Ipswich win at Exeter to keep pressure on at top

2 years ago 26

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Ipswich Town closed the gap at the top of League One with a comfortable win at Exeter City in Saturday's early kick-off.

In-form Freddie Ladapo headed his ninth goal of the season to break the deadlock and Marcus Harness glanced home the second midway through the second half to decide the first league meeting of these sides in more than 65 years.

The points made it 23 from 10 away games for Kieran McKenna's side and took them within a point of leaders Plymouth, who visit Burton later on Saturday.

It was an eighth defeat in 19 league games for City, who remain ninth but could later slip into the bottom half.

Ipswich were irresistible in the early stages and Harness saw a close-range prod instinctively saved by Jamal Blackman inside 10 minutes, but less than a minute later the visitors were ahead.

With the City defence caught napping, Harness nodded a diagonal Sam Morsy cross back across goal for Ladapo to stoop and head into the bottom corner to score for the fourth straight away game.

Grecians defender Alex Hartridge saw a near-post volley turned around the post by Christian Walton on 22 minutes and Jack Sparkes lashed over following a corner soon after, but goalmouth opportunities were few and far between for the rest of the half.

Blackman tipped over a dipping strike from Cameron Humphreys and saved a near-post header from Ladapo just before the hour but the crucial second goal came when Harness glanced home a header from a Leif Davis corner to spark wild scenes among the 1,300 away fans behind the goal, many of whom had set off from Suffolk before 06:00 GMT to make kick-off.

City saw appeals for a penalty dismissed moments later, after a barge in the box by Davis on sub Sam Nombe.

Blackman denied Kyle Edwards a third in the final 15 minutes while Tim Dieng fired over and Pierce Sweeney swiped a late chance off-target from an angle for the hosts, as Town returned to winning ways after back-to-back draws in League One.

Line-ups

Exeter

Formation 3-4-1-2

18Blackman
12KeySubstituted forDiabateat 74'minutes
26Sweeney
5Hartridge
2Caprice
8Collins
16KiteSubstituted forNombeat 62'minutes
3SparkesBooked at 45minsSubstituted forJayat 78'minutes
14Dieng
9Stansfield
20Brown

Substitutes

7Jay
10Nombe
15Chauke
22Lee
27Grounds
39Diabate
49Beardmore

Ipswich

Formation 3-4-2-1

1Walton
44Donacien
6Woolfenden
15Burgess
7BurnsBooked at 90minsSubstituted forJacksonat 90'minutes
30Humphreys
5Morsy
3DavisSubstituted forVincent-Youngat 74'minutes
10ChaplinSubstituted forEdwardsat 65'minutes
11HarnessBooked at 86mins
9LadapoSubstituted forAhadmeat 90'minutes

Substitutes

4Edmundson
18Ahadme
19Jackson
24Vincent-Young
28Pereira Camará
29Edwards
31Hladky

Live Text

Match ends, Exeter City 0, Ipswich Town 2.
Second Half ends, Exeter City 0, Ipswich Town 2.
Attempt blocked. Matt Jay (Exeter City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner, Exeter City. Conceded by Cameron Burgess.
Foul by Gassan Ahadme (Ipswich Town).
Archie Collins (Exeter City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Ipswich Town. Sam Morsy tries a through ball, but Gassan Ahadme is caught offside.
Substitution, Ipswich Town. Kayden Jackson replaces Wes Burns.
Wes Burns (Ipswich Town) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Ipswich Town. Gassan Ahadme replaces Freddie Ladapo.
Sam Morsy (Ipswich Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jevani Brown (Exeter City).
Attempt missed. Pierce Sweeney (Exeter City) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Cheick Diabate following a set piece situation.
Marcus Harness (Ipswich Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Marcus Harness (Ipswich Town).
Jay Stansfield (Exeter City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt missed. Timothee Dieng (Exeter City) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Jay Stansfield.
Foul by Kyle Edwards (Ipswich Town).
Jake Caprice (Exeter City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Exeter City. Matt Jay replaces Jack Sparkes.