Sheffield Wednesday won their third consecutive game on Easter Monday, beating Ipswich Town 2-0 at Hillsborough.
It was the Owls ninth game without defeat and another three points sees Wednesday creep closer to the play-off zone, however unlikely a top six finish may be. The score line was also a repeat of that from Brian Laws first game in charge of Wednesday at Portman Road on November 11.
Brian Laws shuffled his strike force again to include Steven MacLean in place of Deon Burton with Leon Clarke continuing up front. Tommy Spurr returned at left back with Peter Gilbert having sustained a heavy knock in the closing stages at Cardiff two days earlier.
The Owls first chance came in the fourth minute with a Brunt cross to the far post headed wide by Clarke under pressure from the Ipswich defence following a short corner routine.
Ipswich had the better of the possession during the opening stages though, with young winger Danny Haynes showing some threat on the left. Wednesday would have wanted to keep possession more effectively and had Iain Turner to thank for tipping an Alan Lee free kick off over his crossbar.
Ipswich won a succession of corners from this and Wednesday breathed another sigh of relief when Francis Jeffers turned and crashed his shot against the top of the bar.
The Owls responded positively though and Spurr combined well with Brunt for the Northern Irishman to produce a testing cross which Alex Bruce had to head away on 20 minutes.
Brunt again inspired a great counter attack minutes later, providing Kenny Lunt with an outstanding diagonal 50-yard pass before the left winger raced the length of the pitch and crossed once more to force a corner.
Except from Jeffers effort against the goal frame, neither side had really carved out a clear-cut scoring opportunity by the half-hour mark though.
Jeffers cut in from the left and fired a low shot, easily dealt with by Turner at his near post before Wednesday came close on 36 minutes. Whelan crossed from the left and Marcus Tudgay headed down but Richard Wood could not fire home at the end of a marauding run from the back.
The Owls started to put some better moves together towards the end of the first half but were struggling to make their final ball count and gifted possession to the opposition on too many occasions.
But Wednesday were in front soon after the break when Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan turned Ipswich skipper Jason De Vos and fired low beyond the out-stretched arm of visiting goalkeeper, Lewis Price.
De Vos looked to bring the scores level ten minutes later when he headed a corner from Owen Garvan, only to see it blocked and Wednesday counter attack immediately. This resulted in Whelan crossing from the right and MacLean getting a decent effort on goal, which Price kept out with his feet.
The Owls were looking much more dangerous after the break and doubled their lead in the 59th minute. MacLean latched onto a Kenny Lunt ball and got past the Ipswich back line, firing into the bottom corner for his 12th of the season.
Brunt went close to scoring direct from a corner, captain, Lee Bullen, clattering the far post as he stretched to convert the set piece.
Ipswich were largely kept at bay after the break and a header by Lee straight at Turner from Gavin Williams' cross was one of the Suffolk side's few chances of pulling a goal back.
The closest Town came to scoring was when Jeffer's 20-yard free kick smacked the inside of the far post on 82 minutes but the visitors could not convert the rebound.
Ipswich threw attacking substitutions on but the Owls held firm and came very close to a third through Chris Brunt late on but Price made an excellent save with his feet.
Sheffield Wednesday (4-4-2): Turner; Bullen, Watson, Wood, Spurr; Tudgay, Whelan, Lunt (Folly 75), Brunt; MacLean, Clarke (Burton 63).
Subs not used: Adamson, Hills, Lekaj.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Price; Wilnis, De Vos, Bruce, Wright; Roberts (Harding), Williams, Garvan, Haynes (Walters); Lee, Jeffers.
Subs not used: Supple, Peters, O'Callaghan.
Referee: R Styles
Attendance: 23,232
