Late Ipswich Town brace sinks Brighton & Hove Albion

Two goals in the last 11 minutes gave Ipswich Town a hard-fought victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Portman Road.

Ipswich had two chances to score early in the first half as Tyrone Mings delivered two crosses to the head of Paul Anderson in as many minutes, but the winger was unable to trouble David Stockdale in the visitors' goal.

Brighton also looked to find a way through, with Kazenga LuaLua and Sam Baldock being denied by the home side's backline.

Arguably Town's best attempt before the interval came from the boot of David McGoldrick as he curled a free kick over the wall, but couldn't keep his shot inside the left post.

Both sides tried to show adventure and a willingness to shoot in the opening period, but only three efforts hit the target, all of which came from the visitors.

The Tractor Boys were frustrated in their efforts to take an early second-half lead when McGoldrick found Tyrone Mings only to see his effort blocked by Stockdale.

Brighton almost edged in front within a matter of moments when Jake Forster-Caskey's 35-yard free kick drifted narrowly wide.

However, Ipswich took the lead on 79 minutes when good work from Mings gifted a chance to Jay Tabb and despite seeing his shot saved by Stockdale, the Albion keeper could only parry the ball into the path of Jonathan Parr who slid the ball into the back of the net.

On 88 minutes, the points were secure when the ball fell to Daryl Murphy, and from an extraordinary angle the forward powered the ball into the bottom right corner beyond the reach of a helpless Stockdale.

The result sees the Suffolk side close to within two points of the playoff positions in the Championship.