Having taken the points on Saturday, and up against one of the promotion favourites on their own patch, a team which had beaten us in a pre-season friendly, I suspect most of us before the game would have been content with a point (unless of course we were three up in stoppage time – that was a pre-match joke). After 30 minutes or so we would have bitten someone’s arm off for a clean sheet and a draw. At the end we were cruising to a famous win. Football.
The team selection issues were I thought slightly different from those for Sheff Wed. The case for putting Ramsay in as left-side wing-back, to bolster the attacking threat, was weaker, given the opposition, the issue instead perhaps being whether Burke – or anyone else – might need a rest, with another tough away fixture (Hull) coming up on Saturday. In the event Jones opted to rest Burke and bring Ramsay back on the right side of the central three, as well as making a change up front, with Campbell on the bench and Olaofe starting.
Like some previous games (Bristol City comes to mind), we barely got a kick in the opening period. As Ipswich played it around it was a case of all hands to the pump at the back and defending the box, which we did very well. Although they had almost all the possession, in that first 30 minutes Ipswich were unable to create a clear-cut chance. And as we got more of a foothold in the game, in the rest of the half we gave as good as we got in terms of opportunities – and for some reason they started to flow.
First, Bell made a terrific break but just overhit the ball through to Kelman. Then Bell was involved again as he gathered a cross from the other side and sent it back in. It dropped for Carey in space inside the box, but he seemed to hesitate, allowed the ball to bounce and hit it on the half-volley, sending it well over. Just after that Ipswich almost went ahead, with a good move ending with a ball inside and their guy steadying himself and sending his shot from the edge of the box crashing back off the crossbar with Kaminski having no chance. Then it was us again as Kelman touched on a ball and Olaofe outmuscled his marker and was through on goal. He tried to shoot across their (substitute) goalkeeper, but the guy read the effort well and saved with his legs.
Next up Kaminski nearly gave them one on a plate, playing the ball out straight to one of theirs. And in stoppage time we came closest to breaking the deadlock. A corner delivered well and it dropped to the feet of Gillesphey, but he was being challenged (ie pulled over) and couldn’t get a clean connection, putting the ball over the bar. There was still time for Docherty to take a yellow for the team, stopping their guy from advancing.
At the break the stats showed Ipswich had enjoyed 69% possession (apparently at one point it was around 80%) and had 12 efforts on goal – but only one deemed on target (against six and one for us). They’d dominated play, hit the bar, and had many efforts blocked. You still had the impression that sooner or later they were likely to score. But we were still on level terms and on chances it was a more even game.
Ipswich came very close to taking the lead on 50 minutes when a corner was cleared but returned with interest and the glancing header from their guy went just wide of the post, again with Kaminski a spectator. That was to be the closest they came to winning the game as in the next minute Carey collected the ball just inside their half and went on a run forward. They failed to put in a serious challenge, or to be fair to bring him down, and when he reached the edge of the area he sold the defender an excellent dummy, shaping as if to go inside then switching to the left, creating the yard of space necessary. Then he buried the shot. Glory be we were ahead.
And things only got better. Kelman brought out a good save from their keeper, but from the resulting corner we worked the ball on the right side, Bree and Coventry exchanging passes. The ball went in low, took a couple of deflections and looped up invitingly for Gillesphey to head home unchallenged.
Ipswich might still have got back into it as before the hour a header from close range at the far post went into the net, only for the linesman to raise his flag. Was it offside? Replays seemed tight. But this was our night. As if to prove the point we went up the other end and scored again. Leaburn and Campbell had come on for Kelman and Olaofe and Campbell caused confusion, the defender putting the ball behind for a corner. That came to nothing, but Jones managed to retain possession on the far side and played it back for Coventry. He shaped to cross but instead put in a ball for Campbell. It seemed it would run out of play (and perhaps it did, but this was our night), but Campbell chipped it back in and this time Leaburn was there to head into an empty net.
Although there were still around 30 minutes left, three goals in 12 minutes not surprisingly took the wind out of Ipswich’s sails and left their supporters ruing their manager’s decision to make so many changes for the game. There were more opportunities – it took a great Ramsay block to prevent a goal, then Campbell cut inside and sent his curler just wide of the post – but the job was done. Knibbs replaced Carey and at the end Burke and Rankin-Costello came on for Coventry and Docherty, the two of them afforded a few minutes break.
At the end there were many very tired legs. Whether that costs us on Saturday remains to be seen, but that possibility shouldn’t deflect from what was an excellent performance, from all concerned. The final stats showed that Ipswich had 31 attempts on goal – but only five on target. No doubt they will talk about their own shortcomings and we will not get the praise we deserve from them or neutrals, as we restricted a very good team to only a few genuine chances, while giving them an object lesson in how to put the ball in the net. Not often we’ve been able to say that this season. Onwards and upwards.
And on that note, I did do a quick pre-match check of the odds on promotion from the Championship this season. It indicated that Ipswich were behind only Coventry in the betting. OK. But we were listed at joint 14th, with longer odds on going up (25-1) than Sheff Utd (not Wednesday, they were put at 1,000-1), also below Hull and even the Spanners. I thought at 25-1 we had to be worth a fiver. Too late. Checked again this morning and we’re in to 16-1, up to 10th in the rankings. It still means that the betting is still on us not managing to retain our current position. Long may we continue to be viewed as underdogs.
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