Ipswich Town's Welsh connection did them proud for the second time in a week.

On Wednesday, the Blues had the distinction of seeing their goalkeeper - Lewis Price - between the posts for his national side's 1-0 defeat in Cyprus.

Step forward four days and it was new loanee Gavin Williams, another Welsh international, who came up trumps at the Ricoh Arena.

The midfielder opened the scoring with a classy finish and, although the advantage was short-lived, his performance summed up the day for Town.

In a word - impressive.

They defended solidly for the majority of the afternoon and some of their midfield play, in terms of movement and slick, one-touch passing, really caught the eye.

However, the big drawback, not for the first time, was their lack of cutting edge.

But Town were first on the scoresheet and it was a real champagne moment for Town's new boy from Merthyr Tydfil. The midfield man was making his first start after signing on a month's loan from West Ham.

He'd made a promising start to his Ipswich career - industrious and energetic in the first half, without pulling up any trees.

But the big highlight came six minutes after half-time, when Jim Magilton's right-wing cross was inadvertently headed on by Andrew Whing to Matt Richards.

The substitute delivered a low cross and Williams clinically slotted home in front of the 2,477 travelling fans.

Yet within six minutes, Magilton was robbed of possession deep in his own half. The ball was pushed forward to Gary McSheffrey, who turned and stroked a low shot past the diving Price.

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Published Monday, November 21, 2005

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