There was an outpouring of emotion at Portman Road as Ipswich Town secured promotion in swashbuckling fashion by beating Exeter City 6-0 this afternoon.
The packed house couldn’t believe what they were seeing as, knowing victory would secure their spot in the Championship, Town blew Exeter City away with five first-half goals which wrapped up proceedings in lightning quick fashion.
Conor Chaplin scored two of them, taking his tally for the season to 29, with Massimo Luongo, George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead netting before half-time to complete the job.
There was to be no let-up, with Wes Burns scoring within two minutes of the second-half kicking off, before Town coasted to victory and into the second tier.
There was an outpouring of emotion from the packed stands as the full-time whistle blew, sparking wild scenes as the Blues secured their first promotion in 23 years in style.
Promotion ends four years in League One, with Town getting nowhere close to promotion in any of the other three, but this Ipswich team is simply built differently.
They achieved their target thanks to a run of 13 wins in their last 14 games, and still have a shot at the title on the final day.
The thought of lifting the trophy at Fleetwood next Sunday can wait, though. It’s time to celebrate.
After being welcomed to the stadium by a wall of noise, banners and blue smoke as thousands of supporters lined the streets for the arrival of the Ipswich team coach, the Town players were hit again as they emerged from the tunnel to a thunderous ovation.
A packed ground full of excitement translated to a little bit of nervous energy in the early exchanges, but that all vanished inside 10 minutes when Chaplin was found in an acre of space, allowing the Blues’ top scorer to advance and fire home a brilliant shot from outside the box which flew into the corner.
It was the attacker’s 28th of the season, surely setting the Blues on their way to promotion, but they still needed to be wary as Demetri Mitchell found space inside the box and forced a smart stop from Christian Walton.
The concern didn’t need to last too long, though, with Ipswich’s screaming about their dominance and making it count as Luongo bulldozed into the area after exchanging passes with Broadhead, before lashing the ball into the net with his left foot to double the Town lead.
Two became three soon after, with Broadhead again involved as he played a dazzling ball across the penalty area for Hirst to turn home.
Portman Road was rocking.
The rock turned to shock a few minutes as the fans packed into Portman Road couldn’t believe what they were witnessing.
Burns stormed into the box and hit the deck under the challenge of Alex Hartridge, earning a spot kick which Broadhead stepped up to score, having missed in midweek at Barnsley.
Town kept on pushing, though, with Chaplin adding number five with a superbly-taken shot after Hirst had dominated Hartridge to the point the Exeter centre-half was substituted soon after the latest Ipswich goal hit the net.
Exeter retreated to their dressing room at half-time for a brief period of respite, which ended within two minutes of the second half starting as Burns lobbed home the sixth from Chaplin’s brilliant pass.
The No.10, by this point top of the standings in the chase for League One’s Golden Boot, fired two chances over the top in quick succession as he searched for his hat-trick.
Town declared at six, before wild scenes of celebration kicked off a party which is sure to continue long into the night.
Ipswich Town: Walton (Hladky, 82); Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo (Ball, 76); Burns (Jackson, 67), Chaplin, Broadhead (Edwards, 67); Hirst (Ladapo, 67)
Subs: Donacien, Harness
Exeter City: Woods; Caprice, Hartridge (Grounds, 36), Sweeney, Aimson, Mitchell (Sparkes, 61), Chauke, Borges (Stansfield, 61)), Kite, Key (Cox, 83), Coley (Scott, 61)
Subs: Blackman, White
Att: 29,334 (919 Exeter fans)
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here