Brentford 2-4 Ipswich Town
Brentford missed out on the chance to climb into the automatic promotion places after they suffered a home defeat against Ipswich.
Mark Warburton’s men conceded three times in the opening half an hour as Daryl Murphy’s double and a Paul Anderson goal put the visitors in the driving seat.
Substitute Sam Saunders pulled one back for the Bees after the break, but former Brentford defender Tommy Smith restored the Ipswich's three-goal cushion before Saunders struck another consolation at the death.
The Tractor Boys got off to a storming start and went ahead after just 19 seconds – the fastest Championship goal of the season.
David Button’s poor kick-out was headed back by Teddy Bishop to Anderson, who fed Murphy to lash the ball home from 12 yards.
The Bees keeper denied Murphy a second when he dived low to his right after the Irishman had turned Tony Craig inside the box.
However, Button was powerless to stop the Championship’s leading marksman adding to his haul on 21 minutes.
Jonathan Parr’s long punt upfield caught the Brentford defence cold, and Murphy shrugged off the challenge of Craig to round Button and slot the ball into an empty net.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts on the half-hour mark. Ex-Bee Jay Tabb’s cross from the right was helped on by Murphy, and Anderson was on hand to tap in from a couple of yards out.
Brentford had dominated possession, but they had to wait until seven minutes before the break until they forced Bartosz Bialkowski into a serious save when he beat away Andre Gray’s header.
The Pole was called upon again at the beginning of the second half when he thwarted Alan Judge.
However, he could nothing as Saunders climbed off the bench to give the Bees hope 10 minutes from time. Smith extinguished any chance of a comeback when he waltzed his way through to slot Ipswich’s fourth into the top corner.
There was still time for Saunders to add another consolation in the final minute when he pounced on a loose ball to prod home.
Brentford: Button, Odubajo, Dean, Craig, Bidwell, Diagouraga, Douglas (Toral 65), Pritchard, Judge (Saunders 75), Jota, Gray (Proschwitz 65).
Subs (not used): Bonham, Dallas, Smith, Tarkowski.
