MANAGER’S REACTION: McCarthy delighted with battling Boxing Day display
Charlton v Ipswich: IPSWICH Town manager Mick McCarthy was delighted with both his side’s first-half verve and their second-half resilience in this afternoon’s 2-1 Boxing Day win at Charlton Athletic.
The Blues responded superbly to DJ Campbell’s missed penalty in the 18th minute, the QPR loanee breaking the deadlock soon after the hour and Daryl Murphy adding a second just moments before the half-time whistle.
Town then had to dig deep after the restart, former Town man Danny Haynes halving the deficit from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute before a barrage of balls came into the visiting side’s area.
“Having dropped points against Bristol City at home (1-1 draw), it’s important we can win away,” said McCarthy.
“Overall, I was pleased with our performance. Sometimes when you miss a penalty it can give the opposition a surge of energy, but it seemed to lift us. We were the dominant side in the first half, I thought out goals were quality goals and we and could have got more.
“It was very much a tale of two halves. Second half they put us under pressure. They’ve got two good strikers who like to back in and flick it on, they caused us a few problems, but I thought we resisted most of it.”
He added: “They’re 20th in the form league at home Charlton and they’re seventh away from home – those were the stats I was given.
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“You play more expansive at home don’t you? We did at home last week and Bristol City had chances.
“This game was the reverse of ours against Bristol City. We come here and all their fans are expecting a win, but it just doesn’t happen that way – as we found out ourselves against Bristol City and Peterborough.”
Meanwhile, the Blues boss had priase for Murphy after he scored one and set the other up. He said: “Daryl is excellent when he’s like that – fired up. He’s a real handful for defenders. He’s got a nice little partnership going on with DJ.”
– For match analysis and more reaction, see tomorrow’s EADT and Ipswich Star.
