Ipswich Town have taken a 1-0 lead into half time of their Championship encounter with Charlton Athletic at Portman Road this evening.
It was the hosts who made the brighter start to the match, with Tommy Smith and Daryl Murphy both having sights of goal in the opening exchanges.
The Tractor Boys were inches away from breaking the deadlock inside 10 minutes when David McGoldrick's curling free kick beat the wall and the keeper, only to bounce back off the inside of the post.
Charlton's first sight of goal came after 18 minutes when Johann Berg Gudmundsson let fly from range, but his dipping effort flashed narrowly past the post.
McGoldrick threatened again shortly afterwards, taking the ball down on the turn only to drag his subsequent volley wide of the target.
Ipswich did finally take the lead with just over 10 minutes remaining of the half when Smith poked home following a scramble in the box.
The Addicks almost responded shortly afterwards when George Tucudean raced clean through on goal, but Bartosz Bialkowski made an important save while Christophe Berra cleared the rebound off the line.
Tucudean had another chance to level things up with six minutes remaining in the half, but this time he could not keep his shot down from inside the area.
There was still time for Ipswich to hit the woodwork again before the break, and once more it was McGoldrick who was left cursing his luck as another free kick struck the post.
Barney Corkhill
