In a season of considerably more highs than lows, life has never been sweeter for Ipswich Town.

Revitalised, bubbling with confidence and unswervingly focused on the task in hand, they are now five points clear at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship.

And they can look back with huge satisfaction after this stunning away win - on paper, at least, one of their hardest remaining fixtures.

Add to that the fact Sunderland dropped points on Friday and second-placed Wigan lost at home to Stoke and you can understand why Blues boss Joe Royle was in a chirpy mood during his post-match press conference.

Three words sum up this battling victory - unspectacular but gutsy and professional.

Town were never at their fluent best but controlled big chunks of the game, without creating many chances, and took advantage of the two decent opportunities which did come their way.

While the scorers deserve credit, the real heroes were the back four - David Unsworth, Jason De Vos, Richard Naylor and Fabian Wilnis and keeper Kelvin Davis.

They were magnificent resolute and united throughout in the face of numerous aerial bombardments, especially in the second half.

New signing Unsworth wasted no time making an impact, breaking the deadlock after 20 minutes.

Shefki Kuqi made a tenacious cross-field charge from right to left and slipped forward a perfectly-weighted pass.

Unsworth latched on to it, dribbled his way to the by-line and blasted a rising shot into the roof of the net.

Town had even more cause for celebration, just after the hour-mark, when Ian Westlake's volley was deflected into Kuqi's path.

The striker - just inside the six-yard box- stuck out a leg to poke the ball home and give his side very welcome breathing space.

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Published Monday, February 7, 2005

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