A solid performance by Town lead to Ipswich’s third consecutive victory. A goal at the beginning and end of the first half gave Town a commanding position within the game and dominated play for much of it. This was followed by a frantic finish where four goals were scored in the last 10 minutes.
Town got off to a flying start when Roberts netted his second of the campaign in the second minute of the game. Roberts finished from close range and slotted it past Nick Colgan in the Barnsley goal.
Silky passing and movement ensued for Town after this early goal and Ipswich should have been rewarded for this play by a couple of goals. Town nearly got the second goal through Alan Lee when he struck the Bar after neat work around the Barnsley area. However, the second did finally come when O’Callaghan got off the mark for Ipswich when his 25 yard drive finished in the bottom right corner and past Nick Colgan in the opposing goal.
After the half-time interval, Lee was replaced by Francis jeffers who made his return in blue colours after joining Ipswich on loan from Blackburn rovers until the end of the season.
The second half was played in much the same fashion as the first with Ipswich dominating once again. However, this changed when Nardiello scored a superb freekick from fully 25 yards which left Lewis Price in the Town goal and the Portman road faithful alike stunned.
Barnsley’s revival however was short lived as Ipswich netted three times in the last eight minutes of the game with close-range goals coming from Danny Haynes, Francis Jeffers and Jonathan Walters.
This left Town boss Magilton delighted with a good performance and a great result. Simon Davey (Barsnley manager), on the other hand, was less impressed with his team’s performance and conceded that changes needed to be made if they were to avoid the drop.
Player Ratings
Lewis Price
Not much to do during the course of the match and could do nothing about Nardiello’s freekick.
rating:6
David Wright
solid performance and no real flaws in his performance to pick on.
rating:7
Jason De Vos
Reliable as ever and held the Town defence together.
rating:7
Alex Bruce
Gave his all and is constantly improving since his arrival at Ipswich.
rating:7
Fabian Wilnis
Again proved critics wrong and did not show his age. made some vital challenges.
rating:8
Jaime Peters
lively performance but can be wasteful on the ball.
rating:6
George O’Callaghan
Great goal and thoroughly desrved his starting place.
rating:8
Owen Garvan
played many intelligent balls and again showed much maturity in his general play.
rating:8
Gary Roberts
Constantly a danger on the ball and took his goal well.
rating:7
Alan Lee
dangerous but should have scored when he hit the bar when scoring would have been easier.
rating:7
Jonathan Walters
Constantly running and showed great fitness. He did not give up on anything and was unlucky not to get more than one goal. He is adapting to championship football very well.
rating:9
Danny Haynes
Came on and made the difference as Town went on to rout Barnsley. Showed his lightening pace and took his goal ver well.
rating:8
Francis Jeffers
Showed his premiership quality and composure and was rewarded with a well deserved goal.
rating:8
