Kenneth Zohore’s 65th minute goal was enough to give Cardiff City a 1-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road. The Dane netted at the second attempt after initially missing his volley and the ball striking his hand, the visitors having improved after the break after Town had been on top in the first half.

The Blues made five changes to the team which drew 1-1 at Carrow Road on Sunday with Joe Garner and David McGoldrick missing out through injury, and Martyn Waghorn dropping to the bench.

Manager Mick McCarthy stuck with the three-man backline of Cameron Carter-Vickers, skipper Luke Chambers and Adam Webster, while Jordan Spence returned at right wing-back for Dominic Iorfa, who dropped to the bench, and Jonas Knudsen continued on the left.

Cole Skuse was joined by Luke Hyam, making his first league start since May 2016, in midfield with Callum Connolly and Stephen Gleeson among the subs. Mustapha Carayol was a late withdrawal due to illness. Grant Ward, Bersant Celina and Freddie Sears formed a front three.

Cardiff made three changes to the team which beat Middlesbrough 1-0 at the weekend with Armand Traore and Callum Paterson missing out through injury, and Joe Bennett due to illness. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Matthew Connolly and Loic Damour came into the team. Ex-Blues keeper Brian Murphy was among their subs.

The Bluebirds might have gone ahead after a minute at a very quiet and noticeably empty Portman Road with the crowd of 13,205 the lowest for a home league game since 11,596 watched a 3-0 victory over Bradford in September 1998.

After Town had made heavy weather of clearing a corner, the ball fell to Connolly, who scuffed wide when he will feel he ought to have done better.

Marko Grujic shot over the top for the Bluebirds on 12 but chances were virtually non-existent in an opening 20 minutes in which the sides battled to gain the upper hand.

Town began to get on top as the game approached the 25-minute mark, Adam Webster nodding a right-wing Celina cross wide from beyond the far post.

The Blues went nearer to an opening goal on 27 when Sears cleverly fed Ward, who struck a low 20-yard shot which Cardiff keeper Neil Etheridge bundled past his left post.

Following the corner, Spence brought the ball back towards the area from deep before hitting an effort which was blocked and then unconvincingly cleared.

Hyam saw a shot deflect up into Philippines international Etheridge’s hands off Sol Bamba on 36.

A minute later the Blues went close again. Spence sent Sears away on the right and the former West Ham striker, who is without a goal in 30 matches, cut in and hit a shot which looked goal-bound until it deflected wide.

Town continued to look the more likely scorers playing the better football and in the 38th minute Spence flicked a header towards goal but without getting much power on it and Grujic cleared from in front of the line.

Cardiff were forced into a change in the 40th minute, skipper Sean Morrison making way for Greg Halford.

Three minutes later, Skuse played a deft ball into the path of Celina but the on-loan Manchester City’s man’s touch past the advancing Etheridge took the ball out of play.

Town were applauded off at the end of a half in which they had been the better side and had come closest to scoring through Sears, who was unfortunate to see his strike deflect wide.

The Blues had begun to get the upper hand midway through the half and were in control and passing the ball around with increasing confidence at the whistle.

Under-par Cardiff’s only significant chance came in the opening moments through Connolly with Bartosz Bialkowski in the Blues goal untested.

The Bluebirds swapped Grujic for Gary Madine ahead of the second half but it was Town who went closest to a goal in the early moments after the break.

Ward won a corner on the right, Celina whipped it over and Webster headed over at the near post when he will feel he might have done better.

The Blues continued to look the more dangerous side, Ward doing well to find himself space on the right before sending in a low ball which deflected behind off a Town player.

However, Cardiff gradually began to get on top with sub Madine making an impact. On 63 Damour screwed a shot wide from distance.

Two minutes later, the Bluebirds took the lead. Joe Ralls’s freekick was won in the air by Madine and knocked back to Zohore. The Dane missed his first strike but recovered - after the ball inadvertently struck his hand - to slot low to Biakowski’s right.

Zohore went close to a second in the 68th minute but sent his header from Junior Hoilett’s freekick over the bar. On 74 Connolly replaced Hyam for the Blues.

Town hadn’t threatened since the early stages of the second half, but in the 75th minute Celina broke forward before finding Ward on the right. The ex-Spurs man cut in but shot across the face of goal.

Two minutes later, Celina took the ball past two Cardiff defenders not far outside the Bluebirds’ box but shot straight at Etheridge.

Town were beginning to get back on top and in the 78th minute Skuse saw what looked a goal-bound shot blocked.

Moments later Cardiff defender Connolly turned Ward’s dangerous right-wing cross over, prior to Waghorn taking over from Spence, Carter-Vickers moving to right-back. Damour’s 84th minute shot deflected wide, before Kevin Bru replaced Ward for the Blues.

As the game moved into its final scheduled five minutes, Waghorn hit a shot against a defender, then Craig Bryson replaced goalscorer Zahore for the visitors.

In injury time, referee Andy Davies frustrated the Blues’ players by awarding a freekick against Carter-Vickers as he tussled with Halford as a corner came across from the left. Bryson was booked for time-wasting.

The Blues continued to push for an equaliser in the remaining minutes but never convincingly and the referee’s whistle confirmed a first defeat in four, leading to muted boos from some sections of the Town support.

Having been the better side in the first half, the Blues started the second in the same manner but the visitors eventually got on top without ever dominating and eventually profited from the one break in either box, with neither keeper overly tested throughout. Once again Town ended up defeated in a game which had had little in it.

The Blues, who are without a goal in their last three home games and have scored two in their last seven at Portman Road, drop to 14th, below Norwich, who claimed another last-gasp draw against Wolves, now nine points off the top six.

Town are next in action at ninth-placed Preston, who have now lost just once in the league in 18 matches, on Saturday.

Town: Bialkowski, Spence (Waghorn 79), Chambers (c), Webster, Carter-Vickers, Knudsen, Ward (Bru 85), Skuse, Hyam (Connolly 74), Celina, Sears. Unused: M Crowe, Kenlock, Gleeson, Iorfa.

""Cardiff: Etheridge, Morrison (c) (Halford 40), Manga, Ralls, Zohore (Bryson 86), Bamba, Connolly, Mendez-Laing, Damour, Grujic (Madine 46), Hoilett. Unused: Murphy, Feeney, Pilkington, Wildschut. Referee: Andy Davies (Hampshire). Att: 13,205 (Cardiff: 371)

Photo: TWTD

BraveDave added 22:27 - Feb 21 Also, it showed the general poor state of the Championship. Cardiff, Ipswich, Burton. Not much between any of them. It wouldn't have taken a massive improvement from us to have been up there challenging, but haven't quite got the squad for it. Roll on England and the World Cup!
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blueboy1981 added 22:27 - Feb 21 .......... the state of the pitch (once one that every player wanted to play on) - proves that the Owner doesn't care two hoots about the longevity, and well being of this Club. If he could, he probably would have purchased Portman Road before now - and sold it for redevelopment..... !!
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dirtydingusmagee added 22:28 - Feb 21 ON RADIO apparently a rumour that McCarthy is set for a new 3 year deal ! SLEEP WELL CHAPS .
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blueboy1981 added 22:32 - Feb 21 BraveDave ......... make no mistake, we've had the squad for it - just look at what has been done with it ... !!! That's where the problem lies.
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bressinghamblue added 22:32 - Feb 21 I have the same feeling that I had this time last year. Please MM just go. Leave now. I want my old Ipswich Town back, and I'm not alone. There's over 5000 season-ticket-holders-in-waiting just wishing you'd do the decent thing, but we all know you won't. I just prey Marcus is a proper businessman, and realises that sending out renewals whilst this idiot is still the manager would be disastrous. Less than 10k renewals. Please, please, go. Now. This instant. I'll pay for your taxi.

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righty added 22:34 - Feb 21 2 wins in 12 .7 goals in 12 games surely even the most ardent McCarthy fan must say enough is enough surely this can't be allowed to continue McCarthy out
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StochesStotasBlewe added 22:39 - Feb 21 A dull game between a Mick McCarthy team & a team from Welsh Wales who were more of a Mick McCarthy team than Mick McCarthy,s team. No wonder it was dull. The match itself got me out of my seat twice, First for a piss on about 25 minutes, then at 44 minutes for a Portman Pie, chicken & ham, which was excellent, indeed it was the highlight of the evening.
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BraveDave added 22:43 - Feb 21 Blueboy - whatever you think of McCarthy and whether he is getting the best from the players, there is no way that our squad (whoever is manager) is strong enough to be competing for promotion. I agree that the football has often been dire, and sometimes McCarthy baffles me, but unfortunately the desire of some to blame him for everything means that the underlying problems won't get addressed. It's possible that a different manager MIGHT achieve more (and I have said that most fans are prepared to take their chances) but people need to look beyond just the manager - our squad is simply not good enough and so Evans needs to do more than simply part company with McCarthy - surely you can see that??

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BrettenhamBlue added 22:45 - Feb 21 Dull game and another dull season ends. There is a rumour MIck is about to renew. If true, we are aiming for 14th again next season. Better than relegation I suppose.
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jas0999 added 22:45 - Feb 21 Decided to go despite work commitments and it was a better performance. That's the problem though ... better performance consists of home defeat and no goals. How we have fallen. Depressing. No idea where we go under this manager and moreover owner. No light at end of tunnel. Just nine goals in last fourteen games. At most clubs the owner would act. At ours I wouldn't be surprised if MM was here next season. As for this season, well it's over. 14th about right. Can't see us finishing any higher. Once proud club. Dead.

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Karlosfandangal added 22:45 - Feb 21 I forgot a Town were playing till my son told me we were 0-0 at half time....and only just looked to see what the final score was....so that's how intrested I am
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OwainG1992 added 22:46 - Feb 21 God we're sh*t.
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BrettenhamBlue added 22:46 - Feb 21 Sorry dirtydingusmagee. Didn't see your post, that's the rumour.
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StochesStotasBlewe added 22:47 - Feb 21 Oh, i forgot to add, the chap in the seat in front of me won our regular guess how many away fans competition & got it spot on. Big well done to him as it produced the biggest cheer in our little section of the SAR lower.
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poldark added 22:48 - Feb 21 Evans doesn't pick the team McCarthy does and says the team up make substitutions etc so yes Evans hasn't given McCarthy much money .
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cfmoses added 22:51 - Feb 21 So let me get this...at his press conference he says a few knocks and bruises..then makes 5 changes and we hear Garner and McGoldrick aren't fit. So he puts our joint top scorer Waghorn to the bench and plays Sears, no goals in 27 games up front! And suddenly Bru reappears! Pardon me but when I heard that, 2 thoughts crossed my mind. Firstly he will know how the supporters would react to that decision. He wants to continue to play games with the supporters and the media and ...he must be loving being in total control of the club, the owner will remain mute and Milne is just a puppet - good old MM can do whatever he wants for the games that remain. Secondly he plans and expects to give 3 points to his old mate Neil, and if he didn't plan to do that I guess he didn't care anyway. His get out of jail card of course is against all expectations we perform ok. Which I guess to his amazement we did. The opposition had a poor game as well. Apart of course from an air kick followed by a fortunate poke-in. So all in all a great night for MM. He will praise the performance and have a nice after game drink with his old pal.

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bressinghamblue added 22:52 - Feb 21 Sorry BraveDave but I really beg to differ. We had a really exciting striker called Freddie. McCarthy ruined him. Grant Ward scored a hat-trick on his debut. McCarthy ruined him. Exciting youngsters in Emmanuel and Kenlock. Where are they? Downes, Nydam. He bought Garner and Waghorn, who started with a flourish. He's slowly ruining them too. McGoldrick, one of our rare talents (if somewhat frail) clearly does not want to play for McCarthy. And that's before you start on the other side of the coin and look at Mick's favourites and his defend-nil style of anti-football. Its McCarthy's job to coach, to manage, to get the very best out of this team. There's no way you can say that he is succeeding. MM out. End of.

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blues1 added 22:59 - Feb 21 Pinewoodblueboy. U got the wrong pie. Portman pie is steak and ale, not chicken and ham.lol. dirtydingusmage. Nothing on radio suggesting that. Good rumour tho.ha ha
1

Westy added 23:04 - Feb 21 We played well. No Ipswich player had a bad game and we matched them for most of it. How many if those who so slate McCarthy and the team on this website even went to the match ?
0

StochesStotasBlewe added 23:07 - Feb 21 blues 1, i,ll give the steak & ale pie a go at the Hull game. I suspect it will be man of the match!!!!
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Cloddyseedbed added 23:08 - Feb 21 Excellent summary bressinghamblue. Every season we start with a different team of players having built nowt. I agree when players 1st arrive on the scene they impress then only go one way. Good manager.......is he?!! Sears up top tonight on his own against giants, Sears has been ruined and will never get his form back. Bru, what on earth is he doing even near the squad? Cardiff were a very poor team tonight how on earth they deserve to be 2nd playing like that is beyond me. Once again no midfielders able to link defence to attack. It's either defend or attack, no balance to the team to attack. I don't have the desire to watch another season under this regime.

7

BraveDave added 23:25 - Feb 21 Bressinghamblue - I certainly haven't said he is succeeding and I would also like to see more of our youngsters. The point I was making is that, even allowing for that, our squad isn't strong enough. If we want to pretend that McCarthy is to blame for everything then we will be having the same conversation when the next manager is in place. It's so easy to say that players don't want to play for him, but there is no evidence for that (unless you simply believe that a poorly performing team automatjcally means the manager has lost the players). Don't assume that anyone who doesn't take such a simplistic view is, by default, a big fan of McCarthy. You've made enough good points to suggest you can see that McCarthy isn't the only problem.

3

midastouch added 23:28 - Feb 21 When Grant Holt was briefly getting linked with England I jokingly told a Norwich fan who lives down my road that if he got called into the England squad (as it wasn't long before the World Cup) that I'd be supporting Germany in the World Cup instead of England which even he saw the funny side of! If Mick were to sign on for another 3 years then Marcus is going to be selling about as many tickets at Portman Road in the next 3 years as he probably managed to sell at the Olympics in Brazil, as we all saw how empty the Olympic stadium was in Brazil! There won't be any Mexican Waves @ Ipswich next season, rather there will just be Mexican Yawns circulating from one corner of the ground to the other! Mick the Mezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzziah is going to send the North Stand into a 3 year long hibernation if the rumours turn out to be true! God help us! The Marcus Evans Coup continues to get ever more painful!

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madmouse1959 added 23:30 - Feb 21 How do you get any consistency with a different team nearly every week ? McCarthy insists he is still doing a great job and that is why these sad results will continue. If McCarthy is still here next season then Evans would of really shown the supporters a two finger sign.
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Bert added 23:32 - Feb 21 Not a great advert for football but to be honest there was little difference between two teams tonight who hardly entertained us. We didn't deserve to lose or win for that matter. No doubt the stay always will feel justified but until they start organising their own protest they don't have my respect. MM must go, we all know that, well many of us, but I support my team through thick and thin and will do so whatever abuse is thrown at those who go.

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