The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Sport Saturday
Ipswich ride their luck to reach summit
Ipswich continue to defy gravity as their unlikely push to reach the Premier League gathered pace with a contentious win at Blackburn.
Conor Chaplin’s ninth- minute goal brought an eighth win in nine league games and took Ipswich top of the table, a position they retained when Leeds were held at Watford later in the day.
Blackburn, who laid siege late on in a forlorn quest for an equaliser, were left disgruntled after having three goals disallowed.
The first, which spared George Edmundson’s blushes after the Ipswich defender hoofed a clearance into his own net as he tried to deal with Ben Chrisene’s lob, was an open-and-shut case, but there was a serious doubt over the second five minutes later.
Joe Rankin- Costello’s deflected shot found the net but Sammie Szmodics, in an offside position, was judged by referee Stuart Attwell to be in goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky’s eyeline.
Blackburn had the ball in the net a third time in the 74th minute via Andy Moran but this time the goal was ruled out for a foul on Hladky by Scott Wharton.
Manager John Eustace felt his side were shortchanged. “I thought the referee had a fantastic view of the goal from Joe – Sammie wasn’t in front of the goalkeeper which was really disappointing,” he said. “The header wasn’t a foul on the goalkeeper – it was an attempt for the ball – and the offside was very, very tight.”
If Ipswich rode their luck, Blackburn had only themselves – or more specifically their goalkeeper Aynsley Pears – to blame for the decisive goal. Pears made a mess of dealing with Chaplin’s shot from 10 yards out, the Ipswich player finishing a slick move he had started with a lovely spin in midfield for his 13th goal of the season.
Ipswich were not at their fluent best but they just keep on chugging away. “It was a fantastic result,” said manager Kieran McKenna. “You have to win all different ways in the Championship. We’ve shown how we like to play the game but when the boys are at full stretch, you have to show different qualities to win.”