Ipswich Town maintained their place at the top of the League One table after seeing off Bristol Rovers on an emotional night at Portman Road.

On a night where the Blues paid tribute to Her Majesty The Queen and showed support for Ipswich legend Marcus Stewart, a Conor Chaplin goal set the Blues on their way to what looked like it may be an easy victory.

Town’s top scorer lashed in his sixth of the season in a first-half packed with chances and extended spells of Town pressure but, as the tempo dropped, Kieran McKenna’s men needed to see out dangerous periods at the end of the first half and the start of the second.

Bristol Rovers came back into the contest, hitting the bar and testing home keeper Christian Walton, before Lee Evans struck his second of the campaign after the break to calm things down and eventually secure the points.

Rovers finished the game with nine men, as Bobby Thomas was shown a second yellow card with five minutes to go, before Alfie Kilgour felled Chaplin in stoppage time, with the Ipswich man clean through and the red card quickly coming out of Alan Young's pocket.

Victory sees Town stay top of the table on goal difference from Portsmouth in second, with the two sides both sitting on 20 points from their opening eight matches of the season.

Next up for Ipswich is a visit to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, to face an Owls side firmly inside the play-off places after a good start of their own.

After Saturday’s scheduled clash with Cambridge United was postponed, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Portman Road paid tribute prior to kick-off.

Both sets of players wore black armbands as they walked out ahead of the game, without any of the usual fanfare, before an immaculately observed minute’s silence and rousing rendition of the national anthem.

Heads then turned to business, with McKenna naming the expected team for the visit of The Gas.

The Town boss made two changes to the side which beat Accrington, with Freddie Ladapo and Chaplin returning to the starting XI in place of Kayden Jackson and Tyreece John-Jules, with both dropping to the bench.

And the Blues were on the front foot immediately, winning a free-kick on the edge of the box after less than a minute, which led to Evans’ delivery being headed against the bar by Luke Woolfenden, via the hand of Gas keeper James Belshaw.

A nervy moment at the back, as Walton played out of an incredibly tight area, was quickly followed by a clever Cameron Burgess through-ball, which freed Ladapo to advance and force a low save from Belshaw. Both Wes Burns and Chaplin tried to follow up, but they couldn’t find a way to goal.

After Ipswich fans burst into a rendition of ‘there’s only one Marcus Stewart’ on 11 minutes, Woolfenden and Leif Davis both had driven shots from range blocked away, before a clever corner routine freed up Chaplin to head towards goal. Belshaw made the save but the Blues were threatening.

Chaplin was the recipient again from Town’s third corner of the night, somehow managing to trap Evans’ deep delivery and put in a shot which Belshaw was able to get down to push away.

The Town attacker wouldn’t be denied for long, though, as an excellent Ipswich move forced an opening which had been coming since kick-off.

Skipper Sam Morsy’s patience on the edge of the box made it, as he bided his time before playing a neat one-two with Harness and pulling back superbly for Chaplin to fire back across his body and into the bottom corner for his sixth of the season.

Ipswich were purring and could have had a second, when Ladapo’s cross allowed Burns to hang in the air and send a header at goal which was acrobatically saved by Belshaw to keep the deficit at one.

Chants of ‘we are top of the league’ were ringing out from the Portman Road stands as Ipswich pushed for their second of the night, but the tempo dropped in the final minutes before Rovers fired a real warning shot, as a spectacular effort from Antony Evans beat Walton but rattled the Ipswich woodwork before bouncing to safety.

The keeper got a hand to the next Rovers effort, tipping Trevor Clarke’s shot wide to ensure Town maintained their lead as the two teams headed for the dressing rooms at half-time.

When the sides returned, Ipswich continued to live on the edge and had Walton to thank again as the Town keeper moved to his right to beat Luca Hoole’s shot away, before he easily kept out Evans’ free-kick.

The Blues wanted a penalty, when Harness’s attempt to play the ball back to Morsy on the edge of the box appeared to be handled by Sam Finley, but the second goal did soon arrive as Evans lashed the ball home from outside the box, with the ball finding the net with the aid of a deflection.

Town were two up and in control but soon had to do without Burgess, who took a bang to the face as he slid in to expertly challenge Harvey Saunders, leading to the big defender being replaced by Dominic Ball for the final half-an-hour.

The former QPR man slotted in at centre-back alongside Woolfenden and was soon required to make a big block to deny a goal-bound Evans shot, before a triple change from McKenna saw Gassan Ahadme, Tyreece John-Jules and Greg Leigh introduced.

After their earlier challenges, Town were able to see out the closing stages in relative comfort, helped by the dismissal of Thomas, after the defender picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Ahadme with five minutes to go.

Kilgour was the next to depart, after he fouled Chaplin, as Town left with the victory.

IPSWICH TOWN (3-4-2-1): Walton; Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess (Ball 62); Burns (Edwards 82), Evans, Morsy (cpt), Davis (Leigh 69); Chaplin, Harness (John-Jules 69); Ladapo (Ahadme 69).

Subs: Hladky, Jackson.

Booked: Morsy (14), Harness (50), John-Jules (86).

BRISTOL ROVERS (4-1-4-1): Belshaw; Hoole, Kilgour, Thomas, Gordon; Finley (cpt); Anderson (Saunders 17), Evans (Whelan 78), McCormick (Coutts 61), Clarke (Marquis 61); Collins (Jasper 78).

Subs: Jaakkola, Westbrooke.

Booked: Hoole (66), Thomas (81, 85).

Red card: Thomas (86), Kilgour (90+).

Referee: Alan Young.

Attendance: 22,209 (300 away).