IPSWICH Town boss Jim Magilton has been handed a blue lifeline as the battling Tractor Boys fought back to secure a 3-2 derby victory which sends the Canaries nearer the Championship trapdoor.

IPSWICH Town boss Jim Magilton has been handed a blue lifeline as the battling Tractor Boys fought back to secure a 3-2 derby victory which sends the Canaries nearer the Championship trapdoor.

Relegation to league one - and matches against Yeovil, Exeter, and Wycombe - now looms for the Canaries.

When Norwich scored first, life looked very uncomfortable for the embattled Town boss but after Town equalised against the run of play they always looked more likely to go on and win.

A season of under-achievement may be drawing to an end at Portman Road, but Town fans would prefer that to the season of abject failure witnessed at Carrow Road.

Norwich started yesterday's match brighter and when they took the lead, a section of Town fans soon became restless.

Grumbling about Jim Magilton started to rumble around the ground and some Norwich fans tried to strike up a chorus of: “You're getting sacked in the morning!”

After Alan Quinn's equaliser, however, the atmosphere changed as Town fans started to get behind the team.

Whether the victory over Norwich turns out to be long-term salvation for the Town manager remains to be seen - but Ipswich fans returned home happy having avenged last December's woeful defeat at Carrow Road.

One thing the result does ensure is that Magilton will remain in the hotseat until the end of the season.

There are now just two matches left - a tough away match against play-off chasing Cardiff and a final match at home against a Coventry side which joins Town in the middle of the table.

Town owner Marcus Evans has indicated that he will review the season and the playing staff in May once the final ball is kicked - and while yesterday's result may have give the club a lift, there could still be major changes next month.

But the general good humour of the fans in the bright sunshine of a spring Sunday helped lift the town - and knowing that next season Ipswich looks likely to be in a higher division than the East Anglian neighbours has managed to give fans a boost.