Following this afternoon’s excellent 3-1 win over Newcastle United at Portman Road, sports writer WILL RIDGARD looks at six things we learned as Ipswich Town defeated a team chasing automatic promotion into the Premier League.

1. This was one of Ipswich’s best displays of the season!

Undoubtedly, this was one of, if not, the best Ipswich Town performance this season.

Town were brilliant from the off, dictating play, and not allowing Newcastle to settle.

They deservedly took the lead through Freddie Sears’ seventh goal of the season, and despite being pegged back to 1-1 when ex-Town striker Daryl Murphy scored, Town rolled their sleeves up and retook the lead with a brilliant team goal that was finished by the superb David McGoldrick.

Emyr Huws smashed in a fantastic volley to put Town 3-1 up, and the Blues could have even made it 4-1 had Grant Ward not wasted a good opportunity.

Town’s fans certainly went home happy in a game and performance that Sir Bobby Robson would have been proud of.

2. Freddie Sears is on fire!

After netting two against Wigan Athletic, and one at Burton Albion on Good Friday, the striker has now scored four goals in his last four games.

Unbelievably, before this run, Sears had scored four goals in his previous 61 appearances!

Often deployed on the left or right wing during his time at Ipswich, Sears is reaping the rewards from playing upfront right now with another clinical finish against Newcastle after some excellent work from Myles Kenlock and Tom Lawrence.

Sears also set up David McGoldrick’s goal with a lovely cross and was involved in Town’s third goal.

3. This game was Ipswich’s best home attendance of the season!

Today’s attendance was recorded as 25,684 - Town’s biggest crowd this season.

In a campaign which has generally seen Town attendances decrease, Town fans came in their numbers, got behind their team and were treated to a committed team performance that saw them topple a team looking to get back into the Premier League.

The attendance took over the previous season’s best against Norwich City (23,350).

4. Town recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season!

It has been a long time coming, but today’s 3-1 win, following the 2-1 triumph at Burton Albion, saw Town record back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

Town could make it a hat-trick of wins when they visit bottom-placed Rotherham United next Saturday (April 22).

5. Ipswich still has a special place in Daryl Murphy’s heart.

The former Ipswich Town star was very respectful to his former club when he netted Newcastle’s 62nd-minute equaliser.

A popular figure during his stay at Portman Road, Murphy’s celebrations were very muted when he clinically tucked away Christian Atsu’s cross for 1-1.

After embracing David McGoldrick with a hug as the teams shook hands before kick-off, Murphy received a good reception on his first return to a stadium he was adored at, with fans singing ‘Oh Daryl Murphy’ during the first half.

6. Town are definitely safe now!

It was highly unlikely that Ipswich would slip into the relegation places before today’s game, but they are now mathematically safe - and preparations for a 16th straight season in the Championship can now begin.

In fact, Ipswich are 15th position in the league, 11 points clear of the drop zone, with three games to go.