Express & Star

Ipswich Town 1 West Brom 2 - Report and pictures

Jay Rodriguez and Harvey Barnes struck before Albion survived a late flurry to come out on top at the Championship's bottom club Ipswich.

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Jay Rodriguez of West Bromwich Albion celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 0-1 with Ahmed Hegazi of West Bromwich Albion. (AMA)

The Baggies halted a three-match winless run on their travels, but it was not as easy as it should have been at Portman Road.

Well-worked goals from Rodriguez and Barnes - arriving in either half - seemingly put them on course for a comfortable victory.

But a Tosin Adarabioyo error allowed Kayden Jackson to score for Paul Lambert's Tractor Boys.

The hosts threw the kitchen sink in a quest to grab a point but, ultimately, Darren Moore's lot held on and - albeit probably briefly - moved up to second.

Albion, unsurprisingly, stuck with the same starting XI that stormed to a 4-1 victory against Leeds before the international break. But there was one change to the bench as Conor Townsend replaced Bakary Sako.

Ipswich, who went with the same men from the off for the third game running, were keen to make a sharp start to the clash - to give themselves the best chance of registering a maiden triumph at home, and get an understandably restless fanbase behind ex-Wolves chief Lambert and his players.

Tractor Boys supporters were greeted with clappers in their seats and made plenty of noise in the build-up to kick-off.

And the hosts began in a busy manner.

They were keen to press high and caught the Baggies' midfield trio of Jake Livermore, James Morrison and Matt Phillips napping several times - but then rushed the final pass, gifting the ball back to Moore's men.

Both sides then tried their luck from distance. Jonas Knudsen flashed a left-footed effort over the crossbar for Ipswich, before Phillips guided an angled shot just past the far post. Rodriguez headed over for Albion prior to those attempts too.

During the opening 20 minutes, in truth, there was not a great deal of quality on show. The Baggies were mainly going long, and many of those balls did not find their target.

But the Tractor Boys kept putting pressure on themselves by giving away silly free-kicks.

They were almost made to pay as a delivery from Phillips worked its way to Ahmed Hegazi, who somehow sidefooted nearer the corner flag than the goal from close range.

It was a bad miss, but Albion made up for it only a few moments later. Phillips was given far too much time on the right-hand side to float his cross to the far post.

Waiting there was Kieran Gibbs, who headed the ball back across the face of goal, leaving Rodriguez the simple task of finishing from a few yards out.

Ipswich then appeared more nervous with each minute that passed. They tried to get on the ball and make things happen, but their decision-making was poor.

You could have argued that they were there for the taking. The Baggies, though, seemed content with being patient and picking their spots.

And that approach almost bore fruit. Right before the break, Barnes broke through on the counter-attack. He squared it to Rodriguez, who was denied by a last-ditch Trevoh Chalobah block.

Moore would have been happy with more of the same in the second period, with a little more ruthlessness in the final third.

They were on the back foot in the early stages of it though. The Tractor Boys, buoyed by what was surely a fiery team-talk from Lambert, had Jordan Roberts, Matthew Pennington and Chalobah all try to find a leveller amid a raucous atmosphere.

Ipswich then proceeded to flood balls into the box and to Albion's credit, they cleared the vast majority of them at the earliest opportunity.

Having dealt with that for around a quarter of an hour, they slowly crept back up the pitch.

Barnes hit the post before Hal Robson-Kanu twice tested Tractor Boys glovesman Bartosz Bialkowksi.

Then came a gilt-edged chance for the Baggies to double their advantage. Rodriguez was able to ghost into the area but, near the penalty spot with the ball at his feet, he took too long to pull the trigger - and Jordan Spence intervened.

In a similar manner to after Hegazi's miscue in the first half though, they soon put things right.

A speedy counter-attack ended up with Leicester loanee Barnes. He cut inside from the right flank and lashed the ball into the near corner with his left foot.

Bialkowski got fingertips to it, but the strike was just too fierce to stop.

Ipswich would not go down without a fight though. Substitute Jackson pulled one back, giving home fans hope of a dramatic equaliser.

Shot-stopper Bialkowski left his goal and burst up the other end of the pitch to try to find one, but it was not to be.

And reflecting on the whole game, a fair three points for the Baggies.

Teams

Ipswich (4-3-3): Bialkowski; Spence, Chambers (c), Pennington, Knudsen; Skuse, Chalobah, Downes (Bishop, 64); Edwards (Jackson, 78), Sears, Roberts (Lankester, 78)

Subs not used: Gerken (gk), Donacien, Ward, Dozzell

Albion (4-3-3): Johnstone; Adarabioyo, Dawson, Hegazi, Gibbs; Livermore (c), Morrison (Barry, 89), Phillips; Robson-Kanu (Gayle, 74), Rodriguez, Barnes

Subs not used: Myhill (gk), Mears, Townsend, Hoolahan, Harper

Attendance: 22,995 (1,073 Albion)

Referee: Keith Stroud (Bournemouth)