Daryl Murphy’s sixth goal for the Blues took Town to an important 1-0 victory over Barnsley at Portman Road. Roy Keane’s men were much the better side in the first half, however they were less impressive after the break but held on for a win which takes them to 15th in the table.

Boss Roy Keane made his expected changes after the midweek defeat at Watford. David Wright, Carlos Edwards, Pablo Couñago and David Norris came in for Liam Rosenior, Grant Leadbitter, Connor Wickham and Owen Garvan, the latter three named amongst the subs. Edwards went to right midfield with skipper Jon Walters on the left and Jack Colback in the centre.

Town, and particularly Pablo Couñago, started like a house on fire, the Spaniard sending Carlos Edwards away in space on the right in the second minute, but the Trinidadian hit a shot over the bar and into the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

A minute later, Couñago played Daryl Murphy in on goal but somehow Ryan Shotton got back to challenge the on-loan striker, who felt he had been fouled in what was certainly an obvious goalscoring opportunity, but referee Neil Swarbrick thought otherwise and play continued.

But Murphy was smiling again only moments later after Barnsley keeper Luke Steele rushed off his line to see the ball out of play on the Tykes right, only to be dispossessed by Pablo Couñago. The Spaniard took a couple of touches and passed the ball towards goal. It struck the post but Murphy was on hand to net his sixth goal of the season from close range, taking him to the top of the goal charts alongside Jons Stead and Walters.

Couñago continued his inspired first five minutes by teeing up Jack Colback on the edge of the area, the midfielder shooting only narrowly wide.

The Blues didn’t create another opportunity until the 14th minute when Murphy laid the ball back to Couñago, but his weak effort failed to test Steele. Barnsley meanwhile, had shown nothing of the form which had taken them out of the relegation zone and up to 12th in the table.

Just after the quarter hour, Murphy headed a half-cleared freekick back into the area, Gareth McAuley flicked on and Steele did well to tip around the post to his right.

Barnsley’s Bobby Hassell collided with an advertising hoarding and ended up in the photographers’ pit in front of the Britannia Stand when challenging Shane O’Connor in the 17th minute. The Tykes’ full-back required several minutes’ treatment for an arm injury, while Nathan Doyle simultaneously received attention for an ankle knock sustained when tackled by Couñago.

Jon Walters shot just wide on 22, then Jack Colback was booked for a foul on the in-the-wars Hassell in front of the dug-outs.

In the 28th minute Shotton again got back to stop Murphy when he was bearing down on goal, the Irishman once more feeling he had been fouled, although the first appeal was much the better of the two. Referee Swarbrick gave Barnsley a freekick.

Colback couldn’t find an in-space Edwards as the Blues broke on 34, then Damien Delaney’s cross-shot forced Steele into a sharp save, the keeper failing to hold on to the ball and lucky that it fell to one of his defenders. Soon after, Norris looped on to the roof of the Barnsley net from an O’Connor cross but with a couple of his team-mates offside.

In injury time, Shotton was a touch fortunate to stay on the pitch when he caught Couñago with his elbow. Referee Swarbrick indicated that this was why he was booking the Tykes defender with significantly less aggressive challenges receiving red cards at Portman Road and elsewhere in recent weeks.

Couñago joined Shotton in the referee’s book just before the whistle for a spot of revenge on the Barnsley player with Mr Swarbrick missing an earlier late tackle on Jon Walters just outside the box.

Town were deservedly in front at the interval and should have had the game won with Colback and Walters having come very close with shots from the edge of the area and Murphy having had a couple of opportunities, one of which might have yielded a penalty. After a frenetic start with most of the Blues’ forward play orchestrated by a newly invigorated Couñago, Town had threatened less as the half wore on.

Roy Keane’s men started the second period slowly, despite the now usual brief warm-up session. Early on Doyle shot wide after the Blues had repeatedly failed to clear.

Defender Stephen Foster shot over from a tight angle on the right with a hint of offside about his run, then Filipe Teixeira went wide. Boss Roy Keane decided his side needed a shake-up and Couñago, less involved as the match progressed, and Edwards were replaced by Connor Wickham and Jaime Peters.

The subs were quickly into the game with the Canadian making a strong run down the right, cutting in and sending a cross back from the byline to Wickham, who netted at the far post. Sadly for Town, the linesman flagged to indicate that the ball had gone out of play before it had been crossed.

Peters flicked a Wright cross wide as Town broke quickly, then a fine passing move from the Blues ended with Norris having a shot well saved by Steele down to his left.

But Barnsley were having the better of the half and in the 64th minute McAuley made a superb challenge on Jon Macken as the former loanee sought to divert a cross from the right into the net at the near post.

On 67 Brian Murphy almost sent Walters away in acres of space on halfway with Barnsley having committed far too many men forward but the keeper’s kick curled away from the Blues’ skipper and the danger was gone.

Barnsley midfielder Emil Hallfredsson shot wide on 69, then at the other end Hugo Colace headed a Colback cross only just over his own crossbar.

With 12 minutes remaining, Barnsley created their best opening of the match when sub Iain Hume was found in space just inside the area on the Tykes’ left but the midfielder hit David Wright with his shot when he at least should have tested Brian Murphy. Sub Reuben Noble-Lazarus’s rebound failed to sting the keeper’s hands.

David Norris was yellow-carded for a foul on Shotton as Barnsley broke, then Grant Leadbitter took over from Daryl Murphy as the Blues looked to strengthen defensively for the final 10 minutes, switching to a five-man midfield with Wickham up front on his own.

Barnsley put on the pressure with Town again showing their tendency to fail to clear their lines — perhaps the lesson Roy Keane complained that his players weren’t learning earlier in the week — but Daniel Bogdanovic’s header well wide was as near as they came to threatening Brian Murphy’s goal.

Town looked nervous as the game moved towards injury time, but Barnsley created little in the way of clear-cut opportunities, David Wright twice dispossessing Bogdanovic when the Maltese striker found himself in a potentially dangerous position.

Sub Jacob Butterfield’s shot from 25 yards was Barnsley’s final throw of the dice but Brian Murphy wasn’t going to be beaten and recorded his fourth clean sheet in his first four appearances at Portman Road.

Town deserved the win for their first half display but again failed to take the chances which would have sealed the three points and prevented the second half nerves. Once more the Blues were less impressive after the break, although Barnsley were a significantly better team in the second half than they had been in the first.

Late on, Town invited a lot of Barnsley pressure, which perhaps exacerbated the nerves both on the field and the terraces but one Tykes attack aside, Brian Murphy’s goal wasn’t overly threatened.

The early part of the first half was not dissimilar to the recent Cardiff display, while the second was more like the Scunthorpe match and the Blues’ inability to maintain a performance over the full 90 minutes remains a frustration.

However, after Tuesday’s display and result, a win was probably more important than the manner of the victory and the vital three points take the Blues to their highest position of the season and into mid-table, eight points away from both the relegation zone and the play-offs.

Town: B Murphy, D Wright, McAuley, Delaney, O'Connor, Edwards (Peters 55), Colback, Norris, Walters, D Murphy (Leadbitter 80), Counago (Wickham 55). Unused: Lee-Barrett, Garvan, Healy, Smith. Att: 20,558.

Photo: Action Images

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