Colby Bishop scored twice - the second a penalty - as Accrington Stanley ended Town’s unbeaten run by defeating the Blues 2-0 at the Wham Stadium. Bishop nodded the opener in the 17th minute before converting from the spot on 41 after a foul by Toto Nsiala. Both sides ended the match with 10 men after Armando Dobra and Ross Sykes were red-carded for an off-the-ball clash with 11 minutes remaining.

Town were without Flynn Downes, James Norwood, Kane Vincent-Young and James Wilson for their first ever league game against Stanley.

Downes suffered a hip injury while away with England’s U20s, Norwood underwent groin surgery early last week, Vincent-Young suffered a groin problem at Fleetwood a fortnight ago, while Wilson is suspended for one game after his red card at Highbury.

One-time Stanley centre-half Toto Nsiala came into the back three for the first time this season, Gwion Edwards was at right wing-back, Andre Dozzell in midfield and Alan Judge playing off lone striker Kayden Jackson, who was facing his old club.

The Blues’ third ex-Accrington man Janoi Donacien was among the subs, as were Will Keane, Emyr Huws and Dobra.

Ex-Accrington man Jackson hit the first shot of the game in the second minute, an effort on the turn following a neat moving involving Dozzell, Skuse and Judge which was blocked.

Rain began to fall persistently as skipper Luke Chambers required a few minutes’ treatment and a bandage after taking a blow to his right eye in a clash with Offrande Zanzala.

On eight Garbutt whipped over a freekick from the right, which Judge flicked into the side-netting at the near post.

Town defended a couple of corners and then a freekick as Accrington started to see most of the ball as the game passed the quarter-hour mark.

And in the 18th minute Stanley took the lead. Sam Finley sent over a high, looping cross from the right and Bishop was allowed to head back across Tomas Holy and into the corner of the net.

A minute after the goal Nsiala was booked for a foul on Zanzala just inside the Town half, although the Accrington man had appeared to have gone to ground very easily.

Accrington continued to look the more threatening side, particularly when crosses were put into the box with the Blues’ backline less assured than has usually been the case.

Accrington should have doubled their lead in the 27th minute when Callum Johnson sent the ball into the box and Zanzala headed well wide when he ought to at least have hit the target.

Town came within inches of getting on terms in the 32nd minute. Skuse played a clever ball to Edwards on the right, the Welshman in turn finding Jackson, who crossed into the area.

Keeper Dimitar Evtimov failed to gather low down and the ball ricocheted towards goal off Judge. However, as Garbutt looked to add the final touch, Jordan Clark was able to clear off the line.

On 37 Zanzala flicked an effort wide from a Clark cross from the right with Accrington still looking the more dangerous side. Two minutes later, Chambers blocked Sean McConville’s effort from a cross from the right, where most of the home side’s threat was coming from.

In the 41st minute Stanley went two in front from the penalty spot. Nsiala clumsily clattered into Bishop as the pair challenged aerially and referee Sebastian Stockbridge pointed straight to the spot. Bishop slammed the penalty to Holy’s right and into the net to claim his second goal of the afternoon.

Edwards was booked for a foul midway inside the Town half before referee Stockbridge brought to a close a very disappointing half for the Blues.

After making a tidy enough start, Accrington had began to frustrate the Blues in midfield, forcing them into too many long balls. The home side subsequently began to threaten more and more, particularly via crosses from the right.

Bishop appeared to be in acres of space as he headed the opener while the push from Nsiala, who had a tough return to first team football, for the penalty all but gifted the striker his second of the game.

Town needed to be significantly better in the second half if they were to maintain their undefeated record and it was no surprise that Paul Lambert made changes ahead of the restart.

Nsiala and Andre Dozzell were switched for Dobra, who was making his league debut, and Danny Rowe. The Blues moved to 4-4-1-1 with Dobra off Jackson up front and Judge on the left wing and Rowe on the right.

Dobra made an immediate impression, winning a couple of corners with his direct running and also drawing a foul from Jerome Opoku which led to a booking.

Rowe scuffed an effort wide from distance with the Blues seeing more of the ball in the Accrington half but still without looking particularly convincing.

Town just about kept an Accrington corner from the right out of their goal in the 57th minute after the ball ran loose in the box. Two minutes later, Nolan was yellow-carded for a foul.

Finley hit a powerful 25-yard effort which deflected through to Holy on 61 after Judge had given the ball away midway inside his own half, then a minute later Clark cut in from the left before shooting wide when he ought to have played a low ball into the box.

Town had the ball cleared off the line for the second time in the afternoon in the 64th minute.

Following a corner on the right, the ball was sent back in by Garbutt and with the keeper flapping reached Luke Woolfenden at the far post where the centre-half stabbed towards goal only for Clark to block it. The referee waved away Town protests that it had struck Clark’s hand or that it had crossed the line in any case.

The Blues made their final change of the afternoon in the 66th minute with Judge, who had had a quiet afternoon, replaced by Anthony Georgiou. A minute later, Stanley swapped Opoku for Aji Alese.

Dobra was booked for a foul Accrington skipper Seamus Conneely in the 72nd minute, before McConville joined him in the book for a two-footed lunge on Edwards which might have led to a red card on another day.

On 75 Accrington switched Zanzala for Dion Charles, then two minutes later Joe Pritchard took over from McConville.

In the 79th minute both teams were reduced to 10 men. Dobra and Ross Sykes clashed off the ball on halfway - Dobra appearing to swing and arm and Sykes knocked him to the ground - and referee Stockbridge sent both players off with the Town sub, who had been the Blues’ brightest player in the second half, protesting his innocence as he left the field.

With four minutes remaining of scheduled time, sub Charles cut on from the left and smashed a shot over Holy’s bar.

The home side saw out six minutes of additional time to end Town’s unbeaten run at 11 games from the start of this season plus the home victory over Leeds on the final day of the last campaign.

Aside from Woolfenden’s effort off the line - which looked a debatable decision - the Blues never really threatened and Accrington had more chances to add to their lead.

Other than a brief spell at the start of the first half, Town were never on top of the home side, who won the battle in midfield and deservedly grabbed their goals before seeing the game out in relative comfort in the second half.

Despite regular starters Downes, Norwood, Wilson and Vincent-Young having missed out, manager Lambert will have believed the team he fielded should to have been enough to beat Accrington, who are starting to emerge as a bogey side for the Blues.

The Blues' post-international break blues continue with 21 games now having passed since they beat Millwall 2-0 in September 2014, the last time they won following a gap for international fixtures.

Their record in front of the Sky cameras similarly stretches to 15 matches since a December 2015 win away against the MK Dons.

Town, whose lead at the top of the table is now one point with one game in hand, are next in action at Portman Road on Wednesday when Rotherham visit.

Accrington: Evtimov, Johnson, Hughes, Sykes, Clark, Finley, Zanzala (Charles 75), McConville (Pritchard 77), Bishop, Conneely (c), Opoku (Alese 67). Unused: Bursik, Edwards, Kaba Sharif, Carvahlo.

Town: Holy, Woolfenden, Chambers (c), Nsiala (Dobra 46), Edwards, Skuse, Dozzell (Rowe 46), Nolan, Garbutt, Judge (Georgiou 66), Jackson. Unused: Norris, Donacien, Huws, Keane. Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge (Tyne and Wear). Att: 3,567.

Photo: TWTD

Bluewelshman added 14:42 - Oct 20 WTF was that. Ipswich were poor in every area of the pitch today, we couldn't seem to win the 50/50 balls, we couldn't compete with the aggressive nature of the Accrington Stanley players, and had no creativity what so ever. I struggled to understand the team picked, Dozzel instead of Huws, and Judge alongside Jackson instead of Keane. I had no issue with Gwion playing, but he was out muscled by the opposition players to easily. Nsiala for me was the worst player we had on the pitch, he had no idea what he was doing, couldn't mark, tackle, clear, or pass. I hope Lambert thinks twice next time he puts him in the team. All In all nothing worked for us today, whether it was because we lost momentum due to cancelling the game during the international break, the fact we barely ever win when we are on TV, poor team selection, or the start time, I don't know. All I know is we have to perform much better on Wednesday, or we could start seeing us slip like Sunderland, and Portsmouth last season. COYB

5

Pezzer added 14:44 - Oct 20 Watched it in Sky. We were poor but the referee seemed to give them a lot of 50/50 decisions. I knew after 10 seconds, when he gave their defender a free kick straight from the kick off for a very soft challenge by Jackson the ref was going to be bad. I think Nsiala was getting his shirt pulled clearly then ended up being booked!
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therein61 added 14:44 - Oct 20 Hope it's just a blip we were never going through the season unbeaten, if nothing else it proves we need to sign Wilson up for longer.
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ringwoodblue added 14:47 - Oct 20 And one other thing, how on earth does Dozzell manage to get into the England squad ? Does he play much better in internationals? He's probably our worst midfielder!
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JackDeVos added 14:47 - Oct 20 Glimpse of last seasons football being played today, long balls and strikers chasing. No surprise the four injured making the difference. Norwood's presence much needed up top along with Downes aggression and KVY ability to get forward. Nsiala and Edwards very poor. Dozzell invisible again, could be time to cash in and Judge looks very lost. Hopefully now the first loss has come we've been brought back down to earth and can put things right Wednesday!

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delias_cheesy_flaps added 14:48 - Oct 20 I have to say Captain Calamity was probably our best player today IMHO. Otherwise it was a shocker, we really do need people to get down the wings and take players on, playing the ball in front of teams really doesn't cause that many problems. Also playing the ball across our back three instead of looking for a pass forward from our midfielders really is starting to grate!

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dirtydingusmagee added 14:49 - Oct 20 everything about todays game screamed 2018, sincerely hope this turns out to be a blip. At some point we were going to lose a game, and return from break and Sky tv ,did make this a good candidate,and so it turned out to be. I ,and others didnt like postponing games while we were on a good run of results ,to keep momentum. The next couple of games will show where we are at , we must come back with a vastly improved performance. Judge really isnt cutting it and has yet to prove his worth IMO .Very disapointing result .

4

OldClactonBlue added 14:56 - Oct 20 Inghamspur, why was the ref appalling? Dobra clearly looked to have taken a swing at Sykes and it's the linesman who is responsible for judging whether the ball crossed the line. He wasn't the reason we were second to the ball far too often and regularly misplacing passes. This is League One and he's a League One ref, to go with the players on today's showing.
2

linhdi added 15:00 - Oct 20 Nsiala's performance will hopefully prove to be the worst by a Town player in any game all season. And his last for the club. Utterly useless.
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 15:04 - Oct 20 OldClacton I think maybe he was referring to the whole game , which I agree with , he was apalling . The only thing I think he got right were the red cards. Not the reason we lost though. That was down to us.
2

ShropshireBluenago09 added 15:05 - Oct 20 Looked like the ref lost control from what I saw.
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richardpaul added 15:15 - Oct 20 I watched the game on Sky Ipswich were never in the game and were lucky not to concede more I agree with comments here ref Dozzell and Judge just not good enough Nsiala wouldn't get a game in the local pub team Hope this was a blip and that they come back stronger against Rotherham but it needs the regulars to return
2

planetblue_2011 added 15:16 - Oct 20 Well done Accrington Stanley!! normally I'm not very congratulating to the other team but they deserved the win, we just couldn't get into the game. 2nd half was a bit better but still couldn't find a way through. Then again if the second goal line clearance was given a goal, then the game could of changed. I think it crossed the line to be honest but there you go it wasn't our day. Just a bad day at the office. You can't win them all!!! The pitch was very small that might of been a reason we couldn't play our normal fluent football. Think we missed Wilson at the back & Vincent young, even tho I thought Edwards was one of our better players. Missed Downes & Norwood up front. Not enough support for Jackson. That's it really COYB for weds night another tough game.

2

runaround added 15:25 - Oct 20 Embarrassingly poor performance from ITFC on TV yet again. With the players we had unavailable today I did feel we didn't have the personnel to play the 3-4-1-2 formation effectively and so it proved. Edwards is not a wingback & Judge is not a striker so both struggled. Nsiala & Dozzell both came in from the cold & didn't do their chances any good with the former having a mare. Things could have been different it the 2 off the line had gone in or in the case of the second one been seen as it was a goal! But we just didn't do enough to not lose & to be honest let themselves down today. How the players react to this Wednesday will be important as it's important to return to winning ways

3

H1960 added 15:36 - Oct 20 Sorry Walk the Walk marked you down instead of up (fat fingers) totally agree with you
0

fistpumpfury added 15:39 - Oct 20 Sorry old display. Poor passing, poor ball control, poor decision making, the return of MM “hoof ball” and awful corners. Other than that we were sh*te. A very disappointing display by very player on the field. Well done Stanley. You fully deserved your win. You outplayed, out muscled, out passed and and out paced us all the field. I hope our club takes this as a wake up call. We won't get many other chances so if we're to truly be there at the reckoning in Kay this'll be where we learn our hardest lesson. Failure to do so will see us in the league for a few seasons yet.

0

RegencyBlue added 15:44 - Oct 20 We had to lose at some point but the trick will be how we react to it. If it turns out to be a blip, and nothing more, It will just go down as one of those days. Need a big performance on Wednesday to wipe the memory of this abject performance away!
3

warwickblue added 15:45 - Oct 20 Hate to say it but surely it's time for Dozell to move on. Lambert has always reminded us that there would be bumps along the way... and today was simply one of those. But it is interesting to see that our apparently strong and big squad can look distinctly thin with just a few key absences. No cohesion today. No purpose in midfield. Stretched wide open at the back and Jackson isolated and marked out of the game up front. Get Wilson's contract sorted this week! Looking forward to Rotherham on Wednesday.

2

ChrisFelix added 15:47 - Oct 20 I agree this was a throw back to last season. An over crowded midfield & no support for the lone striker. Although Norwood hasnt set the league alight his presence scares the opponents. He lets them know he is there !!!
0

londontractorboy57 added 15:49 - Oct 20 muhrensleftfoot Lambert needs to learn some lessons. I will forward yours pearls of wisdom I am sure he will appreciate them.
0

sydneytown added 16:05 - Oct 20 Disappointed but early days hopefully will learn from that not keen on judge and dozell too lightweight for me in this league
0

runningout added 16:11 - Oct 20 We will have plenty of blips if our jokers of professional footballers play like numpties again
1

Lightningboy added 16:22 - Oct 20 Terrible tv performance yet again - what the hell is it with them? As for Nsiala - the guy is a liability & should be 4th choice at best. And as for Dozzell & Judge - i'm just not seeing anything from them at all. Poor selection from Lambo today unfortunately combined with everyone having an off day = 💩 Let's hope we can put this disaster behind us asap.
3

herfie added 16:41 - Oct 20 Team selections and PL's set up notwithstanding, the fact that the majority of those wearing the shirts allowed basic footballing standards to drop so dramatically, in the face of AS's desire and simple game plan, is worrying. Don't agree with PL's post match comment to the effect that we were bound to lose at some point, as some sort of justification for today's tepid performance. Should imagine the Rotherham manager and players will be reflecting carefully/hopefully ahead of Wednesday's match. No repeat performance - whoever pulls on the shirts.

0

Nobbysnuts added 16:41 - Oct 20 What a load of crap. Didnt think we would be getting a footballing lesson off accrington Stanley but that's what happened. More like the Ipswich of last season. Crap defending and toothless up front. Poor ref as well didn't help. We have got away with a few this season but not today. Poor. Very poor.
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