Interim Aberdeen boss Peter Leven was delighted after his side dug deep to defeat Motherwell and give themselves some breathing space in the cinch Premiership relegation battle.

Leighton Clarkson netted the only goal of the game after 25 minutes, before the Dons survived a disallowed goal and a last-gasp penalty claim.

Aberdeen’s first league win in 12 games moved them into ninth place, though their advantage over Ross County in the relegation play-off spot remains at three points after the Staggies defeated Hearts.

But Leven said: “There is a bit of breathing space and the three points are massive.

“But we can’t look at other teams around us. It’s all about us and what we can do.

“I don’t look at what happened elsewhere. We can’t affect what happens elsewhere and the boys just need to keep getting results and keep climbing the table.”

Leven felt a first clean-sheet in a dozen games was key in ending their winless league run.

Despite some nervous moments, Kelle Roos and the Aberdeen defence held strong.

“I thought we were brave, we didn’t panic and I thought we controlled the game,” Leven added.

“The flip side of it for me is the way we defended – getting a clean sheet is massive.”

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell was fuming after vital VAR decisions went against his team.

Lennon Miller looked to have levelled five minutes before half-time, only for the goal to be ruled out for handball against Theo Bair following a lengthy VAR check.

It then looked like the Steelmen would be awarded a penalty after the ball struck the arm of Graeme Shinnie in the final seconds, but the Dons player was not punished.

“I’ve just looked at the incident at the end of the game, it’s the first time I’ve had that situation,” Kettlewell said.

“The ball 100 per cent comes off Shinnie’s arm and his arm is out from his body.

“We’ve all spoke about the incidents you see with Celtic and Hearts the other week there – somehow I don’t think this will gather as much traction as what that did.

“Somebody is going to have to sum this up for me, somebody is going to have to give me some sort of clarity.

“I’ve already said I’m not going back and speaking to (Scottish Football Association head of referee operations) Crawford Allan because it’s going absolutely nowhere on a Monday morning, trying to find out why that was the case.

“We’re going to have to try tidy this up for the sake of Scottish football.

“What I should be doing as always is talking about our team, our performance and how the game has went – but no we’re back talking about handballs and VAR.”

Lincoln boss Michael Skubala hailed his free-scoring side after they hammered Bristol Rovers 5-0.

The impressive Imps took their recent tally to 16 goals in three games with another fine display at Sincil Bank.

Luton loanee Joe Taylor will get the plaudits for a first professional hat-trick, sandwiched between captain Paudie O’Connor’s opener and Reeco Hackett’s late fifth.

Anthony Evans missed a penalty for the visitors, who had a man advantage for the last 15 minutes after Ethan Erhahon was sent off.

“We started well again,” said Skubala, whose side are two points off the play-off spots after a 13th game unbeaten.

“We talk about starting bright, starting fast, and we did that.

“I just said to the boys this is what we do. If you’re going to come and play us you have to be on it.

“Scoring five goals was fantastic. You saw us scoring goals, but we needed our keeper today. Big man Lukas was fantastic. Those are the things that don’t get mentioned when you score loads of goals.

“You saw his and Paudie’s quality today. As much as we talk about goals, we’re getting clean sheets as well. I thought those two were fantastic today.

“I don’t know how many Joe’s scored. I just like people scoring goals. Joe at the minute, his positioning in behind is fantastic.

“He’s improving all the time. That’s why he came here. He’s a real threat to anybody.”

Rovers boss Matt Taylor understandably cut a frustrated figure after his side were put to the sword.

He questioned his players’ desire with a number of them out of contract in the summer.

He said: “We started the game so poorly. There were some diabolical moments, defending for the goals.

“The script was set in terms of what to expect from them. It looked like some couldn’t match it and some looked like they didn’t have the mindset to match it.

“The first goal was embarrassing. Their goals are diabolical defending. They’re my responsibility.

“All I ask is they take more personal pride in their performance. That first half an hour was too poor a showing for me to accept.

“There’s a bigger picture which we all know about. Is that affecting some players on the pitch at the moment? You’re only damaging yourself if you play like that. You only damage yourself and damage your own futures.

“Clarity’s all I need going forward and that’s taught me a little bit more about some of the personality.

“It’s irrelevant about the chances we created. We’ve said so many times about being good about creating, but five goals against. It’s irrelevant.

“You can’t look like a good footballing side at times if you can’t do the basic fundamentals of defending a football game.”

John Eustace says Blackburn have shown they are “ready for the fight” in the Sky Bet Championship relegation battle after a hard-earned goalless draw at Middlesbrough.

It was a sixth draw in eight games for Rovers, who are still waiting for their first win since Eustace took charge – but the manager was delighted with the display at the Riverside and felt his side deserved more.

“I thought we were outstanding,” said Eustace, whose team are three points above the drop zone.

“With and without the ball we were very good, we’ve had a really good week on the training field and I’m really disappointed we didn’t win the game.

“Again, we showed great character in difficult moments. I’m disappointed we didn’t win but delighted we didn’t lose.

“It’s another draw. I want more wins, of course, but you can see the commitment and character in the group.

“The games we’ve had so far, every game we’ve been fully committed and we’ve been unfortunate not to win more games. The fans can see the commitment week in, week out and with a bit of luck we’d have won this game but it just didn’t drop for us at the right times.

“There is pressure on everyone. We have to keep our head, keep positive, don’t get sucked into the negativity. We’ve been in the bottom five or six but it’s important we keep focused and keep believing.

“I haven’t looked at the other scores, I’m just focused on Blackburn and the commitment today was outstanding. We showed we’ll roll our sleeves up and we’re ready for the fight.”

Both sides had their moments at the Riverside, with Sammie Szmodics and Sam Gallagher going close for Blackburn but it was Middlesbrough who went closest when Isaiah Jones hit the bar in the last minute.

Boro are now unbeaten in four and have kept three clean sheets on the bounce but lost ground in the race for the play-offs and are now seven points adrift of the top six.

Head coach Michael Carrick said: “I’m frustrated, really, I think it was one of those games where we needed a moment and couldn’t quite find it, whether it was the pass or the finish.

“There was some alright football in between the boxes and we defended the box alright, but couldn’t quite find the moment.

“I thought we started alright and looked bright and dangerous and had a couple of opportunities that didn’t quite go in for us, then we lacked quality after that and didn’t have the moment to make a difference.

“There’s always a positive. The clean sheet, Seny (Dieng) has had to make a couple of saves but nothing extra special.

“We defended the box pretty well. Of course the clean sheet is important but we hope for more and the point doesn’t do an awful lot. It’s a little one to add to the tally but really it’s winning games that matters.”

Vinicius Junior scored twice as LaLiga leaders Real Mardid won 4-2 at Osasuna.

The Brazil forward, who was this week subjected to more racist abuse from rival fans, leading to his club filing a complaint with the Spanish legal authorities, fired Real in front after just four minutes.

Although Osasuna hit back through Ante Budimir, a well-taken goal from Real captain Dani Carvajal had the hosts ahead at the break.

Brahim Diaz scored a third on the break just after the hour mark before Vinicius slotted in his second of the afternoon and Iker Munoz struck a late consolation for the visitors.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who were missing England midfielder Jude Bellingham through suspension, made a bright start.

Vinicius gave them an early lead when he took the ball off Osasuna defender Alejandro Catena and ran through to beat the goalkeeper in the fourth minute.

The Brazilian then saw another chance saved after he tried to round keeper Sergio Herrera and Osasuna hit back when Budimir scored from a corner.

Los Blancos, though, regained the lead in the 17th minute when Carvajal latched on to a chipped pass from Federico Valverde to hook the ball in with the outside of his boot.

Following such a frantic start there was a brief lull before Osasuna forward Jose Arnaiz fired another chance over and then Vinicius saw his effort fly just wide before Antonio Rudiger’s header was blocked.

As half-time approached Arnaiz’s curling shot from outside the box was saved by Real keeper Andriy Lunin at full stretch.

Vinicius needlessly picked up a yellow card for dissent when laughing at a decision from referee Martinez Munuera before the break, meaning he will be banned for the LaLiga game against Athletic Bilbao after the international break.

Real, who will face Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals, further extended their lead on the hour mark when Diaz raced on to a long kick up field from Lunin, which had been flicked on by Valverde.

Vinicius got his second goal soon after as Valverde turned provider again.

He chested the ball into the path of the Brazilian, who ran into the left side of box and slotted a low shot into far corner for a sixth goal in his past four appearances.

Rodrygo saw his late effort saved before Lucas Vazquez had a goal ruled out for offside.

In stoppage time, Munoz pulled another goal back for Osasuna and 19-year-old Turkish midfielder Arda Guler almost added a fifth for Real when his long-range chip from just past the halfway line dropped on to the crossbar.

Aberdeen recorded their first cinch Premiership victory since January with a 1-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park.

Leighton Clarkson slammed home the decisive goal after 25 minutes to end a run of 11 games without a league win for the Dons and keep them three points clear of second-bottom Ross County.

Motherwell thought they had drawn themselves level when Lennon Miller found the net five minutes before half-time but they were denied following a lengthy VAR check.

Aberdeen leapfrogged St Johnstone into ninth, while Motherwell’s chances of a top-six spot are fading fast after losing ground on sixth-placed Hibernian.

There was a controversial moment inside the opening 40 seconds when Junior Hoilett was shown a yellow card for a dive inside the box.

Dons striker Bojan Miovski came close to ending his run of seven games without a goal with a deft chip that sailed just past the post.

Motherwell almost opened the scoring with their first opportunity. Blair Spittal’s free-kick was only partially cleared and it required a vital block by Jack MacKenzie to divert Dan Casey’s close-range effort behind for a corner.

Dons caretaker Peter Leven was forced into an early change as Nicky Devlin hobbled off and was replaced by Jack Milne in the 22nd minute.

Aberdeen made the breakthrough thanks to a controlled finish from Clarkson after Miovski’s shot had cannoned off the post.

Motherwell responded in a positive fashion. Sam Nicholson passed up a good opportunity to level after superbly controlling Stephen O’Donnell’s pass from deep inside his own half before firing against the legs of Kelle Roos.

It looked like Miller had found an equaliser when he angled a low drive that deflected beyond Roos. However, his goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check deemed Theo Bair to have handled in the build-up.

An eventful first half ended with further chances. Connor Barron should have doubled Aberdeen’s lead after he rose unmarked to meet Hoilett’s corner and Liam Kelly was then forced into a good stop to turn Miovski’s goal-bound shot over the bar.

Stuart Kettlewell made a double change at half-time as he introduced Georgie Gent and Andy Halliday in place of Bevis Mugabi and Nicholson.

The hosts were struggling to break through the stubborn Dons defence and they almost found themselves two goals behind when Miovski brought out a fantastic one-handed save from Kelly.

Spittal had a tame effort gathered, before Casey took the brunt of a fizzing Jamie McGrath shot in the face.

Two fine saves from Roos in quick succession kept out Bair and the Canadian striker then glanced wide from his third chance in the space of a minute.

Halliday was next to force a crucial save from Roos with a curling effort from the edge of the box.

The away side were still offering a threat on the counter-attack, and Kelly produced some heroics of his own to deny Dante Polvara.

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell hailed a terrific team performance as his 10 men took a giant leap towards League One safety with a 1-0 win over Burton at St James Park.

Reece Cole struck the only goal of the game, in the 41st minute, before Exeter’s Zak Jules was sent off as the players walked down the tunnel at half-time for an incident unseen.

But Exeter dug deep and held firm as Burton pressed for an equaliser, although the Brewers were just as vulnerable on the counter-attack in an end-to-end encounter.

“I thought we started the game really well and we should have scored in the first 15 minutes, we created real clear-cut chances and if we score one of them then the game is totally different,” Caldwell said.

“We then got a bit frustrated midway through the half before we picked it up again and scored an amazing goal with how we wanted to play.

“I didn’t see the incident at half-time, I didn’t see that, but we lost a player and in the second half, the character, the determination and team spirit and understanding of how we wanted to play the game and see the game out was absolutely outstanding.

“They had one moment where they hit the bar, but they didn’t create much else and the way the people inside the stadium stood up in that last 15 minutes when everyone was on their knees – myself included – was fantastic. The players on the park were putting everything in and they needed the supporters to get behind them and they certainly did.”

Deji Oshilaja and John Brayford both hit the bar for Burton, while Antwoine Hackford passed up a good chance.

Frustrated Albion boss Martin Paterson said: “It’s very simple to explain – it was one of the softest goals I have ever seen conceded, a simple give-and-go that can’t happen in professional football; wing-backs getting done on the inside, a cut-back and people not tracking their runners.

“All of a sudden, we are 1-0 down and the problem then is that we don’t score goals. I don’t know the statistic or how many opportunities we had inside the six-yard box to put the ball in the back of the net, I have to be careful I am not hanging anyone personally out to dry, but it will be me that has to take it in the chin.

“I have no problem with that, but the issue is that we don’t take opportunities to score goals. We have to find a way and it is hard to explain because we had, in my opinion, five or six clear-cut opportunities at goal and have not scored one.

“It’s unacceptable from myself and from the team. We broke them down, we had a one-v-one, John Brayford hit the bar and there were crosses that should have been converted but we didn’t score and it’s hard to defend that.”

John Mousinho hailed a player he dropped for helping Portsmouth take another big step towards the Championship with a 1-0 win at Peterborough.

The Pompey chief left out two-goal midweek hero Kusini Yengi for a crunch clash at promotion rivals Peterborough.

But the Australian ace responded by climbing off the bench to grab the only goal that kept Portsmouth five points clear at the summit.

Yengi, sent on after Christian Saydee limped off in the first half, raced on to a pass from fellow substitute Gavin Whyte in the 77th minute to fire past Posh keeper Jed Steer.

Peterborough still look bound for the play-offs despite their five-match winning streak coming to an end.

Top-scorer Ephron Mason-Clark blasted against the bar midway through the first half as they drew a blank for just the third time all season in League One.

“I really feel for him,” said Mousinho about match-winner Yengi. “It wasn’t an easy decision to leave him out.

“He scored twice on Tuesday night and his overall performance was really good.

“He has been excellent whenever he has played and his goalscoring record is superb.

“It could have been a difficult one to take, but he was really professional about it when told yesterday. He trained really well in the afternoon, stayed positive around the place and thoroughly deserved his goal.

“At this stage of the season it is all about winning games, but it was a really good performance from us as well.

“The fans made it a special day. That was probably the best away atmosphere I’ve ever experienced.

“To be able to win the game and put in that performance was superb. It was pure relief at the final whistle.

“We’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep winning as many games as possible.”

Posh boss Darren Ferguson said: “I’m really disappointed with the result, but really proud of the performance.

“We were by far the better team on the day and they’re really lucky to come away with a win.

“If anyone from Portsmouth says otherwise, they are kidding themselves.

“We controlled large parts of the game. Some of the play was fantastic.

“But football can be a cruel game and we just couldn’t get that first goal.

“You always need that bit of luck in big games, but we didn’t have it when Ephron hit the underside of the bar.

“I’m gutted for the players as they didn’t deserve to lose the game. You’d rather win and have a bad performance like on Wednesday.

“But if we play like that in the last eight games, we’ll be fine. I’ve still got a lot of confidence that we’re in a good place.

“The break has come at a good time to freshen up for a last push.”

Rotherham head coach Leam Richardson was encouraged by his team’s 0-0 draw with Huddersfield and felt the Millers could have picked up a rare three points.

The Millers avoided a 10th straight Championship defeat in the stalemate and came closest to snatching all three points in the Yorkshire derby.

Rotherham have won just three times this campaign and only once under Richardson but they could not force a winner against 10 men.

Sorba Thomas saw red for the visitors just before the hour mark after picking up two yellow cards.

Richardson was pleased to stop the rot but Rotherham, who picked up a rare clean sheet and shrugged off successive 5-0 defeats, remain winless since Boxing Day.

He said: “The positives are that it was a clean sheet in a local derby and we were competitive. There was good work ethic.

“We started the game well. I am obviously disappointed with the end result with them going down to 10 men – our habits have got to be better.

“The players need my support and leadership to recover from weeks like that. I would like to think they have had that in abundance this week.

“The lads were on the floor (after the 5-0 losses). I’ve had to pick them up and change shape a little bit to get more forward runners on the pitch and be more dynamic with it. It helps when players are coming back to fitness and we have more competition for places.

“I thought first half we were disappointed we couldn’t go in 1-0 up.

“We had enough possession and moments to win the game. We could have been better with our decision making.

“Is a draw a fair result? Probably because I don’t think either keeper had to work hard to keep the ball out of the net, which is disappointing on our part. The sending off ruined the game like it often does.”

Huddersfield produced some decent build-up play in the first period but most of it led to routine saves for Viktor Johansson with Jack Rudoni, Delano Burgzorg and David Kasumu all firing within easy range of the Sweden international.

Rotherham almost broke the deadlock with loanee midfielder Andy Rinomhota’s curling effort bouncing back off the woodwork. Charlie Wyke was then unable to turn in the rebound.

Huddersfield’s task was made more difficult in the 59th minute when Thomas picked up a second yellow card for hauling down Ollie Rathbone.

From then on the visitors’ threat came predominantly from set-pieces, all of which were sternly dealt with by Rotherham.

Huddersfield head coach Andre Breitenreiter said: “We came to get the three points. We started really well. Rotherham are dangerous from long throws but we defended really good.

“The game changed with the red card. You know it’s never easy to play with 10 players but in my opinion you could not see that we had 10 players. The boys did really good. We created chances and set-pieces.

“We did not score and we have to work on this. For me it’s not always the shot on the goal, it’s the final pass.

“We have to live with the 0-0. It’s a positive to get the clean sheet and I congratulate the team for their fight for survival.

“I am sure we would have won today with 11 players. It was good to get one point and a clean sheet.”

Shannon Royal denied Summerville Boy a repeat victory in the End Of The Season Hurdle at Thurles.

Now a 12-year-old, Summerville Boy won the 2018 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle when trained by Tom George before switching to the care of Henry de Bromhead during a 420-day break in his career.

He ended a lengthy losing streak when taking this contest last year and was sent off the 8-13 favourite to repeat the trick after chasing home Monkfish on his most recent outing.

Summerville Boy had plenty of ground to make up on Shannon Royal jumping the last though, with Jack Kennedy having gained a seemingly decisive advantage aboard the Gordon Elliott-trained runner.

However, Shannon Royal’s stride began to shorten on the run to the line, allowing Summerville Boy to get within a neck of him at the line.

Despite the narrow margin of victory, Kennedy felt he his mount was always doing enough.

He said: “He has plenty of ability but he has his own ideas about things. He’s done it well enough but was fairly idle in front.

“He jumped the last well and was always going to hold on. He stays well and a bit of company is a help on him.”

Answering (11-10 favourite) landed the Adare Manor Opportunity Maiden Hurdle, with 4-1 shot Something Abouther prevailing in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Beginners Chase.

Lilian Bland (9-1) landed a first win under rules in the Well Done To Our Irish Cheltenham Winners Handicap Chase, the same feat Cloudy Fountain (15-2) completed in the Leugh Handicap Hurdle.

Below The Radar could soon become a household name after enhancing his unbeaten record in the bet365 “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle at Uttoxeter.

Paul Nicholls’ six-year-old was picked up for €60,000 after two seconds in the pointing field, but he is yet to taste defeat under rules, supplementing a bumper victory at Chepstow with his second win over timber at the Staffordshire track on Saturday.

Sent off a 3-1 shot in the hands of Freddie Gingell, his proven stamina came to the fore in the testing ground, as even some untidy jumping was unable to stop him notching up a game two-length success.

“He had to be very tough and his jumping wasn’t quite there but he has done it easy enough in the end,” Gingell told Sky Sports Racing.

“He won a nice bumper at Chepstow and then went to Hereford and won a novice hurdle there and the form of that has turned out good.

“He’s won nicely here today and he’s a lovely horse. He probably isn’t the quickest in the world, he has just the one pace, and I think the ground probably suited him.”

There was a shock in the bet365 Novices’ Handicap Chase as Jonjo O’Neill’s Regal Blue put his best foot forward to score at 16-1.

Owned by one of O’Neill’s chief backers in Martin Tedham, the mount of Nick Schofield has proven rather hit or miss this season, but was on a going day as he relished testing conditions.

“He loved that ground and unraceable really suits him,” said O’Neill.

“He jumped away grand, Nick gave him a good spin and it all went well for a change.

“He’s really ground dependant and if he doesn’t like it, he just says ‘thank you very much, I have had enough’ – he’s a bit of a character, just like his owner!

“I thought he might have been beat at the last and in fairness to him, he battled away to the line and was going away again. I don’t think it is the trip that bothers him, it’s just the ground that is more important.”

Also relishing the heavy going was Gary Moore’s Jupiter Du Gite, who opened his fences account at the second attempt in the bet365 Handicap Chase.

A runner in graded company as a juvenile hurdler, the five-year-old was second on his chasing bow at Hereford in January and produced a fine round of jumping to oblige at odds of 11-2.

“He’s a tricky character but when things go right, he’s a very talented horse.” said jockey Niall Houlihan.

“I’m delighted for Alan Jamieson (owner), he’s had a few seconds and thirds recently, but to get Jupiter’s head in front will mean a lot to him.

“He’s a half-brother to Editeur Du Gite and he has lots of scope, but he still has to learn. At three out he was very brave but he was always going to get away with it.

“It was a pleasurable round of jumping and he got into a great rhythm and when it all works out for him, he’s a very talented horse.”

In a week when Irish trainers dominated proceedings at Cheltenham, it was no surprise to see the concluding bet365 Open National Hunt Flat Race go the way of John McConnell’s raider Lieutenant Mayne, with the 7-2 shot romping to a four-length success in the hands of Ben Harvey.

Max Sanders’ first-half goal lifted Leyton Orient back into the League One promotion picture with a 1-0 win at Stevenage that saw the hosts drop out of the play-off positions.

Sanders scored the only goal of the game in the 16th minute when, after being found in the box, he shifted the ball onto his right foot before sliding a shot under Craig MacGillivray.

Stevenage striker Jamie Reid thought he had pulled his side level 24 minutes in but referee Craig Hicks disallowed his goal for an apparent handball against Jordan Roberts.

Boro’s top scorer threatened once more when he flicked Dan Butler’s free-kick into the hands of visiting goalkeeper Sol Brynn as Orient survived again.

Home boss Steve Evans made four substitutions at half-time in a bid to turn things around.

However, Stevenage could only muster three hopeful efforts in the second half, from Reid, Roberts and Nick Freeman, as they dropped to eighth in the table, just three points above Orient.

Financially-troubled Reading put aside their off-field worries with a 4-0 home win over fellow League One strugglers Cambridge.

In a scrappy first half, Reading opened up a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from striker Sam Smith – his 12th of the season – and winger Femi Azeez.

Well-struck second-half efforts from Lewis Wing and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan secured the comprehensive victory.

Reading, still beset by constant cash-flow problems under owner Dai Yongge, began slowly against Cambridge.

United defender Michael Morrison found space and nodded narrowly wide early on from a Liam Bennett cross.

But Royals went ahead when Cambridge’s James Gibbons made a hash of an intended clearance from a Harvey Knibbs cross and Smith pounced for his fifth goal in as many games.

Reading increased their advantage in the second minute of first-half stoppage time when Azeez ran through unchallenged on a quick break and beat keeper Jack Stevens with a fierce near-post shot.

Cambridge could have halved the gap soon after the interval, with home keeper Joel Pereira making a superb double save to deny Elias Kachunga from close range.

Pereira’s heroics proved crucial, with Wing effectively making the game safe for Royals when firing over United’s substitute keeper Will Mannion in the 62nd minute.

Ehibhatiomhan struck with five minutes left, lashing past Mannion from the edge of the area for his 10th goal of the campaign.

Ipswich swept back into second place in the Sky Bet Championship with an emphatic 6-0 win over relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday.

A brace apiece by Omari Hutchinson and Ali Al-Hamadi helped Town leapfrogged above Leeds ahead of the Yorkshire side’s home match with Millwall on Sunday.

Three first-half goals put Ipswich in complete control at Portman Road with Cameron Burgess and Nathan Broadhead adding to Hutchinson’s 15th-minute opener.

Hutchinson added a sublime fourth goal soon after half-time before substitute Al-Hamadi struck twice late on as the Tractor Boys recorded their biggest win of the season.

The Owls, meanwhile, remain down in 23rd spot and two points adrift of safety after seeing their recent revival dented by successive defeats.

Wednesday had won five of six matches prior to their loss at Leeds last time out and they showed promising signs early on at Ipswich as they created several chances.

However, Anthony Musaba could not make the most of his opportunities while Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky was called upon to turn Djeidi Gassama’s shot round the post, and it was the home who drew first blood.

Wes Burns picked out Hutchinson near to the penalty spot and his fine low shot beat Beadle.

Gassami almost bought the scores level when his snap-shot from just outside the penalty area had Hladky diving across his goal line to push the ball round the post.

Burns limped off with what appeared to be a calf injury in the 36th minute, but the Tractor Boys extended their lead a minute later following a goalmouth scramble from a Leif Davis corner.

Kieffer Moore initially headed the ball onto the crossbar but Australia international Burgess was on hand to hammer home and make it 2-0.

The points were all-but sewn up in first-half stoppage time when Broadhead put the hosts further ahead after meeting substitute Kayden Jackson’s cross inside the six-yard box.

Ipswich picked up where they left off after the break and Hutchinson fired just over before getting his second of the match in the 48th minute after receiving the ball from Broadhead and slamming a shot past Beadle.

The Wednesday keeper had to claw away a long-range effort from Massimo Luongo soon after but he was beaten again in the 80th minute when Al-Hamadi made it 5-0 after Beadle had parried Jeremy Sarmiento’s shot into his path

Hutchinson’s inch-perfect cross in the 90th minute was then converted by Al-Hamadi to wrap up a comprehensive win for promotion-chasing Town.