Championship report: Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Ipswich Town

After a scrappy first half that was heavily impacted by the weather, the Blues came to life after the break. Conor Chaplin forced an own-goal from Brendan Galloway to give them the lead, with Kieffer Moore wrapping up the win just over 10 minutes later.

Ipswich impressed in the first few minutes, pushing up the pitch quickly and getting the away fans right behind them. However, it was Plymouth who had the first chance as Vaclav Hladky was forced to palm away an overhit cross from the right. The ball came out to Darko Gyabi on the other flank, but he fired wide from the edge of the box.

Omari Hutchinson's pinpoint cross saw Kieffer Moore force an early save from Conor Hazard (Image: Ross Halls)

The match quickly became very scrappy. Lewis Travis, who had eight bookings to his name so far this season, was lucky to avoid a ninth as he wiped out Adam Randell in the ninth minute, which was met with a chant of 'campeones' from the home end.

Town's first real chance came in the 15th minute. A deep cross from Omari Hutchinson landed on the head of Moore, who forced a low save fom Conor Hazard despite being positioned far our from goal.

Fouls disrupted the momentum yet again, with Travis and Hutchinson both penalised. Argyle also pressed with real intensity, causing the Blues problems while playing out from the back. 

Jeremy Sarmiento returned to the starting lineup at Home Park (Image: PA)

When Chaplin went down with an injury just before the half-hour mark, Kieran McKenna had a chance to get some intructions through to his players. It seemed to have worked, as Jeremy Sarmiento carved through Plymouth's midfield with a superb pass to Hutchinson, but his effort from the right was blocked.

However, in the buildup to half time, the Pilgrims began to turn the screw. A short corner ended up falling to Ryan Hardie in the 36th minute, but he blasted his shot over the bar from just inside the area. They came even closer just a minute later.

Referee Josh Smith opted against giving a foul as Sarmiento was brought down by Matthew Sorinola, allowing Morgan Whittaker to launch a long cross to Mickel Miller on the other flank. His shot seemed destined for the back of the net, but Luke Woolfenden got back just in time to block it off the line in the 40th minute.

Conor Chaplin forced the own-goal that gave Town the lead in the second half (Image: Ross Halls)

The start to the second half looked like the first, but as the rain went away and the sun came out, Town began to improve.

They started to ramp up the pressure around the hour-mark. A quick pass from Axel Tuanzebe, allowing him to play Hutchinson into space. His low cross was cleared as far as Chaplin, who took aim. Although his shot was deflected, Moore leapt highest to meet it, heading over the bar.

Chaplin was involved once again as Ipswich took the lead in the 63rd minute, picking up the ball outside the area and taing aim. His strike took a heavy deflection of Galloway before slowly trickling into the back of the net in front of more than 1,700 travelling supporters.

Kieffer Moore wrapped up the win with a powerful strike

It was clear that the game was still wide open, and the Blues wanted a second goal to really put themselves in control. Chaplin managed to win a free-kick on the edge of the area in the 63rd minute, striking the wall with an impressive strike to win a corner.

Davis' delivery from the right bounced up off Chaplin, but Moore was there to rifle the ball into the net from close range to make it 2-0 just a minute later.

It was a killer blow for Plymouth, who simply couldn't find a response. Their best chance came when Mickel Miller broke down the left before smacking the inside post. It wasn't enough, and Town were able to see out a comfortable two-goal win to move back into the automatic promotion places.

Plymouth XI: 3-4-3: Hazard; Pleguezuelo, Gibson, Galloway (Devine 81'); Sorinola (Edwards 65'), Randell (Phillips 81'), Houghton (Forshaw 65'), Miller; Whittaker, Hardie, Gyabi (Bundu (75')

Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Hladky; Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Travis; Hutchinson, Chaplin (Clarke 80'), Sarmiento (Harness 68'); Moore (Al-Hamadi 81')

Attendance: 16,871 (1,735 away)