You wait almost a year for an away win and then two come along at once. The season has truly turned upside-down for Ipswich, who used to rely on their home form to keep pace with their promotion rivals.

Jim Magilton's side comfortably consolidated their grip on sixth place last night, pulling further clear of Crystal Palace courtesy of a bizarre goal in first-half injury time, which was claimed by Danny Haynes.

Palace were quicker out of the blocks and Selhurst Park rose to its feet as Clinton Morrison found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat after five minutes; his effort was acrobatically palmed away by Stephen Bywater before anyone noticed the linesman's flag was raised.

Ipswich snatched back the initiative as Palace's 4-3-3 formation struggled to hold on to possession in midfield. Jonathan Walters headed wide before Alan Lee had an even better chance from a free-kick; unmarked at the far post, Lee didn't get much purchase on his header and Julian Speroni was able to scramble the ball to safety.

With Neil Warnock spitting feathers on the touchline, Palace gradually found some sort of rhythm and it was unfortunate for the hosts that their best chance fell to centre-back Mark Hudson, whose volley was cleared off the line by Richard Naylor.

It was to prove costly when Naylor's volley slammed into the face of Haynes before looping over Speroni.

The Palace goalkeeper was fortunate to stay on the pitch when, shortly after the restart, he hacked down Walters on the edge of the area. Palace never threatened a comeback, slumping to their second defeat in three matches.

Tom Cary (Daily Telegraph)