Ipswich boost play-off hopes and add to Forest woes thanks to Ben Pringle winner
Ben Pringle grabbed his second consecutive winner as Ipswich remained in the hunt for the Sky Bet Championship play-offs with a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest.
The Suffolk side inflicted Forest's fourth straight defeat after Pringle coolly found the corner of the net on 63 minutes following good work from Kevin Foley.
The result was slightly harsh on the visitors, who had the best chances with Nelson Oliveira twice denied by Bartosz Bialkowski and Matt Mills smacking the top of the crossbar.
Forest almost took the lead with little over two minutes played. A strong run down the left from the dangerous Ben Osborn ended with his cross being met by a downward header by Oliveira which was smartly pushed away by the diving Bartosz Bialkowski.
At the other end, a sustained period of pressure from the home side led to a cute through ball by Kevin Bru which Freddie Sears hit goalwards first time and Dorus De Vries did well to tip the stinging shot around the post.
Forest again went close to taking the lead on 18 minutes. Ipswich striker Brett Pitman lost possession, allowing Dexter Blackstock to run at the heart of the home defence. Blackstock then slipped the ball to strike partner Oliveira, whose goal-bound curling shot was brilliant turned around by Bialkowski.
An entertaining first quarter then saw De Vries make a smart block from Sears' 25-yard effort.
Forest's best chance came in the 25th minute when Matt Mills had a free run at David Vaughan's corner but his header smacked the top of the crossbar.
The first half ended with the visitors missing another good headed chance when Gary Gardiner could not keep his effort down after meeting another searching cross from Osborn.
Chances were at a premium in the opening stages of the second half, with Osborn dragging a shot wide of the near post for the visitors and the impressive Foley shooting over after creating some space for the long-range shot.
Shortly after the hour mark, Bojan Jokic's ball beyond the Town defence was seized upon by Oliveira but the angle was against the forward and he flashed a shot across goal.
Two minutes later, Forest were made to pay for their missed chances when Ipswich went ahead. Foley was again at the heart of the attack, first winning the possession and then ending the move by calmly laying the ball across for Pringle to find the corner of the net, off the inside of the post.
It was almost two in the 69th minute when De Vries did well to parry Pitman's speculative effort from distance.
But it mattered not with Forest failing to test Town in the final 20 minutes to continue their poor recent run.
Source: PA
