Strikes from Brett Pitman, Jonathan Douglas and Daryl Murphy have handed Ipswich Town a 3-0 lead at the break in their clash against Rotherham United at the New York Stadium.

The Tractor Boys were the first to threaten when Freddie Sears latched on to a loose ball in the penalty area, but Lee Camp made a good save with his legs to keep the forward's strike out.

Tommy Smith was the next player to threaten for the visitors when he collected the ball on the edge of the box, but he curled his effort over the crossbar.

Ipswich made their early dominance pay as Pitman fired them ahead in the eighth minute as he rose highest in the box to power Kevin Bru's cross past Camp into the top corner.

Mick McCarthy's men doubled their lead when Douglas won the ball back in the midfield and drove towards the edge of the area before firing a low strike into the net.

Camp kept his side in the game as he denied the visitors a third goal by producing a one-handed stop to palm Daryl Murphy's effort past the post.

However, Murphy was not to be stopped from finding the net for the first time this season as he pounced on a loose ball and fired an effort past the Millers keeper to put his side in command at the break.