Ipswich win at Exeter to keep pressure on at top

Last updated on .From the section League One

Ipswich Town closed the gap at the top of League One with a comfortable win at Exeter City in Saturday's early kick-off.

The points made it 23 from 10 away games for Kieran McKenna's side and took them within a point of leaders Plymouth, who visit Burton later on Saturday.

It was an eighth defeat in 19 league games for City, who remain ninth but could later slip into the bottom half.

Ipswich were irresistible in the early stages and Harness saw a close-range prod instinctively saved by Jamal Blackman inside 10 minutes, but less than a minute later the visitors were ahead.

With the City defence caught napping, Harness nodded a diagonal Sam Morsy cross back across goal for Ladapo to stoop and head into the bottom corner to score for the fourth straight away game.

Grecians defender Alex Hartridge saw a near-post volley turned around the post by Christian Walton on 22 minutes and Jack Sparkes lashed over following a corner soon after, but goalmouth opportunities were few and far between for the rest of the half.

Blackman tipped over a dipping strike from Cameron Humphreys and saved a near-post header from Ladapo just before the hour but the crucial second goal came when Harness glanced home a header from a Leif Davis corner to spark wild scenes among the 1,300 away fans behind the goal, many of whom had set off from Suffolk before 06:00 GMT to make kick-off.

City saw appeals for a penalty dismissed moments later, after a barge in the box by Davis on sub Sam Nombe.

Blackman denied Kyle Edwards a third in the final 15 minutes while Tim Dieng fired over and Pierce Sweeney swiped a late chance off-target from an angle for the hosts, as Town returned to winning ways after back-to-back draws in League One.
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