Report by Steve Garland, from Portman Road.

Snapshot

Cardiff City's hopes of a play-off spot were dealt a blow at Portman Road, as a brace from Daryl Murphy secured the points for struggling Ipswich Town.

The Tractor Boys defied their lowly league position to dominate proceedings in the first half, eventually taking the lead through Murphy with less than twenty minutes gone after a string of David Marshall saves had initially kept the Bluebirds in the game.

Cardiff failed to make any inroads into the Ipswich half in the first period and had struggled to maintain possession or get a shot on target.

That first effort eventually came with fifteen second half minutes gone, but it was already too late to level the scores. Murphy netted his second of the game just two minutes earlier, tapping home the rebound from a superb long range effort from Owen Garvan.

It brought little response from the Bluebirds who in truth could have lost by a far bigger margin, but for a superb Marshall performance in the Cardiff goal. The Scot thwarted Murphy's attempts at a hat-trick before producing a superb save to deny Pablo Counago with twenty minutes remaining.

Chronological Report

After a good win against Middlesbrough had put their promotion push back on track, Cardiff made the long trip east to Portman Road to take on an Ipswich Town side that had had the better of them in recent outings.

Having twice beaten the Bluebirds already under manager Roy Keane, Ipswich started confidently looking for a win to ease their relegation worries. Looking to make the most of set plays from the off, Ipswich showed their intent when David Healy shot just wide after getting hold of a Gareth McAuley flick on.

And just five minutes later the home side almost took the lead again, as Daryl Murphy nodded a Jack Colback cross towards goal. Murphy looked destined to have scored as the ball looped towards the top corner, only for Marshall to produce a superb full stretch save to deny the Sunderland loan-man.

Ipswich dominated the opening ten minutes, but the Bluebirds soon had a golden chance against the run of play. A long Adam Matthews throw-in caused problems in the home side's defence, allowing Jay Bothroyd to flick on to Michael Chopra at the far post who audaciously attempted an overhead kick that went just over the bar.

This effort had been Cardiff's only real venture into the opposition's half thus far. Ipswich regained their impetus soon after and took the lead through Daryl Murphy. Having conceded possession cheaply in their own half, the Cardiff defence was caught out by a low Colback cross into the box; Murphy calmly slotted home past the stranded Marshall to give Ipswich the lead after eighteen minutes.

GOAL: Ipswich Town 1-0 Cardiff City (Daryl Murphy, 18 mins).

With half an hour gone, Marshall was again tested from an Ipswich corner - a McAuley flick again forcing the Scot to produce another excellent save to keep the Bluebirds in the match.

The Tractor Boys continued to dominate before a rare Cardiff venture towards the Ipswich penalty area brought about only their second chance of the game. Good play between Darcy Blake and Ross McCormack saw the Scot chip in a cross from the left towards Bothroyd. His flick on was picked up by Chopra on the edge of the six yard box but, unbalanced, the striker could only slice wide.

HALF TIME: IPSWICH TOWN 1-0 CARDIFF CITY

The first half had put Ipswich well on their way to securing a double over the Bluebirds this season and Cardiff did little to threaten their lead in the opening stages of the second period.

But the game soon burst into life ten minutes in. Chopra looked to have kicked out at the grounded Owen Garvan following a coming together, but was only shown a yellow card by referee Grant Hegley to the home fans' disgust; moments later, the Tractor Boys doubled their lead. A short corner fell to Garvan on the edge of the area, who stung the hands of Marshall with his powerful effort. But, with the City defence no-where, Murphy was left to slot home the rebound and double his side's lead.

GOAL: Ipswich Town 2-0 Cardiff City (Daryl Murphy 58mins)

Ipswich Town Substitution: David Healy off - Pablo Counago on (58 mins).

Cardiff City Substitution: Adam Matthews off - Tony Capaldi on (59 mins).

The Bluebirds were sinking without a trace in this one and almost gifted a third to the home side as the superb Marshall's kick rebounded goalwards off the charging Jonathan Walters. Sparing his blushes, the Scot just about managed to recover in time to keep City in the game.

Marshall would continue to make up for his error with a string of superb saves, first denying Murphy his hat-trick with an instinctive stop at the feet of the Sunderland loanee, before producing a fingertip save to deny substitute Pablo Counago with twenty minutes remaining.

Ipswich Town Substitution: Daryl Murphy off - Connor Wickham on (79 mins).

As the game drew to a close, Ipswich did all they could to slow the tempo and ensure the win, having previously squandered leading positions an unmatched twenty-two times this season. But going into the final minutes there was no threat of a Cardiff comeback, as the visitors continued to create little and wasted the few chances they had.

It was a poor performance and a poor result for the Bluebirds whose defence had been absent for much of this game. Only David Marshall's superb performance ensured that the Bluebirds did not lose by a far greater margin. City stay sixth, but missed the opportunity of gaining ground on Saturday's fifth place opponents Leicester City.

FULL TIME: IPSWICH TOWN 2-0 CARDIFF CITY