BARROW LEAVES TOWN ON BRINK
Last-gasp agony for Lambert
ADEFLATED Paul Lambert insisted his Ipswich team will continue to fight for points after a 90thminute winner from Reading substitute Modou Barrow left them in a perilous position.
The Royals’ Portuguese boss Jose Gomes was delighted with the victory and said he always had faith in his players who showed great “team spirit” to come away with the vital win.
The late goal by Barrow all but condemned the Tractor Boys to relegation to League One.
This battle of the basement clubs was billed as a mustwin game for Ipswich by their manager, but they are now 12 points clear of safety.
Lambert said: “I thought that the two goals they scored were really poor. We never dealt with them at all.
“We had a great chance towards the end of the first half, but we went 1-0 down and I thought, in the second half, we did everything we could to score, but their second goal is a really, really poor goal.
“We had a lot of chances and the goalkeeper made some good saves and we have had some bad misses.”
He admitted it would be difficult to pick up the 12 points to retain their Championship survival.
“Time is not on our side that’s for sure, but until it is mathematically impossible you never give in. Your job is to try to win, it’s still possible, but it’s going to be really hard. We need a lot of work but you never, ever stop giving in.”
Norwich City loanee Nelson Oliveira opened the scoring for the Royals in the 19th minute. The striker, who was continually being barracked by the Ipswich fans because of his Norwich connections, latched on to a Garath McCleary pass and fired home.
The home side drew level in the 83rd minute when Gwion Edwards fired into the net with a crisp right-footed shot from just inside the six-yard box.
But the sting in the tail came from Barrow, who was sent clear following a late break by Reading to beat Ipswich keeper Bartosz Bialkowski and send the 1,495 visiting fans into wild celebrations.
Royals keeper Emiliano Martinez made a string of saves in the second half and helped to chalk up only Reading’s second away win of the season. Ipswich had their chances to grab a point and, deep into injury time, with Luke Chambers headed wide following a corner by Edwards.
Gomes said it was a big win for his team, adding: “It was a very important three points. We are in the middle of the big war and the final games will decide everything, but this game did not decide anything.
“We know that if we win against Wigan we will pass them next Saturday.
“The players showed a good team spirit the way that they fight and the chances they create to score. In this league all the teams can beat each other.”
He had particular praise for his goalkeeper, saying: “He is a good goalkeeper, despite getting injured during the warm-up.”