Andrews: Mobbed after his goal

Ipswich allayed the pressure on boss Paul Jewell by comfortably beating Championship strugglers Coventry 3-0 at Portman Road.

After starting the season in impressive fashion, with a 3-0 victory over Bristol City, the Tractor Boys have since endured a rocky spell having lost four of their ensuing five league games.

That run turned attention to Jewell, who made several high-profile acquisitions in the summer with the hope of catapulting the East Anglian side back into the Barclays Premier League after 10 consecutive seasons in the second tier.

However, there was no sign of pressure this evening as Jewell's men crushed the hapless Sky Blues, who now find themselves 20th in the npower Championship table.

Most the damage was done in the opening 15 minutes as Martin Cranie's own goal was followed up by a Keith Andrews strike to give Ipswich a flying start.

That was a position from which Andy Thorn's men never fully recovered and there was still time for Jason Scotland to add further gloss to the scoreline.

Despite their poor run of form heading into the clash, the Tractor Boys flew out of the blocks and took the lead in the seventh minute through Cranie's error.

Aaron Cresswell was the orchestrator, sending in a vicious left-wing centre which the centre-back could only head past Joe Murphy.

Not content with one, the hosts pushed for a second and almost got it four minutes later.

Carlos Edwards crossed to the back post, with the ball eventually falling into the path of Michael Chopra, who could only blaze wide.

But it made little difference as Ipswich increased their lead in the 15th minute through Andrews.

The Republic of Ireland international started the move with a clever flick to Chopra and, after receiving the return ball, finished impressively from just inside the area.

Chopra and Jimmy Bullard shot narrowly wide as the hosts pushed for another but Coventry were able to hold out until half-time.

The visitors showed increased adventure after the interval, however, and it almost paid dividends as Cody McDonald headed narrowly over with the goal gaping.

That effort signalled increased dominance for Thorn's men although their finishing continued to leave a lot to be desired as McDonald missed another golden opportunity, heading wide after being cleverly teed up by Gary McSheffrey.

But any hopes they had of mounting a comeback were dashed midway through the second period as Jewell's side added a third goal when Scotland slid the ball home following a neat one-two with Chopra.

The home side opted to control proceedings thereafter and see the game out, although Roy O'Donovan did see a late effort headed off the line by Aaron Cresswell.