Bamford gives Pulis a high five

PATRICK BAMFORD equalised in stoppage time to ensure Boro finished fifth, meaning they face Aston Villa rather than Fulham in the play-offs. That was about all that was at stake. Tony Pulis’s men could not drop out of the top six and managerless Ipswich were safe in mid-table, yet this was surprisingly high on entertainment. Pulis has delivered what was demanded of him when he took charge just before the turn of the year. ‘If you had given me a playoff position then I wouldn’t have cared where we finished,’ he said. He was not even concerned about a late offside decision at 2-1 that cost Daniel Ayala (right) a g goal on the rebound after Muhamed Besic’s shot had rattled the bar. ‘There’s no argument, he was two yards onside, but we have bigger things to worry about now,’ he said. Ipswich caretaker boss Bryan Klug, the club’s academy director, made it four points from as many games since replacing Mick McCarthy. He said: ‘I couldn’t have asked for more from the players and I think there is plenty for the new manager to b build on.’ Ipswich took an early lead through Freddie S Sears, who had gone 38 games without a g goal before scoring at Reading last week. Stewart Downing levelled for Boro but Ben Gibson’s lunge on Shane McLoughlin allowed 16-goal top scorer Martyn Waghorn to score Ipswich’s first penalty of the season. Bamford, though, had the final say.