Conor Chaplin was the star of the show as Ipswich Town flexed their muscles once again to swat Charlton Athletic aside in the Portman Road sunshine.
The Blues’ top scorer netted a hat-trick (7,14 and 70) to take his season’s tally to 25 - 22 in the league - and wrap up three more points which move his side back into League One’s top two.
Freddie Ladapo netted the fourth (75) with his first touch off the bench, on an afternoon where Town got themselves into a winning position early, with Chaplin striking twice inside the opening 15 minutes, before the striker netted his second goal of the afternoon late on (84) to make it five.
There was still time for Leif Davis to add the sixth as he slammed home in stoppage time, minutes after Ryan Inniss was send off for bringing down Ladapo as he rampaged through in search of his hat-trick.
Town were dominant in front of another sold-out home crowd, with ‘stand up if you’re going up’ sung by all four stands in the closing minutes of the game.
Kieran McKenna’s men are up to second, ahead of Sheffield Wednesday who lost at Burton, while Plymouth are the new leaders after beating rivals Exeter at lunchtime.
Next up for Town is a home clash with Port Vale on Tuesday night.
McKenna made one change to the side which drew with Cheltenham on Monday, as Nathan Broadhead recovered from his ankle problem to take his place in the starting XI. Marcus Harness dropped to the bench.
Christian Walton started in goal, with Harry Clarke, Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess and Davis in front of him.
Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo were in midfield, with Wes Burns, Chaplin and Broadhead lining up behind striker George Hirst.
Former Ipswich striker and boyhood Town fan Macauley Bonne started up front for Charlton, who also included ex-Blue Scott Fraser in their side.
The Blues began their after with three corners which Charlton were ultimately able to clear, before early penalty appeals came and went as the ball appeared to hit Michael Hector close to his arm, with the Charlton defender on the floor after the Addicks struggled to deal with Broadhead’s break into the box.
Town were well on top early, with a nicely flighted ball into danger from Morsy finding Chaplin in space but with his back to goal, meaning he could only angle his header wide.
He wouldn’t be denied for long, though, as Town worked the ball inside from the left to the feet of their No.10, who showed superb composure to take a touch and pick his spot. Portman Road erupted, with the Blues ahead early.
It did so again less than 10 minutes later as Ipswich kept their foot on the gas and produced a brilliant second, as Broadhead broke through the middle of the pitch and scooped a brilliant ball through for Chaplin, who kept his cool and finished smartly once again.
Town were well on top and more than dominant, but Walton needed to react well to push a close-range Bonne header to safety, before Fraser fired wide against his former club a few moments later.
The hosts’ tempo had dropped a little after a rapid and rewarding start, but their quality on the ball continued to show as Broadhead worked the ball wide to Burns, before a good cross through the box saw Hirst get across his man but only manage to turn his shot wide of the post.
Chaplin had one more chance before the break as, once again, the Town set-piece machine managed to dream up a play which gained the diminutive forward two yards of space in danger. He met Davis’s delivery well but saw his shot deflected wide for a corner.
Ipswich were right back on it after the break, with Broadhead producing a string of brilliant touches to make space for himself to shoot, with visiting keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer needing to claw it away.
Burns, after receiving treatment for a knock to his ankle, was soon back involved and played a teasing ball into danger which Madela Egbo took a swipe at, with the ball fortunately dropping safely behind for a corner. Chaplin again wriggled free from Davis’s set piece and again saw his shot blocked.
Town should have had their third when Hirst and Chaplin hunted as a pair to tease Terrell Thomas into an error, robbing him of the ball and tearing into the box, with Chaplin laying back for Hirst with just the keeper to beat. Sadly he could only drag the ball wide.
Charlton broke down the other end and had serious penalty appeals waved away as Jesurun Rak-Sakyi hit the deck after tangling legs with Davis, before McKenna made his first change to bring on Janoi Donacien in place of Clarke.
Goal three killed the game when Luongo played a half-cleared corner back into danger, with Broadhead picking the ball up and the back post and poking it into the path of Chaplin, who couldn’t miss as he completed his hat-trick from the closest of ranges.
The No.10 could have had a fourth had he not selflessly left substitute Ladapo’s shot to roll in after the striker beat the keeper superbly with the first touch of his game, making it four well-and-truly putting a bow on an excellent performance.
Ladapo was hungry for more, though, showing great persistence inside the box to keep the pressure on the Charlton defence as they dealt with danger, before wriggling free and slamming home.
The striker was on a hat-trick, too, and when Chaplin hooked a ball through to him to run onto, Inniss was left with no option but to bring him down before he reached the box, earning the Charlton defender a straight red card.
Leif Davis curled the resulting free-kick over the top of the bar, meaning their was to be no sixth goal just yet, but the capacity crowd did get another one in stoppage time as the full-back smashed home after substitute Kyle Edwards had hit the post.
Ipswich Town: Walton; Clarke (Donacien, 65), Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo (Ball, 78); Burns (Jackson, 73), Chaplin, Broadhead (Edwards, 73); Hirst (Ladapo, 73)
Subs: Hladky, Harness
Charlton Athletic: Maynard-Brewer, Egbo (Sessegnon, 60), Inniss, Hector, Thomas, Dobson, Morgan (Kane, 73), Fraser, Rak-Sakyi (Henry, 81), Bonne (Leaburn, 60), Campbell (Kany, 73)
Subs: Wollacott, Kilkenny
Att: 29,011 (1,113)
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