Three first half goals saw Derby County sweep Ipswich Town to one side with an impressive showing at Portman Road as Steve McClaren’s side moved back into the play-off places.

Craig Bryson opened the scoring after a comfortable start to the evening, before Tom Ince thundered in his eleventh goal of the season with a sweet strike from the right corner of the box just three minutes later.

Darren Bent’s close range header against his former club compounded a solid first half display, whilst the hosts were indebted to a string of saves from Bartosz Bialkowski to ensure the scoreline did not widen in the second half.

The result also saw Derby secure all three points at Portman Road for the third consecutive year, backing up successive 1-0 victories in the previous two years.

Prior to the trip to Suffolk, Derby had been punished for lethargic starts in their last two home games against Reading and Leicester City.

At Portman Road, however, it was the Rams taking advantage of a sloppy start by the visitors.

Comfortable from the off, McClaren’s men eased their way into the early proceedings, being afforded time to knock the ball across the park as they forced Ipswich back towards their own goal.

After a series of unsuccessful corners, Derby struck not once, but twice in quick succession, delivering a hammer blow to the Tractor Boys on their own patch in a clinical three-minute spell.

Bryson got the ball rolling, smacking Ince’s cut back to the edge of the area first time beyond Bialkowski and into the corner for his second goal in as many games.

Provider for the first, Ince then added his name to the scoresheet with a sublime strike for his eleventh goal of the season. Just as he did in the local derby win over Nottingham Forest, Chris Baird played a teasing pass into the feet of the wideman, behind a defender, and the 25-year-old whipped the ball on to his left foot and curled it into the far corner.

Ipswich could only improve and they did so slightly after the second goal, bossing more of the possession as they began to apply pressure on the Derby backline.

Tom Lawrence, who had scored six goals in his last six games prior to this one, looked lively and forced Scott Carson into his first save – a routine one – whilst dogged defending prevented the Tractor Boys from getting back into the game.

Derby continued to look threatening too. Ince hit a low effort at Bialkowski after a flowing move and with half time looming, the same man saw a shot deflected for a corner.

A sublime instinctive save from the Ipswich shot stopper also saw him tip a sublime drive from Bryson on to the crossbar, but within moments of that save, the Rams added a third as Bent headed in Jacob Butterfield’s firm cross from close range against his former club and where his career began.

Ipswich returned to the dressing room to a chorus of boos and responded by adding a little more bite to play, but very rarely threatened to stage a dramatic comeback.

McClaren’s men continued to look dangerous each and every time they attacked and the hosts were left indebted to Bialkowski that the scoreline didn’t stretch further.

Early doors, Ince was denied by the ‘keeper, whilst the wideman should have made it 4-0 four minutes later with an even better opening, but he was too casual with his strike after fooling an Ipswich defender and hit the post.

Bialkowski then denied Bent a second as he leapt across to his near post to get down to a low shot from the striker, whilst Bryson was also denied.

The Polish ‘keeper made his best save of the second 45 minutes with 18 remaining. On a swift counter attack, the Rams broke at pace and found themselves in a four against two situation.

From the right, Ince clipped a delightful ball to the back post to Butterfield with the outside of his foot and the midfielder forced a fine save out of the 29-year-old, with the help of the post.

The remainder of the contest was just as comfortable as the rest of the game for the Rams, as the visitors kept McCarthy’s men at arm’s length to record a second successive league win and move back into the play-off positions.

Ipswich Town: Bialkowski, Knudsen, Chambers (C), Berra, Skuse, Pitman (Moore, 65), Spence, Digby (McGoldrick, 36), Bru, Sears, Lawrence (Ward, 46)

Substitutes not used: Gerken, Douglas, Dozzell, Emmanuel

Derby County: Carson, Baird, Keogh (C), Pearce, Olsson; Johnson, Bryson, Butterfield; Ince, Camara (Anya, 56), Bent (Vydra, 69)

Substitutes not used: Mitchell, Christie, Shackell, de Sart, Blackman

Attendance: 14,719 (464 away supporters)