Goals from Harry Clarke, Nathan Broadhead and George Hirst having given Town a 3-1 half-time lead over Blackburn at Portman Road.

Town boss Kieran McKenna made three changes from the team which won 1-0 at Southampton in midweek with Leif Davis, Massimo Luongo and Nathan Broadhead all back in the XI.

Davis returned to training following the ankle injury he suffered at Sheffield Wednesday last week yesterday and was fit enough to resume his role at left-back with Brandon Williams dropping to the bench.

Luongo was back in the middle of midfield with Jack Taylor among the subs, while Nathan Broadhead returned to the left of the attacking quartet with Omari Hutchinson, the scorer of the winning goal at St Mary’s on his full league debut, also among the subs.

For Blackburn, Icelandic international midfielder Arnor Sigurdsson was handed his debut for Ryan Hedges, who was a sub, their only change from the team which lost 3-1 at home to Sunderland on Wednesday.

Town won a corner in the opening minute which was cleared and following which Blackburn ended up attacking.

Harry Clarke played back to Vaclav Hladky but the keeper’s pass out failed to find Sam Morsy and landed at Adam Wharton’s feet. He played in Harry Leonard towards the right of the box and Hladky rushed over to intercept. Leonard went to ground claiming he’d been fouled but referee Keith Stroud and his assistant gave a goal-kick.

Three minutes later, the Blues took the lead. After a Davis shot from the left of the box had been palmed behind by Rovers keeper Aynsley Pears, Cameron Burgess flicked the flag-kick up in the air and it was half-cleared to Conor Chaplin at the back of the area on the right.

The forward’s shot was blocked but the rebound fell loose to Clarke on the edge of the box from where the right-back smashed a shot into the top corner of the net. The defender wildly celebrated his first goal for his hometown club as fans serenaded the goalscorer as “one of our own”.

But Town’s lead wasn’t to last for long. In the ninth minute Rovers passed their way through the Blues on the left of the area, debutant Sigurdsson receiving the final ball from Sammie Szmodics before deftly stroking the ball across Hladky and into the net.

The Blues’ rhythm didn’t appear to be unduly upset by conceding and in the 14th minute, Chaplin wasn’t far away from restoring the lead, taking down a ball over the top at pace and stabbing goalwards, however, the advancing Pears was able to block.

And in the 18th minute they scored their second. Pears was only able to find Chaplin as he cleared having advanced to the edge of his area under pressure from former Blackburn loanee George Hirst.

The former Portsmouth man found Broadhead with his first touch and the Welshman took it down, looked up and shot into the corner of the net from 25 yards with Pears having only just got back in his ground to claim his fourth goal of the season, making him Town’s current highest scorer.

A pulsating opening 20 minutes had been mainly Town but Blackburn quickly threatened again, once more down their left flank, Sigurdsson turning Harry Pickering’s low ball straight at Hladky when an inch or two either side of the Czech and he would have scored.

But four minutes later, it was 3-1. Burgess played a defence-splitting ball for Hirst, who gleefully burst into the area and slipped through Pears’s to claim his second goal of the season before celebrating in front of his old fans after a tough half-season loan spell at Ewood Park last season in which he failed to find the net.

A minute after extending their advantage to two goals, there was a big scare for the Blues. Hladky played a loose pass inside his area straight to Lewis Travis but recovers quickly to dive at the Rovers skipper’s feet to snatch the ball back.

However, after that Town’s third goal saw the game’s impetus flow more towards the Blues, who were playing with ever-more confidence and fluidity, while Rovers appeared somewhat shell-shocked at having conceded three times.

Just before the half hour, Broadhead beat two men on the left of the box and the ball looped off a defender to Pears above Chaplin on the edge of the six-yard box.

Town continued to dominate and look for a fourth, Andy Moran tripping Chaplin just outside the area on 34 as the Blues forward was shaping to shoot. Chaplin’s free-kick was blasted into the wall.

The Blues maintained the pressure, Burns eventually shooting well wide after Rovers had been unable to clear.

The visitors began to play themselves back into the game, however, and on 39 Leonard sent a dangerous low ball across the Town box from the right beyond Hladky but too far away from any teammates.

Two minutes later, Sigurdsson was booked for a frustrated late tackle on Burns in front of the dugouts.

Following the free-kick, Davis looped a cross in from the left and Broadhead’s back header looped well into the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand.

Town continued to pass the ball around as slickly as at any time this season, Broadhead, Davis and Luongo combining to win a corner on the left. The left-back sent over the flag-kick and Chaplin’s goalbound header deflected wide off two defenders.

The subsequent corner was taken short and Luongo, who earlier had made a couple of sublime sliding challenges in midfield to stop Blackburn in their tracks, brought the ball in from the left before feeding Clarke.

The right-back feinted to shoot, then took the ball into the right of the area before cutting back inside and hitting a shot across goal and only just past the angle of post and bar.

In the half’s final scheduled minute, Broadhead went even closer, hitting a shot from 20 yards which had Pears beaten but scuffed the outside of the keeper’s left post.

Town were warmly applauded off at the end of a rip-roaring, humdinger of a first half. Having taken the lead with their first serious effort of the game, a brilliant first goal for the club by Clarke, Blackburn carved out an excellent leveller.

But, as has been the case in previous games this season, the Blues didn’t allow conceding to cause them any concern and they quickly restored their lead via Broadhead, whose clinical, accurate finish was set up by Chaplin’s awareness and precision pass.

Hirst delightedly took his opportunity to score against his old club to put daylight between the Blues and Rovers, and Town really should have increased their lead after that having dominated the visitors, playing as well as at any time this season.

Another goal should be enough to seal a seventh win in eight matches this season but a second Blackburn goal might lead to a more nervous second half.

Town: Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Luongo, Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead, Hirst. Subs: Slicker, Evans, Ladapo, Harness, Ball, Taylor, Williams, Hutchinson, Scarlett.

Blackburn: Pears, Brittain, Carter, Hyam, Pickering, A Wharton, Travis (c), Szmodics, Moran, Sigurdsson, Leonard. Subs: Wahlstedt, Rankin-Costello, Hill, S Wharton, Tronstad, Hedges, Markanday, Dolan, Telalovic. Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire).

Photo: Matchday Images

carlgibbs13 added 16:08 - Sep 23 Excellent stuff. Well done the town. I’m loving the budgies score line too..!!!
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