Ipswich Town kicked off their FA Cup campaign in the third round with a 3-0 win against League One side Bristol Rovers at Portman Road.

The Blues were in control from the off, with goals from Kalvin Phillips, Jack Clarke and Jack Taylor sending them on their way to the fourth round. Ali Al-Hamadi missed a chance to grab a fourth after the break, missing his penalty, but his side had no problems seeing out the win.

Town made a fast start, with Conor Townsend and Massimo Luongo combining to allow the latter to deliver a cross into the box. Townsend’s corner was met by the head of Cameron Burgess, who could only fire over the bar from the near post.

Kalvin Phillips and Jack Taylor scored their first goals for Ipswich (Image: Steve Waller)

They struggled to really turn the screw from open play, with a few players on slightly different wavelengths. Set pieces provided good opportunities to get the ball into the box, but Ipswich failed to capitalise.

Ipswich possibly should have had a penalty in the 12th minute as Jack Clarke was brought down inside the box by Romaine Sawyers. However, referee Oliver Langford waved play on, and with no VAR, the decision wasn’t questioned.

The game opened up and Ipswich continued to knock on the door. Taylor picked up the ball in a good area in the 15th minute but shanked his shot. Three minutes later, they found a way through.

Jack Taylor scored a controversial third goal shortly before the break (Image: Steve Waller)

Wes Burns’ over-hit cross was kept in play and picked up by Jack Clarke, who turned inside and played the ball over to Phillips. He pulled it over to the right before arrowing a low shot into the bottom right corner, scoring his first goal for Ipswich.

It took just six minutes for Ipswich to grab another. Taylor was able to pick out Ali Al-Hamadi, who was unmarked in the box. He wasn’t able to test goalkeeper Josh Griffiths, but set up Jack Clarke to fire into an empty net. Just like Phillips, this was his first goal in Town colours.

Town were in control and enjoying themselves. Griffiths went down with a knock just after the half-hour mark, allowing both sides to have a breather. However, it didn’t take long for them to get back into the swing of things and grab a third, albeit in controversial circumstances.

Ali Al-Hamadi missed a penalty early in the second half (Image: Steve Waller)

Townsend found space through the middle to pick out Ali Al-Hamadi, who flicked the ball through to Taylor in an offside position. He hesitated, clearly expecting the flag to go up, but he was left surprised as he was allowed to run through and fire past Griffiths to add a third for the Blues.

Ipswich kept coming after the break, winning a penalty in the 51st minute after Luongo’s strike hit the arm of former Town man Grant Ward. Al-Hamadi stepped up to take it, but ended up firing wide of the target.

The match fizzled out from there, with Town taking their foot off the gas as Bristol Rovers ran out of steam. The introduction of George Hirst, returning from a knee injury that he picked up three months ago against Tottenham, was a notable moment in the latter stages.

George Hirst returned from injury to feature off the bench (Image: Steve Waller)

With just under 10 minutes to play, McKenna used his final change to bring on Cieran Slicker for Arijanet Muric, giving the Scotland Under-21 international a brief run-out.

Seconds after the substitution, Hirst was played through on goal and tried to chip Griffiths, who got a hand to the ball before it was cleared off the line. Town certainly didn't need a fourth goal, with their win sending them into the fourth round of the competition for the third season in a row.

Kalvin Phillips breaks the deadlock to give Town a 1-0 lead. (Image: Steve Waller)

Town XI: 4-2-3-1: Muric (Slicker 81'); Godfrey (H. Clarke 73'), Woolfenden, Burgess, Townsend; Phillips, Luongo; Burns (Johnson 46’), Taylor (Broadhead 73'), J. Clarke; Al-Hamadi (Hirst 73')

Bristol Rovers XI: 4-2-3-1: Griffiths; Moore, Wilson, Taylor (Senior 86'), Sousa; Sawyers (Lindsay 73'), Ward; Forde (Thomas 67'), Soutiriou (Hutchinson 73'), Sinclair; Martin (O'Donkor 67')

Attendance: 27,678 (941 away)