Daryl Murphy nets birthday brace as Ipswich see off BlackburnBirthday boy Daryl Murphy scored his first goals for two months as Ipswich continued their push for a play-off place with a 2-0 victory over Blackburn.Two second-half goals were the difference in a largely dismal match as the Ipswich striker scored from the penalty spot after Luke Chambers was pulled down and then made the points safe three minutes before the end.The scoreline was slightly harsh on a Blackburn side who matched a team with designs on the top six, but they lacked a clinical marksman like Murphy, who celebrated his 33rd birthday in style.The Republic of Ireland international gave a taster of things to come inside two minutes when he tested Blackburn keeper Jason Steele with a 30-yard effort.At the other end, Simeon Jackson got a faint touch to Adam Henley's dangerous low cross which Bartosz Bialkowski had to push round for a corner with the ball heading for the bottom corner.Bialkowski did even better minutes later to be alert to Elliott Bennett's inswinging free-kick which evaded everyone bar the Polish keeper's strong left hand.Blackburn were enjoying the better of the opening 20 minutes and a neat interchange of passing just failed to get the finish it deserved, Hope Akpan striking over from the edge of the area.Ipswich fashioned another chance from distance in the 26th minute, this time Brett Pitman testing Steele who opted to palm the ball clear.Long-range shots were a feature of the first half with Matt Grimes then testing Bialkowski in the 32nd minute.A below-par performance from the hosts was almost lit up in the 50th minute when Murphy fizzed a shot just wide of the far post from 25 yards.The home fans attempted to rally their faltering side but it was Blackburn who nearly took the lead shortly after the hour mark when Chris Brown's shot narrowly missed the near post after a good low cross from right-back Adam Henley.Out of nothing, the home side took the lead from the penalty spotChambers was bundled over by Akpan as the skipper attempted to meet Freddie Sears' corner and Murphy clinically found the bottom corner from the resulting spot-kick.The goal did little to lift the general nature of the match with Blackburn substitute Tony Watt firing a rare chance wide of the near post in the 81st minute.But Ipswich made the points safe three minutes before the end when Luke Varney outmuscled Henley before playing a perfect pass for Murphy to run onto and find the bottom corner for his 10th of the season
Source : PA
Source: PA