How did we not score 6 in the first half? Town were rampant in the first 45 minutes of this match without gaining a worthy advantage to show for it. It seemed Wolves' stuttering start to their season home in this division was going to continue, their brief holiday in the Premiership doing nothing to refresh them it seems.
But it was obvious that Lady Luck was on the side of the Midlanders and after half an hour there was still no goal - we've seen this on plenty of occassions and feared that we might have blown our chances. Thankfully at this point Bent managed to make the breakthrough, hassling the defender and lunging for a Jim Magilton cross he beat his man but missed getting a head on the ball by the narrowest of margins, so narrow that the ball hit the defender and went in. Bent of course claimed the goal.
Most of the forward players on the pitch came close in the closing period of the half, even Jim getting in on the act with an effort which just went over the bar.
One nil at the restart and the Town fans hoped for more of the same, but unfortunately the second half was not as slick. Town did however get another goal courtesy of a Kuqi-won penalty as he was felled in the box whilst running in (obviously on his way in to score), with Miller sticking the ball into the right hand corner. He's getting used to both sides of the goal now...
So with a 2 goal lead it should be easy right? Not so. Wolves were gifted (an unusual phrase there) an equaliser by some "relaxed" defending. They were awarded a free-kick which was quickly whipped in to the waiting heads of about 3 Wolves players, and from there it was 2-1 and a very uncomfortable finish to the game.
Wolves played far better after getting their goal, and the game was about even from that point. At the end of the day though, 2-1 flattered them. They should have been dead, buried and pushing up the daisies by half time. All in all, bar the slight lapse at the back, an excelllent performance by Town. Wolves - well, Sheffield Wednesday anyone?
A carry over from the Tuesday night cup match against Brentford maybe turned this game into another messy affair lacking style for lengthy periods. Thankfully one thing we also brought forward was a clean sheet. Apparently that's the first time under Joe Royle we've had 2 in a row. Hard to believe at first, but when you think about it...
Shefki was the star of the show today, and broke the deadlock just before half time with a superb 30 yard thunderbolt. Super Jim, starting his first league match this season, squared the ball to him and he just let fly.
It wasn't long after the restart when he doubled the lead, slightly less spectacularly this time but it was a kick-in-the-teeth for Rotherham and they never got back into the match. They did have their chances though, and Kelvin Davis was kept active late on pulling off some good saves.
The defence was together today, which was probably the best thing about the match apart from that great goal. Lets hope we can put a lengthy run of 3 clean sheets together with a win against the Wolves on Monday.
Not the most glamorous of ties, not the most important competition in the footballing calendar, and so a chance for Joe to experiment a little by blooding a couple more youngsters. Two new Scotts, Barron and Mitchell started tonight, with a combined age of about 7, and Lewis Price was the man between the jumpers.
It was great to see another youngster back in the side for the first time this season, Jim Magilton lasting for an hour before being withdrawn with no apparent injury.
The game got off to a decent enough start, but the chances that Town had were not converted despite Brentford not being the sharpest at the back, and it deteriorated from there. The visitors found their legs, or rather they probably felt luck was on their side, and pressed occasionally themselves, but also with no score.
Without being that poor the game was uninteresting and un-noteworthy, what more can I say? Not much - ah yes, the eventual goals.
Tommy Miller opened proceedings with a fortuitous goal, his shot looping up off a defender leaving the 'keeper stranded. They all count - well, apart from the early effort by Pablo that was ruled out for pushing.
The second came as the Bees pushed for a late equaliser, all players including their goalie up in the Town half for a set piece. Lewis Price collected the ball and showed great awareness to quickly kick out, the ball heading for goal where Westlake helped it into the net. Was it going in? That would've been some debut.
We were all keen to get back to winning ways and I for one thought that Cardiff were less than ideal opponents in that situation, usually making us work hard for anything and the memory of the final game of last season still fresh - they gave us a scare then.
Bent and Bowditch started with Kuqi, and bright they looked too when the game was allowed to flow. It seemed that we'd got "one of those" ref's, and that he was keen to use his whistle at any opportunity and wouldn't let the game develop.
The opening 20 minutes seemed to last forever, nothing memorable happened although Naylor and Horlock would probably disagree as they both got on the wrong end of some brutal clashes to get bloody noses. They both were forced to change blood-stained shirt for fresh, blank ones.
Cardiff always bring a vocal support on the long trip from Wales and this was no exception, what they lacked in number they made up for in voice. It seemed they were lifting their team after some Town pressure, but thankfully it was us who made the breakthrough.
It was Darren Bent who broke the deadlock, hitting an early shot past the 'keeper at the near post after a good run on the right. With this the game sparked into life.
After half time the game resumed in a similar fashion, Cardiff battling and harrassing, but Town easing into their passing game.
Despite starting to get on top of the match, we managed to gift Cardiff the equaliser early on, Naylor giving a short backpass that Lee still had to do well from to score.
Calm heads kept on passing, but the second goal didn't come until Pablo was introduced for Shefki. The Spaniard was to have a hand in the 2nd goal for Town, as he wriggled through the defence to put a wide ball to Deano, who carefully picked out an advancing Tommy Miller on the edge of the box. He lashed to ball home and scored probably the best goal of the afternoon.
Counago was having a good game, but unfortunately missed a great chance to make it 3. Bent raced forward and rounded the goalie but with the angle too acute, he passed back to Pablo unmarked 10 yards out. Unfortunately there followed a comedy / Row Z moment that he'd rather forget. Not a reflection on his performance though.
Thankfully the 3rd goal did come from Ian Westlake, and cleverly worked too from Bent who picked him out on the edge of the box, and he showed Pablo how it's done.
A well deserved 3 points and some good individual performance as well as the team display. Jason De Vos showed no sign of his phantom leg break, and did well against 2 good strikers, in fact I hardly noticed Rob Earnshaw all afternoon.
I'd have to agree with Joe on this one - definitely the poorest we've played in a long while. Unless you count the very poor spells we had in either half at Forest of course.
Town simply weren't at the races at Derby. I was expecting them to be hungry for their first win, as by all account their previous 2 defeats had been somewhat unjust. They weren't brilliant, but easily better than us.
The Ipswich midfield seems totally out of shape at times, perhaps we are indeed missing Jim Magilton as many say (we shall see upon his return, but you can guarantee that plenty of those same people will be moaning about him anyway!).
One thing that struck me as strange was that Drissa Diallo stayed on the pitch for the entire 90. He was arguably responsible for 2 of the goals conceded, and was getting torn apart, caught napping, chasing the ball, all those things throughout the game. I'm all for showing faith in players but I couldn't understand the substitutions at all. Taking off Bowditch and Richards reduced us to the same team that played so badly in Nottingham midweek. Wilnis must be prefered to Diallo now, surely?
Not that Diallo is to blame for the defeat though, there were few players in the Town team at their best out on the pitch. Jason de Vos was an exception, he's looking solid at the back, more so each game. He's vocal too and a worthy stand-in captain, I hope he doesn't suffer through jetting off to Canada for his international match. That goes for the other 4 on international duty this week too.
The long ball was in flight today again, not as much as midweek, but JR can't deny it's there, can he? We must be going for the "longest average pass" record this season, and if we keep leaking goals again, we certainly won't be winning the highest average attendance.
I always have a bad feeling about going to Forest these days, its always a bit of a Bermuda triangle with regard to our form which seems to get left in the dressing room. A slight feeling of optimism that had this time developed pre-match, proved to be wind.
It promised to be a good game early on with chances for both sides, or at least we managed a reasonable share of possession. Dinning looked to be getting stuck in even if he wasn't match fit, and I was impressed with the "new" Drissa Diallo. The latter got forward well down the right and at times seemed to never stop chasing the ball down - "terrier like" I suppose a pundit might say. He is certainly not his last season's timid self.
Something changed, at the point when Kelvin Davis made his first fantastic save of the afternoon. The header from only 6 yards by Taylor was powerful, on target and not of the usual straight-at-the-keeper type. I wasn't alone in jumping to my feet to applaud the wonderful reaction save.
Forest got a sniff of it though and tails up, piled on pressure which brought the opener. Not before Davis had made another good stop though, this time the ball unfortunately falling to the feet of Evans who followed up in the area you'd expect the Town defence to be in.
Shefki was putting in the effort, although his game wasn't falling into place and he was trying some fancy stuff when the basics seemed to be failing. Creativity is a good thing, but he was a bit Salvador Dali at times, he and Bent never seemed to get an understanding on the night and the odd back-heel or flick-on seemed all too easily intercepted. That said, the Forest defence were pretty tight considering their injuries and suspensions in that area, and made it hard for the Town front pair.
Most expected changes at half time but Joe Royle stuck with the same line-up, and once again as in the first half they started brightly. Town won a corner which Miller delivered well into the nearside of the box for Naylor, who headed on across to find Bent who fired the ball home from close range. The script may well have read that Town, confidence regained then went on to dominate. But unfortunately not.
Forest reacted well and soon after set off on a period of pressure that was rarely checked. They hit the woodwork at least 3 times and the ball was in the Ipswich area for an obscene amount of time. It not good for the fans, having to watch that sort of barrage.
Thankfully their second never came, largely thanks to Davis again. Man of the Match to you, Sir. In fact just like last season, the Tractor Boys did have chances to steal all 3 points late on, but it would've been stealing. Notably Bent's last chance was presented to him by Taylor, who dumfounded fans home and away alike, when he chose not to leave a floated free-kick from Tommy Miller to sail harmlessly out of play near goal, but to head it powerfully [again] back across goal. Only a very messy and dubious challenge stopped Bent scoring. Needless to say Taylor's team mates "questioned" him on his decision.
The late, very late introduction of Dean Bowditch salvaged a brief period of spirit, but probably only served in staving off the Forest threat. Why so late anyway? Was Joe hiding him from somebody?
Being practical a point was good from Forest away, and we're still joint top on points!
The first fixture is an important game for every team in the league, all keen to get off to a winning start. It did look for a while in the first half though, that it would be business as usual for Town, who fell behind after having numerous good chances to open the scoring themselves.
The game had started with a totally expected piece of behaviour from less than pretty Iwan Roberts, making the upwards move to Gillingham in the summer and heading their attack today. It only took 20 seconds of match play before he fouled Drissa Diallo, and was duly booked for his troubles. You can take the player out of Norwich, but you can't...
Sloppy defending lead to the Gills goal, to us in the stand it looked obvious where the cross was going to go, but it's not that easy I suppose, when you're out there on the pitch. Especially when you're running at full pelt in the intense heat of a 90°+ afternoon, so i'll let them off that one.
Town seemed to remain calm, and kept working at Gillingham in the same fashion, passing well and creating chances. No one pressed the panic button, a trait that has hopefully been consigned to last season's list of bad habits. The equaliser came before half time, and it was the ever positionally confused Richard Naylor who got himself in the mix to power home a brave header from a Kevin Horlock corner.
The second half was better from Ipswich. They dominated for long periods, although still looked susceptible on the break. In fact Kelvin Davis was called into action far too many times, and kept Town in the game with some outstanding saves on a couple of occasions. Both teams chose to use up all their subs, not surprising given the heat.
We saw the now-skinhead Pablo Counago introduced, and although not his best performance he went close and hit the post. Tommy Miller, unlucky not to score in the first half, had a go at the woodwork late on too, but the game seemed destined to finish 2-1 (well, given last year's match I thought they'd nick it 3-2 right up until final whistle).
So, we got the start we wanted, along with only 5 other teams in "The Coca-Cola Football League Championship". Joint top on points at least, now we simply have to stay there until May.
Coventry is never a nice experience even for the hardiest of supporter, so great news that they are moving to a new stadium soon. Hopefully we wont have to visit that ****hole again, although I bet the new one isn't as near the decent pubs!
Sunday's visit was of course worth it for the result alone. On balance Town probably shaded the game, and dominated in the second half, even if they never actually scored more than the opposition themselves.
Town's starting line-up looked strong and positive from the off, and the chances were soon coming for Bent, Kuqi and Bowditch. Unfortunately the home side were also pressuring, and it was they who had the biggest opportunity to get ahead in the first half via a penalty given for an ambitious yet honest tackle in the box by Diallo. He'd stretched high for the ball but there was only a hint of contact, but no doubt about the contact he made with the player. Fortune favoured the Tractor Boys though, as the spot kick was at a good height for stand-in Lewis Price to save well inside the post.
The opening goal seemed to be coming. It could've fallen to any of our forwards, and immediately following the pen Bowditch came close by hitting the bar from 25 yards. As it was the half finished scoreless.
In the second half Town's superiority showed for a period during which we should've scored at least once before the opener actually came, Kuqi with the most glaring miss when through one-on-one with the 'keeper, shooting straight into his body.
Eventually a chance was taken when Bent chased down the right wing and put in a deep cross which evaded all but Bowditch who rifled an easy effort into the roof of the net at the far post.
The lead only lasted for 7 minutes though, and Coventry were back on terms through a nicely worked goal, Suffo being put clear through a split defence before he chipped the advancing Price. Nice goal, aided perhaps by some sleepy defending, again.
The winner looked less and less likely, but the game did not finish level thanks to a howler of an own goal by Matt Mills, on loan from Southampton. Bent half-chased down the defender about 35 yards out, but with plenty of space it looked pointless. However, Mills sidefooted the ball first time past the 'keeper as he ran out to meet the ball, and it curled nicely into the net. It was exactly what Shefki Kuqi should've done with his earlier miss. You couldn't help but feel for the young player who looked as though he wanted the ground to swallow him up.
An unfortunate way to win the game in one respect, but we got 3 points and are now level at the top of the table, so who cares!
On paper a draw was not a bad result against a team at the top of the table before and after the game. After all, draws against Reading are becoming a habit, but I can't help being disappointed with just a point from this game.
The teams were reasonably well matched from the start, and the opener could've easily come from Reading, end to end stuff maybe. Thankfully Shefki was the man to seize the moment and put Town ahead though, carving out an opportunity almost out of nothing when he closed down their defence and just nicked the ball from the grasp of the 'keeper, keeping his cool really well to step past him and slot the ball home into the empty net from an angle.
It didn't take Reading long to cotton onto our occassional defensive frailties though and more importantly that Town were down to 10 men with De Vos off the pitch having treatment, and soon after equalised when a hotly debated onside-offside through ball put Kitson in a one-on-one situation. He too remained cool to put it just inside the post. It was harsh on Town given that De Vos, arguably our best current defender was off the pitch at the insistence of the referee.
For the rest of the match Reading faded slightly and Town pressed more and more. Unfortunately Shefki seemed to have lost his touch as the game went on, squandering numerous chances, that said he never slowed down for a moment, and often got into those scoring opportunities through his own hard work.
One other notable event was the half time substitution of Kelvin Davis, replaced by Lewis Price after straining his back. Price did have work to do and pulled off some good saves.
It was our glut of missed chances that made this draw a disappoinment for me, but on reflection and seeing other results, it's not bad at all.
I knew Plymouth had played some good football this season already, but with Town needing to bounce back from a humbling defeat in the League Cup I didn't expect that the newcomers to the league would be 2 nil up after 13 minutes! But, that's the position we found ourselves in after Plymouth came out of their corner fighting right from the off.
They deserved their early lead too, at times seemingly pouring forward and opening up our defence at will, it was clear that Town's rearguard needed to wake up quickly before the visitors put the game beyond reach.
The defence were to blame for both of the goals conceded, the first a complete mess up at the back post as a cross came in and the second, a terrible back-header from Kevin Horlock straight into the path of the advancing Plymouth striker. Thankfully it wasn't too long before we pulled one back. It came via a powerful Jason De Vos header from a corner, the defender having missed a similar chance earlier on made no mistake the second time.
It soon got got worse again though. Fabian Wilnis had already been mildly assaulted on 2 or 3 occasions before he was chopped down after the ball had gone out of play, but unfortunately the ref' in his wiseness thought the way to handle the situation was to book the Dutchman for dissent. The card didn't matter as it turned out - as moments later Fabian seemed to have a rush of blood and decided to dish out his own form of retribution, arriving late for a challenge which actually looked worse at the time. We all thought it would be a second yellow, but it was a straight red, hence the prior booking being irrelevant.
Thankfully Plymouth were unable to capitalise on their one-man advantage and Town plugged away and arguably had the better of the play. Plymouth were still getting the chances though, the best just after half time when Frio seemed to have time and space at the back post and although he met the cross with a clean header, thankfully it went over the bar. That was a let-off, I doubt we'd have come back from 3-1 down with ten men.
The second half saw the introduction of Shefki Kuqi, on for an ineffectual Pablo. He hardly set the game alight, but was his usual busy self, chasing and harassing. It was very late on when he finally managed to get the equalising goal, Darren Bent providing a low cross beyond the stretch of the defence which Shefki buried before snatching the ball out of the net and racing back to the centre circle. It was clear that he wouldn't be satisfied with just a point, and minutes later he sent the home fans wild. Bent laid off a ball to Diallo who sent in a cross first time, which was met by a diving Kuqi whose header had both power and precision, beating the 'keeper at the near post from 10 yards. Easily the goal of the match.
There had been talk of the Sheff U match at half time - remember? Down to ten men and losing, eventually coming back to win 3-2? :O)
This was one of those games you wish you'd stayed at home and watched on Teletext. I should've known better, having seen the previous season's similarly dismal display at Notts County.
The starting line-up was by no means a second-string, with the exception of Lewis Price in goal, Dinning, Richards and Bowditch are no strangers to first team football. So that's one less excuse we can call upon. In fact there were buoyant and obviously with hindsight way too optimistic chants of "We want 6" etc. such was the apparent gulf between the sides at kick-off.
That was about where the chanting and singing stopped for the Town fans though, as only 5 minutes into the game Doncaster went ahead. The tone of the evening was set.
What can I say about the first half? The defence were having a lazy evening, and from what I could see of the first goal (it was up the other end) they were very gentlemanly in allowing Ravenhill and Fortune-West to combine for the opener.
In fact we rarely saw the ball down our end for most of the half. One or two rallies forward usually came to a dead end, there were few shots on the Doncaster goal. Pablo twisted and turned once or twice but wasn't in the game, not that the ball was getting up to him. Both he and Bent were falling back further and further into their own half in an effort to get it forward.
We hoped for better in the second half but just moments in McSporran found himself close in on goal on the right, and despite the angle rifled the ball between Price and the nearpost. It helped that there was not a defender in sight of course, Richards (I think) having got lost.
Bowditch was replaced by Miller at half time, we'd not seen much of Deano which was disappointing but unsurprising given the performance of the team as a whole.
And there was more dross from there on in. Shefki, perhaps more naturally suited to a game like this came on for Pablo, but any chances he got he squandered, notably when he found himself in space in the box, his volley sailing over the bar.
The stand-ins did nothing to impress Joe I suspect, although Lewis Price made some good saves and was exposed for both goals. Dinning? I can't see us keeping him beyond his current stint, although stranger things have happened.
Doncaster wanted this result far more than the weaklings we turned out last night, and deserved their place in the next round draw. You could say they were lucky, not on the night - but lucky they were drawn out of the bag against an uninterested Ipswich. The only gulf between these two teams was The Wash.
Town fought out a well earned draw at Upton Park when perhaps the Hammers should have finished the game in the first half.
Unsurprisingly it was ex-Budgie Malky MacKay who got the opposition's opener. I'd predicted several times this week that he'd score and sure enough up he popped. It's Sod's Law, you could've put money on it, in fact I wish I had, because then of course it wouldn't have happened.
The crunch for the home side came when they were awarded a penalty towards the end of the first half. There was no doubt about the decision with Davis late to the challenge in the area after hesitating to come for the ball, and Town could not have felt unlucky to have gone 2-0 down at that point. Luckily for the Tractor Boys though, when Teddy Sherringham stepped up to take it, he placed it wide of Kelvin Davis' goal, in front of the relieved away support.
There was improvement from Ipswich after the break, Joe Royle sticking with the same line up for the restart, Pablo Counago having taken the place of Shefki Kuqi to start the match. He was having a pretty decent match, lively and perhaps building up some confidence, and it was no surprise that he levelled the scores with a tricky turn and shot close in. The goal had been coming, with Town being easily on top in the second half.
Both sides had chances from there on in, Darren Bent having an excellent shot tipped onto the bar, Miller also having a good effort saved, and West Ham wasting a few chances or forcing Town's back four into action.
Still in touch at the top end of the table, but we need to regain our winning form to push ourselves back up to the top spot. With the teams around us in the table all seemingly finding their game recently, and also a few of the fancied teams who had a stuttered start now picking up points, we'll need to do it pronto.
But can we stay there? That's the question. Who cares. For now at least, we're top of the league, so let's make the most of it.
It was agonisingly painful getting the result today though, as well as we played I thought with 15 minutes to go that we'd blown all our chances and it was Sod's Law that we'd undeservedly concede. Then on came the new messiah, Pablo. Now they hate him, now they don't. We'll all have to make up our minds soon, hopefully to the better after a run of performances like today's, where he came off the bench late on and was involved in 1 goal, and scored the second.
For the first goal he put through Darren Bent who shugged off the bullying defender, and in fact made him look pretty daft by delicately chipping the ball away from him before powerfully hitting it in mid air with the outside of his foot into the far corner. Class.
This was near the end of a hard fought game in which Town enjoyed most of the chances, but one that Millwall defended well. Literally in the dying minutes the roles were reversed, Bent this time crossing for Counago, who could afford to be patient in front of goal and with 5 defenders surrounding him but doing little, rifled the ball into the net. He derserved that, and appeared to enjoy it too.
Millwall had been physical as usual, but I could've written that before the game kicked off. Denise Wise was his usual pleasant self, leading by example. They looked quite sharp in the build up earlier in the game, but had been unable to get in any meanigful attempts on goal, largely due to a solid Town defence today, I'd like to think.
Speaking of which, that was another clean sheet. Can we make it 3 in a row this time?
Preston have visited Portman Road without winning for about 300 years now, and on Saturday they didn't even come close to changing that dismal record.
They were under the cosh pretty much from the off, with several chances being wasted or scrambled to safety. In fact it seemed we would never score, especially so when Ian Westlake had a perfectly valid goal not given by the linesman, who I can only assume was behind play as the ball crossed at least 2 feet over the line. The "clearing" defender's standing foot was even over the line!
Actually, to say that Preston weren't in the game was not true for the opening periods. They had attempted to seize upon a couple of gifted opportunities to try to break the deadlock but to no avail. Thankfully the defence rode their luck successfully before Town took hold of the game.
Another incident had the home crowd seething, when Darren Bent raced forward into the box and was clumsily barged over by a Preston defender, notably the "last man" too. Whistle? Penalty? Don't be daft, not so much as a free kick.
We were all thinking that half time would be taken up with whinging about these injustices, but very late on Town deservedly went ahead. It was Shefki who spared us the frustration, he chested (no, not hand-balled..) the ball past the last defender and chased into the box, slotting it low under the 'keeper. I felt the stand shudder as he dived to the floor in celebration. He's a man in form at the moment, and obviously enjoying it. His workrate is second to none and gets 10 out of 10 for effort alone.
One would've been fine, but it was to be two goals before the break, this time from Tommy Miller, who mopped up a cleared effort by Westy after Bent had provided a good cross. We easily deserved the lead, but of course it should've been 4....
The second half looked comfortable for Town as they set about putting the game out of reach. The third goal took a while coming though, but it was worth waiting for. Westlake was heavily challenged but stayed on his feet and ran on, crossing to Bent who took a step then lashed a thunderous shot as straight as an arrow into the top corner. He'd had a great game and deserved the goal.
Town ended up with what looked like a very strong attacking line-up after Wilnis had to be substituted through injury, with Bent and Kuqi still on, but with Deano and Pablo joining in too. Strangely though, Town failed to add to the scoreline (did anyone else think that Pablo wasn't up for it?).
Shame that Preston manager had to be bitter in defeat. Billy Davies reckoned that Shefki handled the ball for his goal, but he conveniently ignores the fact that Town should've scored much earlier on when the ball clearly crossed the line, and that Bent should've had a penalty. I think we'd have run up a cricket score had we scored earlier, so I think they got off lightly.
A day for the rainproof, and those unfortunate enough to be sat towards the edge of the stand at Watford certainly needed one as the wind drove the rain in. Nice ground Watford! Getting parked can be a pain in the arse too, and as a result I can't comment on the first 10 minutes of the match.
I don't think I missed much though, judging by the rest of the half. The game was disjointed and understandably affected by the rubbish weather. Despite the strong wind, the ball was played in the air a fair bit when surely keeping it down would've been the order of the day. It was a fast surface given the water.
Pablo started the game along with Shefki Kuqi and Darren Bent, a positive sign of Joe Royle's intentions to press Watford. We threatened occassionally but rarely a chance went close. The best of the half was a Bent effort that hit the inside of the post. Earlier in the half Shefki had rounded the Watford keeper but had been forced wide, and by the time more Ipswich players were in the box to receive a cross, the Watford defence had closed in too.
Although Watford had some good spells of possession they never made the most of it and seemed to lack a cutting edge. Town were arguably the better side in the first half.
The second half resumed in a similar vein, and it only took 5 minutes for Town to take a lead at last. Ian Westlake was to be the man to open the scoring for the second time in a week, getting on the end of a quick ball and muscling his way into the box with a defender on his shoulder before shooting into the bottom corner.
The goal had given Town confidence and they were now passing better, and carving out chances. Bent had a couple of clear-cut opportunities but his finishing was weak in both cases. It was to be third time lucky though, when he fed Westlake into the box who turned and gave it back to him on the edge of the area allowing him to deliver a powerful shot into the net.
An unassailable 2 goal lead was soon assailed by Watford however, when they struck back from a corner just 3 minutes later.
Despite Town having dominated they were now under the cosh at times, and with chances squandered to put the game beyond doubt, somewhat inevitably Watford got the equaliser. It was again from a set piece, this time a free kick way out, which was hit low and hard into the chest of the diving Lewis Price who couldn't hold the wet ball. A brief scramble followed but a Watford foot lashed the ball into the net.
We're fast becoming draw specialists, which isn't something that'll keep us up in the higher reaches of the table, although as luck would have it we stayed 3rd. As JR said, we need that clean sheet again.
Any Leicester fan who'd been to watch them over the last month would've told you this game would finish in a draw - they might have told you that they'd score an own goal too.
Last game out it was our old friend Chris Makin who got on the scoresheet for Leicester at the wrong end, inadvertently sticking in the equaliser and confining them to another draw. Makin had been given quite some grief from the Town fans for the whole match due to his ungentlemanly departure from Portman Road at the beginning of the season, and it would've been pleasing for many if he'd made the gaff but unfortunately it was Matt Heath who gave Town a deserved point late on.
Conversely another former Tractor Boy James "not Jamie" Scowcroft was afforded a great reception from the travelling faithful. Thankfully he looked relatively quiet in comparison to some of his better performances for Ipswich, still winning a few trademark long-ball headers, notably one for the first equaliser but perhaps missing Wrighty punting pinpoint clearances his way!.
Town couldn't have asked for a better start to the match, scoring after a minute with fit-again Bent having an effort parried by Pressman and Ian Westlake cleverly following up with a looping chip over everyone before him and just under the crossbar. Long may this new habit continue.
The first half was Town's early on, but soon Leicester were back at us and had a period of sustained pressure during which they passed the ball well, getting too much of it down the right and being allowed to get the ball into the Town box too often. The equaliser was coming, you could say, and indeed it did with a good effort from Connolly. I'd decided I didn't like him quite early on, he dived a few times and, well actually I never liked him at West Ham. Strikes me as an arrogant little prima donna, could be wrong though.
The second half began positively for Town who enjoyed much of the possession, however it was the home side that scored to take the lead for the first time. Their doomed-to-be-short-lived hero was Matt Heath who's speculative shot was beyond the reach of Lewis Price.
Cue Joe to make some changes, on came Pablo for Jim. It seemed to do the trick, gee-ing up Town who now pressed Leicester and began to dominate. There was a period for about 10 minutes when the ball seemed not to leave the Leicester half, during which Town had a hundred (or so) corners. It seemed inevitable that we would score, such was the pressure, but it faded without reward and Joe decided to make another change, bringing on Bowditch for an inconsistent Bent.
He was soon in the action and was involved in a controversial moment when Town thought they'd got the goal they deserved. Deano had got on the end of a cross and forced Pressman into a save, the 'keeper spilling the ball in the wet conditions allowing the alert Kuqi to nick it into the net. There was disbelief from the players and fans when the ref disallowed the goal, presumably for some imaginary infringement on the 'keeper. For the second game in a row a mistake by the ref denied Town a chance to score. Goal keepers are way too over-protected these days, and the official simply took the easy option of presuming the 'keeper had been fouled, despite his assistant indicating otherwise. What hope is there if the ref wont even talk to his assistant who clearly had a better view? Get back to Sunday League man.
Justice was to be served up for Town though when with two minutes left, Town were still seething from that incident and pressing on for the equaliser, Matt Heath fantastically contorted to head a cross behind him and into the net instead of safety.
The home fans streamed out of the Walkers Stadium, their own song of "Cheerio Cheerio Cheerio" now echoing back at them (the home crowd strangely sang the same to us with 10 minutes left and no one was leaving).
Ipswich showed good spirit in coming back from conceding the lead, and could easily have taken all the points but for a disallowed goal, but Leicester had their share of play and on balance perhaps a point was just. It moved us up to 3rd too.
"Boring Boring Burnley". How can the Burnley fans sit through that week in week out? They deserve a medal for the support they give their team, they sang pretty much continuously while watching their side's defensive display. Not that Burnley exactly had that much pressure to soak up.
After a few early chances for Town, we did the usual. Something else which is getting boring is watching Town gift the opposition a goal. It was Naylor who got caught out, when Town should've been breaking up the field there was one too many pass at the back and Micah Hyde nicked it from him to pass to an unmarked Robbie Blake who could not miss.
And just a few minutes later it became clear that it was going to be "one of those games", and indeed that we had "one of those referees". Westlake was cleverly given the ball by Bowditch very deep in the Burnley box and got in a cross, only for it to be cut out by Frank Sinclair. It was a blatant, solid gold (22ct), no-brainer penalty, but unfortunately the ref obviously had neither brain nor bling. The apparently 14 year-old lino had a clear view but he too either bottled it or had something in his eye and missed it.
The officials continued in the same vein for pretty much the whole match, the ref missing a clear corner moments later, and insisting that Shefki leave the field of play after Jim Magilton received treatment for injury! Why do we have to put up with sub-standard officials? Some of these guys obviously love the attention they draw to themselves, blowing the whistle like a continental ref and strutting around like a peacock. They should piss off to Italy if that's what they want.
Anyway, penalty aside, I don't think they had too much bearing on Town's performance. We surely would have done better if we'd have equalised that early on, but we ought to be able to break down team's like Burnley. It's all down to not taking our chances. Our injuries too had a part to play, but De Vos made it after all, and although Bent was out we did have opportunities to score. Pablo got back into the action, and although I thought he was pretty quiet for most of his time on the pitch, in the furious finish to the match he was influential, setting up Miller's chance, and unlucky with the resulting follow-up which was well saved.
If only that Miller effort had gone in, I think Burnley would've got what they deserved, nowt. Well, that's what I thought at the time, angry as I was with the game's proceedings, but on reflection the point was not that bad.
Town made hard work of a game against league strugglers Brighton but eventually did enough to take the points and regain the top spot.
The game started positively enough for the Tractor Boys, with some unsuccessful forays forward into a stubborn Brighton defence. It was obvious from the outset that the visitors would be happy to get just a point from this game.
It wasn't too long though before their plan was scuppered though, and it was Shefki Kuqi who opened the scoring. Ian Westlake received the ball and advanced towards goal, and about 30 yards out unleashed a shot. Whilst Jim Magilton stood shouting at him, presumably for not squaring it, the scarlet-clad Brighton 'keeper made a smart save, only to see Kuqi rushing in. The Fin chose to calmly chip the ball over the sprawling goalie into the net.
The play seemed to open up nicely and for a while it looked as though the game would result in a comfortable win. Bent was getting deep and putting in some tantalising crosses, with Kuqi coming close to getting on the end of one a couple of times.
Not so as it turned out. The Seaguls were far more aggressive in the second half, and as the game wore on, Town looked increasingly under threat. That aggression was a tad too literal for a few of the Brighton players, in particular Danny Cullip who seemed to have a nasty streak in his game throughout.
If ever the tag "veteran" is justified then never more so than when describing Steve Claridge. The Guls frontman was lively and tireless, and came close with a good header which went beyond the reach of Davis but wide.
I was impressed with the way Brighton kept at us and grew in confidence, you wouldn't think that at the end of the match we were looking at two teams at opposite ends of the league.
With displaced leaders Wigan only managing a draw at Reading, Town are now a point ahead, and Sunderland now appear the more likely threat.
It's happened again. All the results went our way, followed by Town missing out on a chance to capitalise. It wasn't the first time and won't be the last.
Those who made the cold, long and - thanks to Sky, early journey up to the Stadium of Light may well be feeling cheated today. After all, apparently it "wasn't us" out there on the pitch. So we'd paid to see imposters, and very unconvincing ones at that. Apart that is, from the striker who came on when look-a-likie-Deano was fouled out of the game. Now he was just like the real Pablo Counago.
Pseudo-Bowditch had provided what little creativity Town had up until then, and it was clear that Sunderland were out to rattle him, perhaps even get him sent off after he'd picked up an early yellow card. They got their way when Jeff Whitley stamped on his ankle and left him hobbling.
The game deteriorated with the Black Cats enjoying most off the chances not to mention plenty of space in the Ipswich box.
But lets not lose faith, ok we missed a chance to go top but as Joe Royle has said before, it's better to be in second place where people won't be trying to knock you off the top. It's obvious that this was JR's plan all along, a deliberate underperformance and defeat.
A master stroke of genius. Let's hope Wigan win on Saturday so we can safely get three points off Brighton.
Talking of lookie-likies, did anyone notice the Suderland striker who looked like Marcus Stewart in everything but his touch?
This game had stood out on the fixture list since the start of the season, it was always expected to be a big test for Town and certainly lived up to that. It didn't however live up to all the hype that brought the highest crowd of the season so far to Portman road, which fell short of 30k by just 45 people.
It was a poor first half for the home side, Leeds charged at Town from the off, and we did well to soak up some pressure. The distribution was careless by Ipswich and with passes going astray and things not working in the midfield, chances were just not coming our way.
Thankfully half time arrived with the scores still level at zero, and it was obvious from the restart that Joe had got changes in mind, Miller came off for Bowditch, although Miller was injured.
The new forward line-up was far livelier, Bent looked far more eager than in the first half and was getting more of the ball. Bowditch too was making a creative difference.
It was only 6 minutes into the half when Ipswich broke the deadlock. Kuqi surged forward and got in a powerful shot which the 'keeper saved but couldn't hold. The ball fell towards the line and Bent pounced. He made hard work of it, missing the chance to tap it in the goalie got his hands on it but it spilled behind him under challenge from Bent, who made no mistake the second time.
Darren Bent created several good chances that flashed across the goal but were either met by a defender or just slighty beyond the other Town strikers reaches
Late on Leeds staged a fight to grab the equaliser, earning several corners to have home fans biting their nails, but eventually the final whistle went.
That was a big 3 points won, a good test and high profile scalp to take. With Wigan losing as well, we now find ourself level on points at the top.
Only a few weeks after the home tie against Burnley it was our turn on the road for the return fixture. Kelvin Davis was back to fitness and back between the sticks, Price having stood in well in his absence. Another injury worry Jason De Vos thankfully made it into the side after a dead-leg-blood-clot thing.
This turned out to be rather a scrappy affair, with neither team hitting top gear throughout the match. Burnley's troubles started after 12 minutes or so with Frank Sinclair having to be subbed, he was obviously an important influence for them. Not long after this Davis hoofed a long clearance up-field, his safety first ball turned quickly into attack when Darren Bent raced after it and found himself clean through on the 'keeper. He made no mistake in slotting it in for the first goal.
Davis was having a reasonably game but did spill a couple of shots, but without creating a real situation for himself. Burnley were however trying to make something out of one or two characteristic defensive errors by Town, but still never really threatened for long periods.
There was a moment of excitement before half time when De Vos passed to Magilton when the Town captain clearly thought there were better options, the two had a brief shouting match and got on with things.
Jim was in the wars not long after the break, having been challenged heavily but fairly he went down holding his knee. Thankfully he was soon back up again and looked to be fine.
The game hadn't improved, was messy and neither Burnley or Town looked like being the dominant side. The home side did have a chance through a free kick which rattled the Town bar, but it was Ipswich who eventually got the second goal of the game. It was Darren Bent again fed by Magilton, this time it was a fantastic strike from distance and under pressure, the ball hammered into the top corner beyond the reach of the 'keeper.
Miller had a chance late on, but his shot never had enough on it although the resulting save still had to be a good one.
10 games unbeaten now, and the norm now seems to be wins rather than draws. With Wigan losing the gap is now back to 3 points, hopefully they have started a new trend of their own too.
They had it coming. Or at least someone did according to popular opinion. We had played well enough to stick 5 past a few of our recent opponents, although often lacked the finish to do so.
The Finnish was certainly there on this occassion, Shefki Kuqi former player for the other Sheffield side Wednesday, was very obviously up for this match and the away fans let him know that they hadn't forgotten his spell with their rivals.
Having spurned several chances to score, Town drew first blood via a penalty, Darren Bent racing through into the box and being brought down by the large frame of sprawling Paddy Kenny. I've seen 'keepers sent off in that situation but the ref saw fit to not even book him.
Shefki Kuqi argued with Magilton to try to take the penalty, but the Captain allowed Tommy Miller to step up, and his shot thundered past Kenny into the net despite him diving the right way.
The ever-battling Shefki got his goal very soon after though, the home fans were only just settling back into their seats when he tore into the box after a bad clearance looped up inviting him to cleverly nod it over Kenny.
Given how Town were ripping United apart at this stage, I dread to think what the result could've been had Kenny been sent off!
As half time drew close, Shef U pulled one back from a set piece which perhaps could've been cleared, they had continued to battle so you couldn't begrudge them a goal but 2-1 at half time was very skinny on Town's part.
After the break it wasn't clear if the teams had changed ends or instead changed shirts. Shef U were now the side dominating and getting the chances.
Ipswich needed to stamp on this lively period for the visitors, and did so after the hour following a few half chances. Richard Naylor got on the end of a corner from Jim, heading the ball low into the net. This sparked another spell of domination from Ipswich.
Town rampaged forward and were getting plenty of chances, and it was Kuqi who got the forth after turning outside the box to put a shot through the legs of a defender and into the far corner. It was becoming a rout.
Ian Westlake netted the fifth after a Bent-Miller one-two resulted in a drive across goal, Westy sidefooting it in. He celebrated with a rather fitting swimming motion, after his [slightly strange?] competition with Karen Pickering.
I haven't enjoyed a game like that one for a while.
After a poor performance down at the New Den, Town were eager to get back on track and maintain their top spot, having clung onto it somewhat precariously thanks to results going our way elsewhere. Captain Jim Magilton was back into the starting line-up, Joe Royle favouring him over Kevin Horlock. Town started brightly and were in control from early on, the signs were positive as Bent raced forward onto a Davis clearance, unfortunately the out-of-sorts striker shot straight at the 'keeper although one-on-one. The chances came thick 'n fast for Town, but it remained frustratingly nil nil up until 10 minutes from the break. Shefki Kuqi at last broke the deadlock with a well worked one-two with Westlake in the box, not as pretty as some of the efforts Town had missed prior to this, but a great strike all the same. It was a goal that had been coming, and at that point it seemed that it'd surely be the first of many. Stoke of course are no mugs as we found out at their place earlier in the season, and kept playing their game, and did well to keep things tight throughout the second half. Another goal would've settled the nerves but it never came, but thankfully the one goal was enough to take a much needed 3 points.
Being a natural cynic, I was expecting a drab game and of course with it being screened live on the telly, a defeat was inevitable. Thankfully, and it has happened once before, I was proved wrong. Wigan managed to bring at least 3 coach loads of fans to Portman Road, so that left plenty of room to be filled by 28,000 or so Town fans. The atmosphere followed the game, up and down of course, but it was Town who were causing the most trouble in the first half and therefore generated the noise. Horlock was out, suspended, and Diallo is injured for a month so Joe Royle had to ring the changes. New boy Darren Currie was given his home debut, and Westlake started. Loanee of the day was Daniel Karbassiyoon, fresh from the Arsenal training field, he spent the game on the bench. Magic was the man to get the first chance, striking a dropping ball first time which looped over the goalie but just over the bar, hitting the roof of the net. Other chances came the way of the two Town strikers Bent and Kuqi, but both were guilty of poor finishing, and at times a hint of selfishness. Wigan were simply unlucky at the front, the chances that they did get were essentially wasted, but well created. The visitors played Town at their own game though, both sides choosing the passing game which was providing some excellent entertainment. Half time arrived, neither team had scored and with so many Ipswich chances having gone begging, talk was of whether they could keep up the pressure. Second half started well again for the Blues, but well you've read the script so many times before, the team who had been under pressure opened the scoring. Currie almost got away with a slightly duff clearance into the centre, but it was picked up by Leighton Baines, who took a short tap forward, before unleashing the mother of long-range drives. The ball left his foot, straight as an arrow towards the top corner, Kelvin Davis couldn't get close at full stretch. It'll be a long time before we see another goal like that, and it was Baines' first for the club. Some guys get all the luck. Wigan perked up. They'd win now, obviously. Well, that's what I thought at the time, but Town weathered Wigan's best spell and eventually the pace was back at evens. Town won a free kick 30 yards out which Currie swung into the box. As the ball arched away from the 'keeper, Richard Naylor launched himself Matrix-slow-motion-stylie through the air (sort of) back to goal and brilliantly diverted the ball into the far post. Genius. The game kept it's high entertainment factor right to the death, with chances for both sides to claim the coveted top-spot. It looked like an honourable draw until a minute from the end. Darren Bent became the hero of the hour when he latched onto a bouncer on the edge of the box, but being out wide the chance looked slim. He never gave the ball a chance to settle though, and caught it on the half volley perfectly, to lob over the stranded 'keeper. It seemed like an age before the ball was in the net and the home crowd went berserk. Top spot was ours - and the stats say that the team at the top at Christmas always get promoted. But, Town have a habit of breaking records... Ever the pessimist.
This week Town spent a decent amount of money on a player for the first time since 2001, with a quarter of a million splashed out on Darren Currie of Brighton. How times have changed, that sort of money was spent on boot polish back then, but it seems that it buys you much more in today's post-collapse market. Currie didn't start the match, but got a half-and-a-bit to check out his new team mates from the bench. He was probably impressed with what he saw at the start of the match, Town getting forward plenty and the QPR 'keeper being forced to make 4 or 5 excellent saves to deny De Vos, Miller, Naylor and Bent the opener. During this spell QPR rarely threatened, and almost inevitably Town did score first. After the good chances saved, you could argue that it was a somewhat scrappy goal, but they all count. Magilton sent in a corner and after Bent had rescued the ball from going out by sending it looping over the 6 yard box, Naylor headed back towards goal, De Vos heading the loose ball powerfully home. This unfortunately seemed to wake QPR up, and the Town lead lasted just a minute before they were level, Furlong getting in a long range effort under no pressure from the Ipswich defence which sailed in past Davis. It wasn't long before it got worse, QPR now sniffing confidence for the first time in the game were again allowed way too much space, and it was Furlong again who sent another long range shot goalwards, this time Davis getting something on it but unable to stop it. A goal down at half time, the inevitability now seemed to hint at a Town defeat. Royle obviously had other ideas and made a change at the break, withdrawing Drissa Diallo and bringing on Matt Richards. Whether this change was the main factor I don't know, but Town were once again on top of the game right from the start. Soon into the half Currie got his debut, Horlock making way after getting a booking. The new boy was lively from the outset, playing down the left and taking Town's corners, which were noticeably better. Currie was involved in the equaliser, sending in a great ball to Kuqi who kept possession with good strength, before feeding Bent who looped a shot above and around the 'keeper. The ex-Brighton man was soon at it again, this time his part in a one-two with Bent resulted in a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box, which he duly dispatched inside the far post via a deflection. A dream debut, he looked ecstatic! Fantastic. As ever, we needed that 2 goal cushion to calm the nerves, on the pitch too I expect, and with about 20 minutes left it was big man Shefki Kuqi who sort of cleverly flick-volleyed [see it on the telly] the ball home. Currie came close again from afar, Bent missed at least one sitter, and the game finished with 3,500 or so very happy travelling tractor boys singing their way out of the ground. Wigan kindly set up the big 6 pointer for Tuesday week by beating the Gills. Can't wait.
Damn that Manager of the month award, we don't want it! Are managers allowed to refuse to accept them? On the previous occassions that Joe Royle has won it we've lost the following match. We can do without that sort of hoo-doo with the table as tight as it is. Town set up the game nicely, Bent and Kuqi up front putting themselves about. On about 10 minutes Bent was fed by Kuqi and didi well with the shot but pulled it just wide of the post with the 'keeper beaten. A few minutes later Bent returned the complement, but again the shot went wide, this time from the big Fin. Ipswich were the team on top, so typically it would be the home side who scored first. It was a good goal by the division's leading goalscorer Dean Ashton, who then just moments later added another to his tally, putting Crewe 2 goals ahead. The first was a clever piece of persistence and less-than eagre defending which let Ashton in close to goal but at a sharp angle. With Davis perhaps expecting a pull-back the striker chose to shoot and the ball went under the Town 'keeper through his legs and into the net. Ashton's second followed some very poor marking at he back, and he found himself clean through before easily putting the ball away. By half time Town would probably feel agrieved at not at least getting something out of the game so far, but the pace of the Crewe frontline had troubled our back four and we could only be to blame for not getting our chances on target. Royle decided to withdraw Diallo for the second half which started well. Davis almost scored with a huge kick-out, forcing Crewe 'keeper Clayton Ince into a scrambled save as the ball threatened to drop under the bar. This came moments after Magilton came close with a driven effort, Town were obviously starting the half with deliberate pressure. Bent went close soon after following a quick move but yet again he put the ball wide. Not to worry as the goal soon came for Town, not through one of the frontmen but via the boot of Richard Naylor, who controlled a knock-down and lashed a shot into the roof of the net. We kept up the pressure and it brought an equaliser less than 5 minutes later on the hour. This time Darren Bent made no mistake picking up a Westlake header and hooking a superb effort home, almost with his back to goal. Tommy Miller missed a fantastic opportunity to take the lead on 75 but scuffed his shot. There were other chances as Town pushed for the goal to take all three points, but Crewe held on for the draw. Not a bad point, but the 2 goals were conceded in a disappointingly easy fashion, and despite those we could've taken all three points had our finishing been a tad more clinical. Good results elsewhere though, so Town remained top after the game, although Wigan will almost certainly take back top spot when they play Preston. As for the manager of the month curse being broken, I'm not convinced.
It was safari time again, this fixture definitely falling into the "big game" category. Reading are pushing once again at the right end of the table, and fans from both teams were obviously expecting a good match, and the crowd was the biggest at the Majdeski this season, with the Town contingent making up a more than respectable 4000+ fans.
Convey and Sidwell were out for Reading, giving a chance for Owusu and Newman to get at start. For Town Richards and Magilton were given a sitting start on the bench, with loanee Karbassiyoon and Ian Westlake given the nod.
It was a good start to the game for Town, and we were probably on top for about 10 minutes or so until Reading got into the game more. In fact it was Reading who bossed the first half from thereon in.
Forster had a great chance to create a goal when he found himself in a deep position, but with the opportunity to lay the ball to a colleague he pulled it back to far and thankfully for Town the chance was squandered. Sloppy stuff at the back for Ipswich.
Probably Reading's best chance of the first half though fell to Little, who seemed to have the ball glued to his foot as he rounded several Ipswich players on his way through the midfield, but his shot was nothing to test Davis.
Half time and nil nil, the hope was for improvement from the Tractor Boys, and presumably after a right Royle kick up the backside, that was what happened. Karbassiyoon improved and was swapping passes with Currie well at times, the two players seem to have an understanding of each other for periods now at least, if not consistently. We still seemed weak at the back on occasion however, Karbassiyoon sometimes the culprit.
For a period late on it seemed that Ipswich would surely score, sustained pressure producing several chances notably a close one from Westlake. But if one of those chances was meant to go in it was surely Richard Naylor's, making his 250th appearance for Town, he shot spectacularly with an overhead kick which went just inches wide.
So the game was destined for a scoreless draw, and probably a fair one at that, until Ipswich snatched the winner in injury time. Currie rushed into the box and unselfishly squared the ball to Bent, who made no mistake with the chance, sending the travelling fans delirious.
Well it would've been the winner, but 40 seconds later Reading levelled things up. Town were asleep, thinking they'd won it. You can laugh about it all you like, but it was 2 points given away, 2 points which we may desperately need come the end of the season. Grrrrrrr.
It seems that we always get to play the team who has just lost it's manager, with players wanting to prove themselves and all that. Maybe with Coventry under caretaker management it wasn't quite the same situation, but Coventry started the game very positively and with a definite purpose none the less. With barely a minute on the clock it was the Midlanders who got the first chance on goal, when Morrell found himself racing through onto a looping ball over the Town defence, but thankfully he completely miscontrolled and was clean through on goal without the ball. Ipswich didn't take long to gather composure, but although they had stepped up a gear their passing game was stuttering and with Coventry closing them down quickly, chances were few and far between. The stuttering continued and the visitors were first to score, and in the first 15 minutes too. A sleepy defence, not playing to the whistle and hoping the offside trap would save them allowed Stern John of all people clean through on goal. Davis did his best to put him off but a side-step put John in an open goal situation 10 yards out. At this early stage though, Town could afford to plug away at getting their moves working, and with no sign of panic the chances started to come. Wilnis came close, and on more than one occasion Currie whipped in teasing crosses which were tantalising close to Bent or Kuqi. Coventry were not finding it difficult to create their own chances though, and at times things were still uncomfortable at the back. It was to be evens at the break though, when in the dying seconds of the first half Wilnis sent in a low cross which Bent side-footed home under challenge from his defender. Always a good time to score of course. The restart didn't see much improvement from either side, chances falling to both, but no flow to the game. It took until the hour for the next goal, thankfully Town's. Jim 'The Wizard' Magilton sent Benty through on goal but with the angle tight it looked as though he'd have to hold play up until the cavalry arrived. No, he controlled and hit it with great precision around the 'keeper and in off the far post. An excellent, Bent-of-old goal. "Great, let's go onto to wrap it up". That thought lasted only a minute. Coventry weren't going to lay down and went down the other end and narrowly missed, with Davis being forced to push the ball wide for a corner. When the low ball came in it met Shefki, normally fine of course, but this time he used his hand. Evens once more from the penalty spot, again the game remained the same, neither team on top. The Town forwards looked too eager to score at times, if their is such a thing. When a pass would have been more sensible they shot, you know the sort of thing, "there he is!" standing unmarked in the box while the shot canons off a defender. It was obvious Shefki wanted to make amends for his gaff at the back, and indeed he did. We all moaned out loud as a ridiculously bad Davis kick whizzed upfield at chest height, then gasped as not one outfield player got a touch on it and it found Shefki in a forward position. He took a touch around the defender and lashed the ball goalwards and beyond the Coventry 'keeper. Fantastic. Ridiculous. Brilliant. One more thing in the last quarter of an hour sticks out in my mind, and that is the image of Richard Naylor picking Andrew Whing up off the grass by the scruff of his neck! Psycho was obviously incensed at the Coventry player's attempt to get a penalty through diving. Naylor showed his obvious passion for Town. They were both shown a yellow. So a frustrating match, but exciting. Good to see Bowditch get a run out, he was lively and a pain in Coventry's arse, so maybe he's back as a regular now, albeit a sub. Bent could've laid off the looking good thing, what with the "open" sign up in the shop window, but so far no offers... yet.
Hardly cup fever, but a decent enough turnout at a blustery Portman Road for the visit of Premiership giants [ahem] Bolton Wanderers. A chance to test ourselves against a team that we may, stress may, could feasibly, it's not out of the window yet but I'm counting no chickens, touch wood be playing next season, should we be fortunate enough to, although it's no certainty by any stretch, get promoted. Joe Royle made some forced non-changes, if you get what I mean. Dean Bowditch was going to come in but had a note from his mum saying he'd got flu so he was out, or rather not in. Matt Richards was due for a start, but again he was unable to play through sickness. This mean't that Arsenal loanee Danny Karbasiyoon started at the back, along with Scott Mitchell given a rare start with Richard Naylor out. Fabian Wilnis shifted inside at the back along with Jason De Vos. It was a pacey match, Town got into their stride from the off with some good moves particularly down the left, with Karbasiyoon and Currie knocking it around between each other nicely. Bolton were soaking it up quite comfortably to start with, but eventually there were a few chances on goal. The visitors always looked to break quickly and each time they got forward there was an uneasy, threatening feeling. They didn't create that many clear chances though, and for the first hour it was Town who were on top of the game. At which point Joe made what can only be described as two uninspired substitutions. Off went Jim and Darren Currie. And with them the stability and creativity which was the keystone of Ipswich. The game turned at this point, unarguably. Justification though was sure, the FA Cup for a team at the top of the Championship is without doubt, a distraction to Premiership ambition. We'd hopefully had the game either lost or won by this time, and with players not from the usual starting 11 now on show but by others not so used to a starting place. Injuries had mean't that regulars had to fill in their own boots for their understudies, so ultimately they'd have to be rested for the league. These changes had dramatic effect on the game. A minute after they left the field Bolton were 1 up, through a marginally onside goal which I was convinced that the linesman had completely misread, although upon tv-reflection it was clear that a perhaps inexperienced Scott Mitchell unwittingly played on the forward man. 7 minutes later Town were 3 goals down. Number 2 looked offside even after seeing it on the telly, but number 3 was quite impressive by Pederson, who looked to pass but instead rifled into the net with no other options. Oh well, 3-0 was looking rather unjust, but Tommy Miller grabbed one soon after to keep things interesting if not respectable. Not a bad goal from a Counago knockback, Pablo showing a bit of unusual persistance. So the game had turned very quickly from "this seems quite easy" to "what the....". As Joe said, that's Premiership footie, played on the break. We had the chances though, and as can be said of a few Championship games this season, if only we'd have put them away... In other words, we have nothing to fear if we get promoted. The glass is definitely half full this week.
Once again Town found themselves in need of a good result to bounce back from a poor defeat. Plymouth was probably not the best place to have to go in search of it, but they have been showing some less than average form recently after having lead the table early on in the season. Joe Royle decided to give loanee Daniel Karbassiyoon a place in the starting line-up, his first chance to impress the Town faithful, and Kevin Horlock was also brought back in, both at the expense of Jim and Matt Richards. It was a nasty place to get to on a bank holiday Monday, the conditions were less than favourable too and as the game got underway it was clear this wasn't going to be a pretty affair. The Tractor Boys had some early chances, the best opportunity being yet another one-on-one with the 'keeper for Darren Bent, and yet again he missed with the goalie getting a hand to the ball. This is already becoming a habit for Benty, one he needs to make a new year's resolution to kick it. Then again, with the transfer window open maybe a few laclustre performances won't go a miss... Plymouth offered little in reply to Town's efforts on goal, and the half ended scoreless. The restart saw much of the same but with nothing coming from it and with Plymouth finding more confidence, Joe Royle made a double substitution to shake things up. Magilton and Richards came on for Miller Karbassiyoon. 20 minutes into the half Town at last got the chance to break the deadlock. Bent latched onto a ball from Jim and as he surged into the box the 'keeper brought him down as he passed. The ref had no hesitation in giving the penalty. Who would take it seemed less certain as first Bent grabbed the ball with spot-shot regular Tommy Miller being off the field, but then Currie stepped up and rifled the ball home. The home side didn't lose heart and kept up pressure, and both teams could've scored as the game approached full time. It was Town though who got the second, and it was again from Darren Currie who scooped the ball home after Jim unselfishly squared a ball to him in the box. Things got a bit tense late on when Plymouth pulled one back out of the blue but we hung on. Other results once again favoured Town, notably old-boy George Burley's men turning over Reading, previously unbeaten at the Madjeski this season, and also Gillingham coming away with a point from a difficult trip to Sunderland. Cheers to them!
Man we were poor. I can't believe we followed a really bad defeat (in terms of importance) against Watford with such a dreary performance. And once again we were facing a team in less than average form, a great chance was missed to bounce back and get the season back on track. We can only wonder what game we might have played had Davis not conjured up that howler after 3 just minutes. Not a bad decision and not really an error, just a mishap simple as that. These things happen and often, but of course the 'keeper usually gets away with it. Not today, when Davis slipped as he took his kick, the ball hit a retreating Furlong on the back, and when the QPR striker turned to see what was going on, I bet he couldn't believe his luck to see Kelvin on his arse and the ball dropping before him with not a Town defender in sight. Unlike Davis, he made no mistake. You can argue that if things like this are going to happen, then the earlier the better, it gives you time to regain composure and recover. Town though, after a brief spell of positivity, looked like they'd given up for long periods in the match. The visitors were not exactly brilliant, they came to defend, that was clear. There were few chances for either side, and little creativity. Every time a QPR player had a chance to go down, he stayed down. Referee Andy D'Urso, not the most popular face at many grounds, let it happen of course. He made some strange decisions throughout, chucked in some random bookings and generally made a mess of it. Not good enough for the Prem, so we have to suffer it instead. Of course, we can't even remotely begin to blame the officials for the defeat. We weren't at the races, we didn't have any imagination, any aggression, any passion, a certainly no way back after conceding the second goal. Now this one Davis was at fault for. When the free kick was floated in, he apparently called for the defence to leave it for him to deal with, they did, he didn't. Danny Shittu steamed in out of nowhere and headed the ball home. A clear error of judgement to which Davis did at least hold up his hands (shame he didn't hold them up at the time!). One thing Town and Joe Royle were short of too, was options. Joe had decided to bring in Pablo from the cold and put him on the bench, and he felt the out of favour striker deserved another throw of the dice, and brought him on in the second half. Pablo got a good reception, the North Stand sang his name which was exactly what Pablo needed to hear I suspect. He certainly looked to try, but although he created some opportunities and played a few good passes, he never made enough difference to give us any chance. Unfair to judge though, as one player was never going to change the fate of this game in which the entire team under performed on a disappointing scale. Briefly 6 points clear a little over a week ago, we now find ourselves 3rd in the table, albeit "joint top". Wigan stumbled which was very fortuitous, but Sunderland have charged up to pull level now, and look very well placed indeed for a late push. Wigan next week? Is there such thing as a ten pointer?
At this point in the season, and in the position we find ourselves in, these are exactly the games we should now be able to look at in the fixture list and think '3 points'. Town don't seem to have developed that killer instinct however, and we always seem to make heavy work of it. If you'd only seen some of the recent performances from Ipswich, then it would be hard to fathom how we have remained at the top. But we are better than that, and I hope we find some form quick before we drop back completely into the playoff positions. As Joe Royle seems to have to say all too often, "on a different day" we might have scored 6 by half time. Our finishing was not at it's sharpest though, and it was very frustrating to watch as there didn't seem to be that urgency about the team, there wasn't that bit of extra effort. Chances were always a yard away, or a second too late. We've seen it before, if we don't take our chances when they come then we run out of momentum they stop coming. The opposition become wise to it and tighten up. This isn't what exactly happened though, we totally dominated the game for the entire first half but it brought nothing, and we found ourselves playing a very predictable game. The ideas just ran out and we played left to right, right to left, backwards, and predictably, hoof up over the top. Strangely though Watford didn't really counter it, and scoring opportunities came throughout the whole half. Then the *other* thing that always happens, happened, Watford scored against the run of play. 2 minutes were held up on the board at the end of the half, and we all pondered where they had come from, Watford time-wasting was the general consensus, how ironic. In the dying seconds a cross came in and somehow it ended up evading Davis off the head of either Naylor or the Watford player climbing on his back. Typical. That really had us rattled, and although from the restart we pushed harder, it was like tightening your fingers on a fistful of sand. From the midfield forward, we just were not creative enough and lacked the grit to force errors from our opponents. That's where we miss Shefki of course. I doubt anyone predicted that Town would be so reliant on him when we signed him (even after he scored on his debut against Watford!). But I think there's no doubt we need him back to scare the living daylights out of the opposition. Watford's second was somewhat inevitable, they floated in a decent enough corner, and a completely unmarked Dyer jumped and powered a header beyond Kelvin Davis who must've felt pretty let down by his defence. Even our late penalty had some doubt over it, with many saying that it was in fact Scowcroft who handled in the box. Watford almost summed up our day immediately from the restart by going up the other end and scoring, but with 2 forwards with acres of space and time in the box the chance was squandered. Scant consolation our goal anyway though, and a late rally in the 4 minutes added time was as ever, too little too late. I'm thinking of trying to get my season ticket changed, as I want to see us play on these much mentioned "different days" again instead of the "one of those days" ticket I currently have.
Leicester are a better team than their league position suggests at this point in the season, and we were never going to get anything less than a real tough test with this game.
A couple of former blues lined up for the visitors, Scowcorft's reception was warm and he got a round of applause, Makin's was as icy cold as the weather. Makin was considered to have left for reasons none other than greed, and was booed on his every touch. A few rounds of "There's only one greedy bastard" also rang out through the match. [interestingly Scowie may soon become a former-former blue].
Town came out of the blocks running, and in the first minute Currie found himself on the edge of the box and unleashed a shot towards the far corner. It looked close to the top corner, and Leicester 'keeper Ian Walker tipped it wide for a corner. Jim took the kick which swung into the centre and was met by a flying Shefki Kuqi, who could not have delivered a more powerful header. There was a loud crack as it broke the sound barrier on it's way into the back of the net.
Leicester were obviously caught napping, but were determined to get themselves in gear, but despite their efforts Town were still getting chances and 20 minute later we doubled our lead. From another corner, this time sent in by Darren Currie, Leicester's De Vries made some sort of undecided contact just a yard from the line and the ball hit a surprised Ian Walker who was unfortunately (for him) behind the line. He did the honourable thing of course, and tried to scoop it out with that "what goal?" look on his face but the linesman was sharp to it.
2 nil, was this going to be easy after all?
The conditions were terrible for a game of football, not long after the game had started the strong winds were joined by heavy rain. As always though, both teams had to deal with it, and to be honest I think Leicester handled it better. Town's distribution was very poor at times, and Leicester were being allowed quite a few chances on goal.
It was Kelvin Davis who kept us in front for so long. He made at least 2 spectacular saves from excellent shots he had no right to save. There were several more first class stops too throughout the game.
He wasn't to be beaten though until less than 10 minutes from time. The visitors had been threatening, but it took a free kick to create their goal. Unsworth was not happy with the decision for the foul on the wide outer limits of the box, and would've been even unhappier to see an superb free kick by Stewart curled expertly into the very top corner. Davis leapt like Makin after money, but it was still beyond his reach.
The goal was deserved, and in the last stages of the game many Town fans were convinced we were going to be punished for not killing the game with a third goal in the second half. This was largely down to the forced withdrawal of Shefki Kuqi just before half time. An innocuous (i.e. I missed it) challenge left the Fin floored, and with a deep thigh wound. Bugger, there goes the leading goal-scorer for a month. Without him we seemed light up front, well all over the pitch actually, and it'll be unervingly interesting to see how we cope without him. Just how much do we rely on him? Will Bent pick up the conch and over take him as leading scorer? Is Pablo the answer? Find out, in next week's episode...
Shefki Kuqi was given a rousing reception by the Blades on his return to the city of his previous club, unfortunately with him having played for the Owls the home fans considered him to be from the wrong side of the tracks. His name was loudly booed when the teams were read out, and he was given a hard time for the whole afternoon.
It is of course the kind of thing Shef U are renowned for and have been since they've had "Colin" at the helm, and we would've been disappointed had it been otherwise.
Before kick-off, there was an announcement which drew the attention of all four sides of the ground, and from the Town end, sympathies. One poor sole was celebrating his birthday at the match, he'd reached the ripe old age of 102 and had the misfortune of spending most of it as a Blades fan. Well done that man.
Our debutante David Unsworth was on from the start and with Jim starting too, both Kevin Horlock and Daniel Karbassiyoon dropped to the bench. Pablo stayed at home. The new guy was pretty lively and keen to get involved right from the off.
It was obvious that the home team were pumped up and ready to give Town a very hard game. They set the pace early on, and got in a few chances that they probably should've scored from. The Town back four were under pressure and taking time to get their game straight, they did soak up the majority of it but were allowing Shef U shots on goal.
Davis was called into action during this early period, and this was to be the start of a busy game for him. He made a string of first class saves throughout the game, some pure reactionary stuff, and arguably kept us in it at times.
As seems to be the done thing these days, the opener was scored by the new boy. Unsworth found himself very deep in the opposition's box and at an angle which surely limited his options to seeking out to pass, he wellied the ball beyond Patty Kenny into the roof of the net. The celebratory huddle involved almost all the Town players, apart from a lonely Kelvin Davis at the other end!
This gave us more confidence, and maybe dented Shef U's a bit, and Town were more creative.
The home team were by no means silenced though, and almost equalised either side of the break. Their chance after the restart was a real wake-up call for the defence who had let Tonge trick his way through the defence before getting in a shot which forced Davis into yet another fine save. I guess the second half started pretty much as the first, with Shef U making most of the chances.
Another bit of typical Blades nastiness happened 10 minutes into the 2nd, when Fabian Wilnis went down injured after a challenge (not itself unfair) Shef U refused to put the ball out to allow the physio onto the pitch. Play went on and on, until the jeers grew so loud it almost forced them to put it into touch. As Horlock got ready to come on we all thought that Fabian was going to have to go off, he'd been having an excellent game at the back, but thankfully not and it was Currie who made way.
Again as with the first half, Town stayed calm and gradually got back into the game, enjoying long periods of possession to the delight of the million or so travelling Tractor Boys. Almost as inevitably as the new man Unsworth getting on the scoresheet, locally-hated Shefki Kuqi was to be the next.
From a Magic corner (apparently itself disputed) there was confusion in the Blades box, the ball found Westlake who's shot was deflected to Shefki who easily tucked it in.
Cries of offside were ignored by the officials, and Kuqi ran along the Kop in front of the home faithful, ears cupped in hands in "that" way.
We couldn't really tell from opposite end about the offside, but walking back to the car, the Shef U fans behind us discussed and concluded that it was deflected to Shefki off a defender, so the lino had made a good decision.
Shefki treated the fans to a Flying Fin Flop, but only after the final whistle had gone, amongst genuinely jubilant scenes on the pitch.
I thought both teams had played this one out well, but apparently not, according to local and national reports we were completely outplayed. Well I enjoyed it. Colin wasn't happy though.
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