will get enough points to avoid relegation. Then its bye bye to our worst ever manager and the crowds will flood back
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ipswich134 added 01:21 - Sep 24 It should have been a draw. We do look better than we do for the last 2 matches . We still have plenty of players injured so only time will tell. I like the team fighting spirit!
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Minneapolis_ITFC added 01:24 - Sep 24 On the face of it to be beaten by one goal difference by an opposition team at their venue (and) who occupy the automatic promotion places of this division is to some extent commendable. Not only that, but the team played with some desire and ambition that was so evidently missing last season. Not so much a sense of pride, it hurts to lose any game we're involved in, but once again there would have been certain positives to take from today. Sympathy for Bialkowski and the error that gave the opposition their third goal but you can't castigate a player that has proved crucial on occasion in getting points and victories for the team. No goalkeeper in history is flawless and not without error, and for the one mistake made today, bear in mind the dozens before it that have assisted the team and brought us valuable points. As for everyone else, the defense would still seem a concern and there may have been moments of indecision or loss of focus at critical times, but as before today was another learning process and areas of play that can be improved upon. The team remains in a very good position to challenge.

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cat added 03:28 - Sep 24 Still not bac from dirty Leeds!! Lol
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Theipswich added 05:29 - Sep 24 We are still treading water with mm and I firmly believe if the stories coming out of Portman Road are true he is running down his contract that we are losing time and energy when we could be operating with a tactically innovative manger who will play "The Best Team" and not create an atmosphere ehere the players themselves know that certain players are effectively undroppable and the manager will.actually go out of his way not to play his best 11 in order not to please the fans despite glaring evidence that other players merit more consideration.

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blue75 added 06:59 - Sep 24 As I didn't go I can only comment on the stats and report. Possession at 47.5% is a huge improvement! Only 4 shots off target is also better, creating 14 chances is away is what we need to do more often. Good to see Nydam get a chance hopefully he'll get some more game time from now on.
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Swn98 added 07:50 - Sep 24 Psgblue Not competing against top clubs? I think we gave it a good go. Town fans that I speak to don't come on here so much because of the negativity and Rabid anti Mick raging that goes on here The majority of missing fans since last season are the over 60s that were shafted by the club. Overall the only game we didn't compete in was the Fulham game.
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runaround added 09:25 - Sep 24 Disappointing to lose but it doesn't seem like we gave it a real good go so that is a positive to take from it. 2 home matches in 7 days now & a real chance to gain some more points & go into the international break in a good position
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cat added 11:00 - Sep 24 Made my annual trip up to Leeds and came away very happy with the performance. Cannot fault any of the outfield players as they gave it a good go, even the ones who I regularly slate had very good performances. Didzy miss at 2.1 was the pivotal moment for me and you would have fancied him to put that one away. Very disappointed with the away support though, on entering the ground and showing my ticket to the steward his reply was "you can sit anywhere as your hardly bringing anyone", strange one that???? All in all a good day out marred only by being stuck on the last train home for 6 hrs followed by a rather tedious & expensive 2hr taxi ride home from Peterborough!!

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Seasider added 15:48 - Sep 24 Just a few observations having listened to Radio Suffolk,watched Channel 5 and the extended highlights on i player;as well as reading all comments on here,including those who went. cat seemed to have had an eventful day,and night on the train!Seems that away support now dwindling like home attendances? Having watched goals several times;their first two came down the inside right channel,with Chambers being passed for both goals.Would it have been better if Knudsen,a natural left footer,played there instead of the Captain.McCarthy would never drop Chambo;so if the 2 Centre Backs moved right to the exclusion of Iofa,bringing in the unlucky Kenlock as left back;would it have affected the result? I say this because Mick was not happy with the goals conceded. Why was Nydam included instead of Celina?Was it because he was better defensively,or was Yorkshire Mick being bloody minded,because he knew the fans wanted Bersant to start. Cant say loss is a good result;but performance was encouraging by all accounts;so we can look forward on Tuesday to playing yet another basement club. Hope he took off the excellent Didsy,to save him for Sunderland,and will give a first start to the Kosovan.Shouldn't mind seeing the back four shuffled either as mentioned above. COYB

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martin587 added 16:58 - Sep 24 For me David Mc was the best player on the pitch by far.I Personnelly thought we played very well and took the game to Leeds and were very unlucky to not have come away with a draw.You make a mistake and get punished. Some very good Lads now coming good and for me things are looking good.Still in the top six and a game in hand. Happy drive home knowing that we gave it our all,even though we lost.

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IpswichT62OldBoy added 17:13 - Sep 24 Good to see positive comments after loosing. Shows what a difference a change of style makes to the attitude of fans.
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1RWR added 20:08 - Sep 24 Walk-the-wark: I think you'll sadly find that MM's contract runs out Summer 2018 & if you read the clubs statement there's an option of a further 2 years which takes him & TC possibly to Summer 2020..........unless of course I've read the official Town website wrong? Not sure who's got the 'option' Town or MM. Sobering bloody thought innit?
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oldegold added 22:39 - Sep 24 Makes from reading that McCarthy is here till next Sunday.I make no excuses that we have not progressed in these 5 years..he has merely "kept us up"..but the football is the worst I have ever seen and a disgrace to the good name of our club.He doesn't have a clue simply put.I share the sentiments of thousands of Town fans and the next generation of young supporters who will be glad to see the back of his type of football,if you can call it that.

1

dirtydingusmagee added 08:43 - Sep 25 very unlucky, i feared we would be stuffed,i'll be honest. We did give it a good go, and Barts mistake was the killer,unfortunate as he is the one who normally pulls our a##e out of the fire.The game is in past now so we move on .
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