Town were fourth out of the hat and will travel to Premiership strugglers Watford in the 5th round of the FA Cup.

Not exactly the glamour tie to draw in the much needed revenue by perhaps a TV appearance or large crowd, but that's not what the competition should be about - Watford is a reasonable distance for Town fans and definitely a game we could win to progress. Ok, as ever with Town trips to Vicarage Road it will be chucking it down but on the bright side, we don't have to queue past the allotments anymore.

Town have a 100% record against The Hornets in the FA Cup, playing only twice and winning on both occassions.

At least it wasn't Chelsea away, a seemingly impossible-to-win tie for relative minnows Blackpool.

I can't believe this was the same Swansea that cheered our hearts by thumping Sheffield United so comprehensively in the last round. The visitors seemed a little subdued and not too keen to attack our defence despite the fact they must've know we had significant injuries back there.

That said, it took a penalty to get us off the mark and indeed ultimately win the game, although not in the slightest bit dubious as some suggested. Jaime Peters had run his socks off, challenging for balls all over the park, and just as he lurched in to surely power home a well deserved goal to cap his performance, he was tugged back in ugly fashion. A penalty was given and despatched cleanly by Alan Lee of course, but it was not as satisfying as seeing Peters score would've been at that point.

The balance of play was definitely in our favour and despite the legendary Lee Trundle being brought off the bench after we scored, we limited Swansea to a handful of chances. Why Trundle had started on the bench I don't know, he was lively once introduced and packed a good shot, although i'm not sure he got one on target.

Not the best of games, but we're through to round 5 for first time in (can you believe it?) 11 years?! Tune in Monday for who we get next...

Well we made it, one late goal was all it took from Matt Richards of all folks who put in a solid and committed performance on the night. Town perhaps edging the game on chances alone, but once again were less than comfortable against lower league opposition.

Another good performance came from Fabian Wilnis, in from the cold through a combination of injuries both to other players at the back and his own determination to claw his way back into the squad. He did a lot to prove his point too, very solid also.

We unfortunately lost Sylvain Legwinski through injury half way through the match, hopefully he'll not be missing for long.

Our next FA Cup test will be against lower leaguers again, this time Swansea who hammered Shef U at Brammall Lane last week. We'll need to pick up to avoid the same fate.

Although a tough place to visit at the best of times, this was still a disappointing result given that we were in the game right until the final whistle, and were in control for long spells.

Both teams fielded newcomers - Town with David Wright still blowing the ink dry on his new contract after joining from Wigan. He performed well without being outstanding, and on the face of it looks like a good signing.

It was the home side's new signings that perhaps generated most excitement on the day though as there were 3 new faces, Jonny Evans, Carlos Edwards and the much talked about Anthony Stokes. They were all pretty good, the latter crossing the ball in for what turned out to be the only goal of the game. Evans was very solid at the back for them too.

It was a blustery day for football and that definitely had an effect on the game. Town carved out a few decent chances but were always up against it after going a goal down early on in the match. We pushed Sunderland but as many have said, we lacked that final touch. Given that, it was a shame we never brought on our two liveliest strikers earlier on or even started with either Danny Haynes or Billy Clarke. Whilst Haynes was introduced with half an hour left, Clarke was given just a ten minute run-out.

Danny Haynes had a great chance to level things up soon after coming on but his shot was cleared. Town also were very close to finding the equaliser in the final minutes when Richard Naylor's effort went agonisingly wide.

Roy Keane may feel his side deserved all three points, but Jim Magilton will leave the Stadium of Light thinking he should be taking at least a point back to Portman Road.

We now have a brief diversion back into the FA Cup on Tuesday night, before the local derby game against Colchester this coming weekend.

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With Town's FA Cup third round opponents currently languishing in the bottom half of League 2, you'd have perhaps been forgiven for taking the same line as the players by thinking we would simply turn up and win. Well, thats what Jim reckoned about the players anyway, and you can't disagree with him after that performance.

It all started reasonably brightly, one or two Town chances saved or narrowly missed, but while Chester quickly improved Ipswich faded fast and both teams ended up playing out an almost eventless draw.

Chester had the best opportunity of the game when they had a man through one-on-one with Shane Supple, the recalled keeper being beaten but the shot going wide of goal. A big let off for us.

This wasn't the familiar "weakened side" scenario either - Supple was the only change for the starting line-up from that which beat the Brummies so easily a week earlier. It wasn't until the closing stages when Town really started to look anything like a team 2 divisions higher than Chester, when Jim brought on Danny Haynes late on who hassled and sprinted his way around the opponents half, and in the last few minutes we had a couple of chances and actually hit the bar from Alan Lee.

Chester will probably think they've missed their chance now they have to travel to Portman Road for a replay, but little do they know just how generous we can be, even at home.

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This was a great way to kick off the new year, and hopefully it will be a case of start as you mean to go on. Beating the league leaders must be the best confidence booster you could possibly get for the whole team.

Not just a sneaked victory as the scoreline may suggest either. This was a single goal thrashing, the final tally very much flattering the visiting Midlanders.

Town really hit the ground running, piling on the pressure from the very start. With Billy Clarke given a start alongside Alan Lee, the Ipswich forward line had a real eagerness about it which permeated throughout the whole side. Clarke tested the waters early on with a good shot which required a smart save, and this set the pattern for a blistering first half hour.

The movement in the midfield was excellent, and sequences of snappy passing often ended with decent efforts on goal. Gary Roberts was his usual lively self and picked up a ball wide outside the box after a neat Clarke ball to Matt Richards - also getting a rare start - was cut out. The newly signed winger steadied himself briefly before thumping in an almost perfectly guided curler towards the far top corner, the ball unfortunately hitting the bar.

And so it continued with Sylvain Legwinski going close a couple of times, once requiring a goal line clearance with Richard Naylor doing the same from the follow up, Roberts again tried his luck and Alan Lee brought the Brummie's goalkeeper into action, and Billy Clarke got in two or three efforts after good build up.

Birmingham had their own chances but barely got a shot on target throughout the first half, and although they rallied during the second half they didn't look like league-leading material. They had come to Portman Road with a very professional approach though, and were always quick to exploit any opportunities and a lapse in concentration from ex-Brummie Alex Bruce allowed an unimpressive Gary McSheffrey to cross after forcing Lewis Price to leave his goalmouth. Thankfully the resulting shot from Nicklas Bendtner was blocked by Jason de Vos.

Jim had made his first change of the game with 20 minutes to go, bringing on rested Gavin Williams for Billy Clarke. I'd been impressed with how well we'd done in the midfield without him there. The other subs came on with around about ten minutes left with the fading Owen Garvan replaced by Simon Walton, putting in his last appearance for Town. Matt Richards left the field after a playing decent first half, making way for Danny Haynes who never really had a chance to get into the game.

Just when an unjust draw for Birmingham looked inevitable, the pressure Town were now building once more finally paid off in the last minute. Gary Roberts looped a cross over from wide left to Gavin Williams in acres of space on the right of the box. Williams didn't even need to steady the ball and hit it first time - volleying it into the net. A cracking goal to send the home crowd mad at last.

As always, we wanted the final whistle to go but an agonising 4 minutes of injury time was given. The ref even gave a stupid free kick right on the edge of the Town box - there was simply no infringement. Legwinski had the ball kicked at him from about a yard and the ref blew for handball. I didn't even think it hit his hand, let alone it being deliberate anyway. Birmingham wasted the kick though, and with it their last chance.

A well earned and comprehensive win will - fingers crossed - see us well around that corner Jim was talking about and into the new year with a bit of optimism.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!