Hull City 2 Ipswich Town 5THE goal drought is well and truly over as Ipswich handed out the hammering they have been threatening for some time.Two goals at home on Saturday broke the dam and Ipswich were in full flow near the banks of the River Humber.

By Derek Davis

Hull City 2 Ipswich Town 5

THE goal drought is well and truly over as Ipswich handed out the hammering they have been threatening for some time.

Two goals at home on Saturday broke the dam and Ipswich were in full flow near the banks of the River Humber.

Francis Jeffers got Town under way after City took the lead through Dean Windass and then Jaime Peters, Alan Lee, skipper Jason de Vos and substitute Danny Haynes weighed in, too.

Jeffers made his full debut for Town as they went with two up front, a rare formation away from home for Ipswich. But after seven games without a win on their travels and no goals scored either since that victory at Coventry on Boxing Day, a fresh approach was needed.

In truth the Blues did not create as many chances as they have in many of the previous games when they have drawn a blank but the difference was in the quality of the finishing.

As lively as Hull's attack was the defence was creaky at best and all of the Town goals came from slack play, after they too had been lax at the back.

Midway through the first half Dean Marney crossed the ball for Elliott and his header looped against the cross bar but Windass followed up to crash in from eight yards.

Almost straight from the kick-off Jeffers equalised with a real poacher's goal under pressure in the area as he poked home a long ball in by Dan Harding as he nipped in between the dithering Damien Delaney and Boaz Myhill

It was Town's first goal away from home in 11 hours of football and only Jeffers' second in 30 games, most of those as a sub, over two seasons for Charlton, Rangers, Blackburn and now Ipswich.

The Blues went ahead six minutes before the break thanks to another player who has found goals hard to come by, with Jaime Peters netting just his second for Ipswich.

Roberts got the ball wide for Peters whose on-target shot from the edge of the area took a deflection off Sam Rickets and wrong-footed Myhill.

Town grabbed their third goal four minutes after the break with Jeffers the provider as he pounced on a loose ball in the centre circle and set Lee on his way.

The Irishman held off the challenge of Danny Coles as he sprinted almost half the length of the pitch before beating Myhill for his 14th goal of the season.

Coles was at fault for Town's fourth, too, as he cushioned a header into the path of De Vos for the simplest of tap ins from a Wright corner in a second half where Hull fell apart.

The 300 Ipswich fans who made the trip were chanting 'We want five' with 20 minutes still remaining and got their wish 10 minutes later when Danny Haynes made it 5-1.

Gary Roberts was against the supplier and the youngster turned on the afterburners to speed into the box and blast past Myhill.

City finished as they started - strongly. Windass got his second from the penalty spot after Owen Garvan had fouled John Welsh and Price was sent the wrong way as the on-loan Bradford striker snatched his fourth goal in three games.

Both Town wingers looked more effective when they switched flanks in the first half with Roberts moving to the right and every time they got the ball in the area City looked vulnerable.

Jeffers was looking to feed off Lee's flicks but they were infrequent as City had the majority of the telling attacks. Myhill was out quickly and bravely to save at the feet of the one-time England-striker from a weak Danny Coles head back.

Hull were finding a lot of space behind Wright and City carved open Ipswich's defence in the first minute with Stuart Elliott hitting over the bar from 10 yards from a low Nicky Forster cross.

Only a sharp intervention from De Vos denied Forster a chance on goal and Price stood up well to a Delaney shot.

Ray Parlour let fly from 25 yards but it whizzed over bar and Price twice got behind efforts by Windass, who was enjoying the service from Forster and Elliott.

Jon Walters and Haynes scorned decent chances late on as they looked for a sixth but it was a night all about finishing and overall Ipswich were much, much better in that department.