FA PREMIER RESERVE LEAGUE (SOUTH)Ipswich Res 1Tottenham Res 0By Derek DavisChief Football WriterOWEN Garvan hit the winner at Portman Road last night as the Blues strung together two wins in a row for the first time all season – but the heroes of the night were the back four.

FA PREMIER RESERVE LEAGUE (SOUTH)

Ipswich Res 1

Tottenham Res 0

By Derek Davis

Chief Football Writer

OWEN Garvan hit the winner at Portman Road last night as the Blues strung together two wins in a row for the first time all season – but the heroes of the night were the back four.

Skipper Gerard Nash marshalled the defence superbly, allowing Spurs barely a sniff and anything that did get past the Blues back- line was easily handled by confident young Irish keeper Shane Supple.

Aidan Collins looks back to the form that had him pushing for a first-team place the season before last, while the fairly-untried James Krause and Sammy Moore did very well as full-backs.

Moore, in for Scott Mitchell, who suffered an ankle injury in Saturday's 4-0 win over Derby, almost got his name on the scoresheet with a vicious 25-yard drive which drifted wide.

Garvan's winner was a wonderfully-taken 40th-minute volley, after a Krause free-kick was punched out to the edge of the area and the Irishman shrugged off a challenge before controlling with his chest and whipping the ball past Radek Cerny.

Billy Clarke went close to scoring in the opening minute of each half and looked lively alongside Pablo Counago.

The duo combined well, with Counago putting Clarke clear but the young Irishman drilled the ball inches wide.

Dean McDonald looked lively but scorned a good first-half chance by shooting straight at the keeper after a great build-up started by himself and including Counago and Clarke.

A terrific chip from 25 yards from Clarke landed on the roof of the net and his replacement, Danny Haynes, was denied by the sprawling body of Cerny.

Counago was also denied by a good save from the keeper in the last minute and the Blues were refused a penalty, when Rodrigo Defendi pushed the ball away from the Spaniard with a hand as he tried to follow up.

Clive Allen's Spurs had plenty of possession but hit a brick wall, with Johnny Jackson, fresh from a loan spell at Watford, going the closest with a shot-cum-cross which evaded everyone and went wide of the far post, while his well struck free-kick was taken comfortably by Supple.

It was Town's fourth win of the season and their second clean sheet in a row and takes them off the foot of the table.

Ipswich Town: Supple, Moore, Krause, Craig (Lordan, 85) Collins, Nash, McDonald, Manning, Counago, Clarke (Haynes, 55) and Garvan. Subs not used: Trotter, Casement and Hammond.

Tottenham Hotspur: Cerny, McKenna, McKie, Bunjevcevic, O'Donoghue, Defendi, Dilevski (O'Hara, 61) Jackson, Yeates, El Hamdaoui and Limbersky. Subs not used: Eyre, Malcolm and Price.

Referee: A Hendley. Attendance: 300 (est)