Ipswich Town 0 Gillingham 1: A SPIRITED performance was not enough for Ipswich as lady luck hid her face from the Blues yet again and Town went down 1-0 to Gillingham at Portman Road.

Ipswich Town 0 Gillingham 1

A SPIRITED performance was not enough for Ipswich as lady luck hid her face from the Blues yet again and Town went down 1-0 to Gillingham at Portman Road.

After a bright opening Town seemed to be on top but their weakness at defending set-plays was exposed again as the Gills scored from their first corner of the game and were able to defend their lead until the end.

Gillingham player-coach Andy Hessenthaler took the corner in the 33rd minute. Tommy Johnson flicked the ball into the danger area and Mamady Sidibe was there to turn it into the net.

Ipswich could find no response in the remainder of the first-half and made numerous changes for the second period.

Darren Bent and Tommy Miller replaced Chris Makin and Jamie Clapham with Ipswich changing their formation to a 3-4-3 system as caretaker boss Tony Mowbray sought desperately for the win.

A good spell of pressure early in the second half justified the changes but chance after chance went begging and Town were unable to claw back the goal which would have salvaged at least a point.

Town came closest when Alun Armstrong crossed for Darren Ambrose to head goalwards but Jason Brown tipped the ball onto the post. The ball came back to Ambrose but his shot into the ground deflected of a defender, hit the bar and went over. Even after all this the referee awarded a goal-kick.

Perhaps at this moment Ipswich knew it would not be their day. They could have no doubt when John McGreal's header from just three yards was saved by an instinctive save from Brown.

Things could not be going any worse for Town. Fans seem unhappy with the potential appointment of Joe Royle as the next manager. But any new man who can restore Ipswich into a side playing confident football will quickly earn the highest praise.