Blues boss Paul Jewell felt his side thoroughly deserved their 1-0 victory over West Ham at Upton Park with former Hammer Lee Bowyer netting a late winner. The result was an early birthday present for Jewell, who celebrates his 47th birthday on Wednesday.

Jewell said: “I thought in the first half we were terrific, we passed the ball really well. Chops had a good opportunity and we’ve hit the inside of the post.

“Obviously they were always going to be a threat from set pieces and stuff, but I thought we really passed the ball well in the first half and should have gone in ahead. In the second half we weren’t quite as fluid but we dug in and were resilient.”

The Blues boss says Upton Park is somewhere he enjoys visiting: “It’s quite strange, when I was at Wigan, we used to beat West Ham most times here and they used to always beat us at home.

“It’s a great place to come and play football. It’s a lovely stadium, it’s a passionate ground. We knew we had to do a job on the crowd first and try and keep the ball and try and make them impatient. Credit to our players, I thought in the first half we were terrific.”

Jewell, whose side are up to 11th but on the same points as Peterborough in seventh, was pleased with the way his team kept going to the final whistle, despite most of them having played a lot of football over the last week: “It’s three games in eight days and it’s been the same team.

“Football’s a funny old game, as they say, and confidence is there. A month ago we looked bereft of ideas. We looked as if we couldn’t pick our feet up. We’ve had a little bit of a change of fortune and the players are full of confidence.”

The Town manager says Bowyer has a good goals record against his old club: “I think I read in the programme Mark Noble saying that Lee Bowyer has a habit of scoring against West Ham. It was obviously a great moment for him getting his first goal for us.

“In the first half I was expecting the one that hit the post to go in. You start to wonder if it’s going to be your night, but we kept going and on the break we had some good situations that we didn’t make the most of, but fair play to the players, I thought we deserved the win tonight.”

The clean sheet was Town’s third in a row, the first time they have achieved such a run since March 2005 when they beat Nottingham Forest 6-0, Cardiff City 1-0 and then drew 0-0 with Gillingham.

Jewell was full of praise for his two new centre-halves: “They’ve been terrific, Sonko and Danny Collins. You know what you’re going to get out of them — honesty.

“It’s a tough place to come. Carlton Cole and then John Carew on as substitute, they’re a handful and we did really well. We’re not the biggest team in the world and I was pleased with that side of the game as well.”

Overall, the Town manager was looking forward to Wednesday’s birthday celebrations: “It’s a great birthday present, it’ll make the 40th tomorrow very happy!”

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was angry that his side conceded their fourth late goal of the season but admitted his team were second best, particularly in the first half.

Allardyce says the Blues are the best team the Hammers have played so far and expects them to be in the shake-up come May: “For two years now they’ve spent a lot of money. What was it £18-£20 million that Roy spent in his first year?

“Jagger [Jewell] hasn’t spent that much but like myself has picked up some good experienced players that have got a lot of experience in the Premier League.

“They came together very nicely in the Coventry game and at Middlesbrough, and certainly today they’ve punished us.

“I think they’re as good a side as we’ve met, I have to say, even though we were poor and I was disappointed with the way we played. Some of that you have to put down to how well Ipswich played.”

Photo: Action Images

NastyPasty added 00:52 - Sep 28 Happy birthday boss (aka PJ) Have a gd un :-) n sure the last few results r a start of things 2 come..
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RedDust added 01:05 - Sep 28 Tonight was my first away game in near ten years.. geographical convienence played into it abit why I went but the opposition game gave me no reason to go.. (before kick off). it just felt like a "when all hope is lost game" before hand and turned into a expect nothing and got everything game when it finished!
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WickedBlue added 01:42 - Sep 28 Typical Ipswich fans. We lose and it's because we are rubbish, PJ is rubbish, the team is rubbish. We win a game everyone put us down to lose, against a team that has not lost in 7 games. And it's because they have had an off night. Not because we played so well. I do find when the opposing team is dominating you it is because they are that much better than you.
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superted added 03:08 - Sep 28 Living in ilford a lot of my mates are west ham fans, and they said although it was an average game, we did deserve it. Coming from their claret and blue tinted glasses that's a massive compliment trust me!! I think we're the first team to go at 'em football wise and they were very impressed by scotland. Personally I'm delighted with big Jas after being his biggest critic last year. I'm loving this humble pie!

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arc added 03:40 - Sep 28 "What was it £18-£20 million that Roy spent in his first year?" Typical Allardyce, always the victim, always talking about money. It wasn't close to that amount, and (as noted above) hardly any Keane players were playing. Very, very satisfying result.
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bobble added 04:42 - Sep 28 joint 7th looks like that 81-1 odds we got last week could bring in nearly 900 bucks blue skysssss nothing but blueskyyyyssss
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ericgates added 05:37 - Sep 28 pmason where are yer? Lets be havin yer ! Well done boys
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ipswichtown28 added 06:07 - Sep 28 What a game and what a display by the boys !!!!! Well worth the late night and the journey home brilliant game!!!
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DiamondGezzer added 06:27 - Sep 28 It isn't just that we won, it was the effort put in by the whole squad. A really well done to one and all. And how refreshing not to read one moan !!!!!!!! WICKEDBLUE :- agree entirely.
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itfcjc added 06:34 - Sep 28 Happy Birthday PJ
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broomfield123 added 06:54 - Sep 28 Well done lads. Apparently tevez is for sale
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michaeldownunder added 06:55 - Sep 28 What a great win commanding goalkeeper two solid c/halfs full backs that can get up the field and cross a ball to one of our players and not hit the first defender or row Z midfield that can pick out a pass and cover the space in front of the defence two strikers that want to get into the penalty area and score goals What more can we ask for from our team?
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itfc1981 added 07:21 - Sep 28 Big Sam must have hated saying that, deep down he hates us.
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Rob88_ITFC added 07:26 - Sep 28 Exciting times to be a town fan. Viva La Revolution!!!!!
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DashluvsITFC added 07:27 - Sep 28 An absolutely fantastic result for the lads against a top quality side..A brilliant performance!!!!The important thing is to keep the momentum goingnow and to continue to build on this. Am sure now PJ will do his best to keep the players focused on each game and the long season ahead....COYB.... This has now broken me into song........... Hello...is it ITFC you're looking for?? I can see it in your eyes..I can see it in your smile..you're all we have ever wanted.."PROMOTION TO PROMISED LAND"..... Cos you know just what to say...and you know just what to do...and ITFC wants to tell you believers....WE ARE GOING UP!!!!!! COYB...Keep it up.... Bring on Brighton..Portman Road will be rocking now...Hopefully now Chops will score his first goals at home, he certainly deserves to!!!!!!!!

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irishtim added 07:36 - Sep 28 brilliant well done. hhappy birthday pj
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bgexile added 07:39 - Sep 28 Taxi for pmason! shame you don't have the balls to creep on here today
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bluelady added 07:40 - Sep 28 Can't believe the last three wins have been down to three poor performances by the opposition.... more like our midfield bossing the game and not giving the other teams a chance, our defence snuffing out any attack and our strikers running rings around their defence.... was dreading Brighton now cant wait, my trip to peteborough seems a million miles away!
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IvorFeeling added 07:48 - Sep 28 Jewell out, Jewell out, PJ get out and enjoy your birthday. Great foresight mason! Fantastic win. Sign of a good team when we can keep clean sheets and score winners in the last 5-10 minutes, it's a happy habit to have. Great time to play Brighton who have lost 2 and drawn 1 of there last 3 games. Bring it on.
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Dissboyitfc added 07:49 - Sep 28 7 points from our last 3 games, 3 clean sheets, improving performances, real reason for optimism, where are all the knockers? where are all the idiots? its ok to have an opinion and when we are playing bad, but also when credits due , give it. Happy birthday paul, enjoy it , you deserve it........COYB
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scooterblue added 07:55 - Sep 28 yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. get in there. happy birthday pj but we are meant to give you a present not you to us.
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alexsmith111 added 08:04 - Sep 28 Christ its amazing what 2 weeks can do to opinions!!! Great result, im glad i put my money where my mouth was. Just looked at table, bet norris is glad he left! Pilock
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tractorboyupnorth added 08:27 - Sep 28 Great result and it so makes all the downs over the last few years feel an age ago, as PJ say's there is a long way to go but if we can't enjoy the good results when they come when can you!?! As a few others have mentioned before what I am liking the most is the compliments from the managers with regards Town being the best side they've come up against si far this season which has to stand for something. Onwards and Upwards with the Town! :0D

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tractorboyupnorth added 08:29 - Sep 28 ps. A very happy birthday PJ!
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EdJK added 08:36 - Sep 28 Great Result. Well down Town, and well done PJ!! Keep up the good work. Here are some of the highlights from last nights game if any of you missed them. http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/west-ham-ipswich-15469826/ Brighton Next.... Cant wait!!! COYB
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