Ipswich Town move into second place with win over Millwall

A first-half brace from Noel Hunt and a clinical finish from Jonathan Parr furthered Ipswich Town's ambitions for promotion this season, as they beat home side Millwall 3-1 in the Championship to move into second place in the table.

It was the promotion hopefuls who took the lead early on, when Hunt was picked out by Stephen Hunt, with the midfielder finishing into the centre of goal with his left past a helpless David Forde in the fifth minute.

The visitors increased their lead just under 10 minutes later, as Hunt was left to bag his brace after breaking free in the box to tuck home from close range following some industrious work that saw the Millwall defence fail to clear their lines.

Town could have made it 3-0 through Paul Anderson before half time, but Forde pulled off a standout stop at his top corner to keep out the headed effort from a Tyrone Mings cross.

Millwall grabbed themselves a lifeline two minutes before the half came to an end, when Magaye Gueye found space inside the box to convert into the bottom corner.

Despite the hosts' resurgence, Town continued to look bright in the early stages of the second half as Luke Chambers fired in from distance to force a smart stop from Forde down low at his bottom-left corner.

Ian Holloway's men should have grabbed an equaliser not long after, however, when Byron Webster found himself just a few yards out from goal, but he couldn't make use of Gueye's cross as he somehow headed wide.

Despite Millwall's attacking intent, Town sealed all three points in the 77th minute after Freddie Sears slipped in Parr, who made no mistake with a striker's finish to claim only his second goal for the club and earn the away side victory on the road.