Saturday 28 November 2015 22:00, UK
Daryl Murphy and Freddie Sears continued Ipswich's rich vein of goal-scoring form as they ended Charlton's mini-revival with a 3-0 victory at The Valley on Saturday afternoon.
The duo scored in the first half and Murphy grabbed another in the second as Ipswich fired in their 12th goal in four matches to edge nearer the Sky Bet Championship play-off places.
Both teams had been in good form of late after being in something of a slump.
Charlton were looking for a third win in a row after going 12 games without victory, while Ipswich had also improved over the three previous matches, hitting nine goals after managing just one in five games.
The Addicks were dealt a blow after 13 minutes when they lost skipper Johnnie Jackson to injury, which saw substitute Chris Solly going into the backline and Morgan Fox moving up into midfield.
Jackson, who signed a new one-year contract extension on the eve of the game, has been a talisman of late with a goal in each of their previous wins and his loss clearly disrupted the hosts.
Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy made an astute tactical change with Brett Pitman dropping into the hole and negating Alou Diarra, who was playing as the base of Charlton's diamond.
That freed up Sears, who caused the Addicks problems with his closing down and swift movement onto through balls.
Ipswich pressed and Stephen Henderson had to be alert to a Murphy header after a Pitman shot, and the Charlton 'keeper went down smartly to get behind a Sears effort.
Henderson moved sharply to block another Sears effort when he got clean through but Charlton failed to clear their lines and were punished in the 28th minute.
Murphy headed home as he took advantage of some dire defending to finish from close range.
Town took further advantage when Sears latched on to a low ball through by Luke Chambers and he beat Henderson with a low shot for his fifth goal of the campaign.
Charlton suffered another blow when a powerful drive from team-mate Tareiq Holmes-Dennis struck Johann Berg Gudmundsson in a sensitive area. The referee stopped play, much to Ipswich's annoyance.
Ademola Lookman was Charlton's biggest threat with varied efforts and skilful build-up play.
He was given added support up front at the break when Charlton's caretaker boss Karel Fraeye handed Ricardo Vaz Te his home debut as the hosts looked for a revival.
It was Ipswich, though, who struck again in the 69th minute with a goal that owed much to Sears' tenacity and vision.
The ex-West Ham and Colchester forward battled to win a ball off two Charlton defenders, played a low ball inside for Jonathan Douglas, who played a neat pass across goal, dummied by Pitman, and Murphy steadied him before finishing for his sixth goal in three games.
Dean Gerken made three top saves in the last 10 minutes when he blocked a Patrick Bauer diving header with his leg and pulled off two cracking stops from Vaz Te, as Charlton launched a late flurry.
