Ipswich Town moved to the top of League One with a 1-0 victory against Gillingham on Saturday afternoon.

In a hard-fought game, played in front of a cracking atmosphere from home and away fans alike at Priestfield Stadium, a Kane Vincent-Young header was enough to ensure the Tractor Boys took all three points back to Portman Road.

The first-half proved to be relatively flat, but it would, perhaps, not be harsh to suggest Ipswich’s goal came against the run of play when Vincent-Young headed past Bonham from close range on the 32-minute mark following neat build-up play from Kayden Jackson.

Ipswich looked threatening on the counter throughout, and Alan Judge hit the post late on, but Gillingham, backed by a full-voice Rainham End, controlled the second-half. Despite testing efforts from Hanlan, Mandron and Lee, though, former Gills ‘keeper Tomas Holy kept his clean sheet intact and Ipswich ran away 1-0 victors.

Aspects of the matchup were relatively dogged, with the mirroring 3-5-2 formations often cancelling each other out.

Steve Evans made two changes from Gillingham’s 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers on Tuesday, and a change of shape seemed to give his side better defensive organisation and plenty of space to play in the middle of the park.

Paul Lambert, meanwhile, made four changes to his side that won at MK Dons in midweek, including dropping main man James Norwood to the bench following a knock in the week.

Ipswich regularly struggled to get out of their half, but defensive resilience and a bit of magic up-top proved to be enough to get the win on the day.

It was clear what the result meant to captain Luke Chambers, who roared towards the heavens at the full-time whistle before the team thanked the 2,171 travelling fans, who greeted them with cheers and cries of ‘we are top of the league’. It was certainly a hard-fought, and successful week for Town, featuring two away wins and two clean sheets.

They’ll next be in action next weekend when they host Tranmere, whilst Gillingham will look to get back to winning ways with a trip to Oxford.

words Lewis Browning, Gillingham fan and writer