Goals:

1-0: Ayala (4, moved cleverly away from his markers to glance Clayton’s delivery beyond Gerken)

1-1: Murphy (11, reacted first to turn the loose ball over the line after Konstantopoulos had failed to deal with Parr’s shot)

2-1: Adomah (30, drilled a low finish beyond the keeper from the edge of the box after a well worked corner)

3-1: Bamford (64, rounded the keeper after a lovely Vossen pass sent him clear)

4-1: Bamford (79, spun Berra near half-way before running through and applying a brilliant low finish)

Bookings: Smith (28, foul); Bishop (45, foul); Gibson (55, foul); Reach (73, foul); Adomah (78, dissent)

Referee: Michael Jones (Chester) – bizarrely failed to award Bamford a penalty at the end of the first half but it never affected the result. 5

Attendance: 18,909

Entertainment: PPP

Boro Ipsw

Shots on 4 4

Shots off 9 18

Corners 3 13

Offsides 3 2

Fouls 15 12

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2):

5 Konstantopoulos: Will be annoyed to have misjudged Parr’s shot which allowed Murphy to score;

6 Kalas: Slotted in to full-back to replace Fredericks and became more solid as the game wore on

6 Ayala: Marked his return with a fine header but had to go off with a further injury

6 Gibson: After a shaky start he got to grips with Murphy after the restart

6 Friend: Has performed better but still put the work in to keep the visitors at bay;

8 Adomah: Grabbed a goal to cap an impressive performance on the flank

7 Leadbitter: Key man for many of Boro’s attacking moves and it clearly meant a lot to him to win

7 Clayton: Teed up the opener for Ayala and made his fair share of blocks defensively too

5 Reach: Not as effective as he was earlier in the season and appeared to get frustrated before taken off;

6 Vossen: Had been relatively quiet but played a lovely pass through for Bamford to find the net

8 BAMFORD: Had threatened a couple of times in the first half but his goals were taken with real quality

Subs:

Woodgate (for Ayala 23): Rightly satisfied with his first Riverside performance since last April. 6

Forshaw (for Vossen 67): Showed some lovely touches. 6

Nsue (for Leadbitter 88)

(not used): Ripley (gk), Whitehead, Tomlin, Kike.

IPSWICH TOWN (4-4-2): Gerken 5; Chambers 4, Smith 4, Berra 3, Mings 5; Parr 7, Skuse 6, Bishop 5 (Varney 84), Tabb 7 (Wood 69, 5); Sears 4, MURPHY 7. Subs (not used): Bialkowski (gk), Clarke, Anderson, Chaplow, Bru.

MAN OF THE MATCH: PATRICK Bamford – his second goal deserved to grace the Champions League never mind the Championship.