Goals in each half from Paul Furlong and Dan Shittu have earned Rangers a famous victory against Ipswich at Portman Road.

And it was no more than the Superhoops deserved.

Serious questions will be asked of Ipswich's promotion credentials after a game that the visitors always looked in control of.

This will go down as one of Rangers' best results away from home in years and after the disappointments of Tuesday night, it was the perfect response.

And Rangers couldn't have asked for a better start to the game than the goal from Furlong.

The visitors settled almost immediately and when Kevin Gallen fed Furlong he looked certain to score.

Instead he stumbled and handled in the area, but from the resulting Town free-kick, keeper Kelvin Davis botched the clearance. The ball hit Furlong who turned and had all the time in the world to run in and rifle the ball home past the stricken Davis.

Portman Road was stunned in to silence and was only roused again when loanee Jamie Scowcroft screwed a shot across the face of the goal two minutes later.

But the confident nature of Rangers football in the early stages was a pleasure to behold with Lee Cook, Kevin Gallen and the goalscorer Furlong all causing real problems for the Ipswich rearguard.

Indeed, the livewire Furlong drew the first booking when Jason de Vos hacked him down as he turned on the halfway line with quarter of an hour played.

Two minutes later De Vos's central defensive partner Richard Naylor made a complete hash of a clearance and Furlong pounced. He crossed to Gallen at the far post, but the skipper was unable to keep his shot down from a tight angle.

The home side were in pieces at the back and certainly weren't playing like a side chasing automatic promotion.

Midway through the half Scowcroft outjumped Richard Edghill and saw his header saved by Royce. But Rangers were soon back on the attack with Lee Cook cutting in and picking out Paul Furlong at the far post.

His header back across goal was turned in by Marc Bircham only for referee D'Urso to rule it out for a push by the Superhoops goalscorer on David Unsworth.

With the action swinging from end to end, it was then Town's turn to threaten this time through regular Rangers nemesis, Darren Currie. The former Brighton man's shot was parried by Royce and his follow-up effort blocked.

After a truly ropey display in the first half hour, Ipswich were starting to click through the gears and a Horlock strike drifted over the bar after a mistake from Edghill.

But the home defence were still prone to the occasional rick and the threat of Furlong and Gallen was an ever present concern for the Town faithful.

With 35 minutes gone, a Furlong dummy allowed a Cook cross to wrongfoot De Vos and play in Gallen whose shot was blocked from only eight yards out.

At the start of the second half, a foul by De Vos on Furlong could easily have brought the Ipswich defender a second yellow card, but D'urso gave him the benefit of the doubt.

But a minute later a yellow card WAS flourished - for a late challenge on Edghill by Scrowcroft.

Ipswich had started the half the sharper though and Rangers suffered a blow when Matthew Rose hobbled off in the 52nd minute to be replaced by Adam Miller.

Moments later Ipswich made a double swap of their own, bringing on Counago and Westlake, but the visitors enjoyed the next effort on goal with Martin Rowlands shooting narrowly wide from distance.

The play was scrappier in the second period, but in a way it suited Rangers with Ipswich needing to play the football to get back on terms and to settle the Portman Road crowd.

Adam Miller fired off target with 65 minutes played as Rangers loked to take the sting out of Ipswich ambition whilst also searching for that vital second goal.

Joe Royle then brought on Dean Bowditch for Darren Currie with 20 minutes to go: one last throw of the dice.

But it was Rangers who would deal a killer blow four minutes later. The outstanding Cook was fouled and Martin Rowlands floated a free kick on to the head of Dan Shittu. Unmarked, he powered the ball home from point blank range.

Ipswich were shellshocked but knew that they needed to find a way back in to the game quickly. Counago tried his luck with 12 minutes remaining but Royce was alert and pushed the strike away.

As the clock ticked down, nothing could be heard around the stadium bar the songs of an ecstatic Rangers faithful. Ipswich were short on ideas and the visitors were more than comfortable by the time the final whistle blew.

Ipswich: Davis, Wilnis, De Vos, Naylor, Magilton (Counago), Miller, Currie (Bowditch), Horlock, Scowcroft (Westlake), Unsworth, Bent
unused subs: Price, Karbassiyoon

Scorers: -

Bookings: De Vos, Scowcroft

Rangers: Royce, Bignot, Edghill, Shittu, Rose (Miller), Rowlands, Bircham, Santos, Cook (Ainsworth), Gallen, Furlong
unused subs: Cole, Padula, Cureton

Scorers: Furlong (4), Shittu (75)

Bookings: Edghill

Referee: AP D'Urso