A SCRUFFY Darren Bent goal moved Ipswich Town level on points with leaders Wigan Athletic the top of the table while Leeds United’s turbulent week continued. Leeds’s preparation have been hampered with all the off-field activities, as a takeover bid failed resulting in the club having to sell their Elland Road ground to ensure administration and a possible 10-point penalty from the Football League did not follow.

Manager Kevin Blackwell said: “It was a great tribute to my boys that they performed so well with everything that is going on off the pitch. To put up that sort of performance against a team that I believe will be at the top at the end of the season was very pleasing.”

United could do worse than look at how Ipswich have clawed their way back after administration followed relegation from the Premiership three seasons ago. Ipswich do not own the ground at Portman Road and pay a peppercorn rent to the borough council. That didn’t stop them embarking on an ambitious plan to rebuild the north and south stands.

Without that foresight, almost 30,000 people would not have been able to witness this game, which left them behind Wigan only on goal difference.

Blackwell has been given cash to start again with his team shorn of talent such as Paul Robinson, Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, replaced by the likes of Jermaine Wright, Brian Deane and David Healy. But they have yet to gel. Now in his third season at Ipswich, Joe Royle has moulded a hotchpotch of free-agent signings, including Kelvin Davis, Kevin Horlock and Jason De Vos, with home-grown talent of the calibre of Darren Bent and Ian Westlake, along with experienced old heads such as Jim Magilton and Richard Naylor.

Jermaine Wright, one of the stars who helped Ipswich reach the dizzy heights of fifth in the Premiership not long ago, left in the summer to join Leeds as a free agent and was given the customary reception of a returning player.

He was involved in a first-minute move that climaxed with Healy heading past Davis, but was frustrated to see the effort ruled out for offside. The teams may have started a dozen places apart but nothing separated them in the first half. Davis made a terrific save from a powerful John Oster shot and another vital stop in the dying minutes to deny Deane an equaliser.

Ipswich changed tactics three minutes after the break with Dean Bowditch relieving Tommy Miller, who was struggling with a suspected broken elbow, and Town went three up front to match Leeds. It paid dividends almost immediately with Bent pouncing to notch his eighth goal of the season. Gary Kelly and Clarke Carlisle collided as they tried to cut out a Horlock through-ball for Shefki Kuqi.

The Finland striker forced a good save from Sullivan but Bent bundled the ball in from close range at the third attempt despite Danny Pugh’s best efforts. Royle was delighted with his young striker and with a third clean sheet in four games. “Darren has got a few spectacular goals but I’m just as happy to see one go in off his knee, shin toe, whatever,” said Royle. “To win 1-0 is very un-Ipswich- like but I’m more than happy with that. We are going to get a few more games like that, with teams coming here to keep it tight. Not many are going to want to take us head-on.”

STAR MAN: Darren Bent (Ipswich Town)

Player ratings: Ipswich Town: Davis 7, Diallo 6, Wilnis 6, De Vos 7, Naylor 7, Miller 5 (Bowditch, 48min 7), Horlock 7, Magilton 7, Westlake 6, Bent 8, Kuqi 7

Leeds United: Sullivan 7, Kelly 7, Pugh 7, Carlisle 6, Butler 6, Wright 5 (Joachim, 74min 6), Walton 5, Gregan 7, Healy 7, Oster 7, Deane 6

Referee: A Wiley

Attendance: 29,955

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