The visit of Wolves saw a clash between two very much in-form teams, although Town's record is restricted to home games, Wolves arrived unbeaten in 6 games, home and away. On paper this appeared to be a very tough match for either side to maintain their momentum.

The starting line-up was unchanged. Sylvain Legwinski remained in midfield, and Fabian Wilnis in the back four. From the very start things looked quite rosy for the visitors who got stuck into a startled looking Town, normally the side to do the early running. If things didn't look ominous then, they certainly did just 5 minutes in when Fabian sold Neil Alexander well short with a daintily tapped back pass and the Blues keeper brought down highly rated Michael Kightly as he sped from his line. The penalty was given without too much protest although their seemed to be the usual amount of "no way ref" going on, maybe trying to cushion the official's opinion on the colour of the card he might - but didn't in the end - dish out.

Alexander had saved his first league penalty just days before against Colchester, and his hero status was underlined once again as he stood firm while over-rated Freddy Eastwood tried one of those stuttering approaches to his penalty kick, and after the Wolves frontman eventually chose his spot Alexander dived and saved. The onslaught from Wolves did not end with this incident, and they stayed on top of the game until around the quarter hour mark.

At this point Town had settled and were passing the ball to feet quite comfortably, and at last there was some action at the other end of the field. Dan Harding stuck a free kick just over the bar from 25 yards and right of goal. We would eventually take another 2 kicks from this position, this being the best of them however.

Legwinski woke up from a sluggish start and got a shot in, Billy Clarke tried from distance and Pablo Counago had a couple of weak efforts after some hard work. Another of those similarly placed free kicks went soaring almost into the Upper Greene King stand before Town at last went ahead. Owen Garvan slotted a ball neatly through to Alan Lee, who calmly beat one defender then, as it looked as if he'd been too cool and taken it too wide and in too close to the keeper, unleashed a perfect curling effort past him and into the far side of the goal. A very well placed close range shot indeed.

The half came to a close with Wolves trying the old bundle-the-keeper-into-the-net-with-the-ball trick, Alexander having tipped a strong shot up into the air and scrambling back to gather on the line, but the ball did not cross the line any way, despite the foul and it finished with Town in front.

We restarted in similar fashion, Owen Garvan having a couple of efforts before we doubled our lead 7 minutes into the half. Pablo Counago, who had worked hard during the first half received the ball from a throw, and jinxed along the by-line past a couple of defenders and with the ball seemingly glued to his foot past the flailing keeper too, before rifling through 2 defenders high into the net from 4 yards. A superb display of what he can do best.

Despite there being 35 or more minutes left of the game Wolves barely had a further chance of note. Ipswich had bags of chances from Pablo, Gary Roberts (on for Billy Clarke) and Legwinski who hit the woodwork. We'd have to wait until Danny Haynes replaced Lee with 10 minutes left though, to see Town seal the game beyond doubt with a third goal. Haynes collected a pass after a good run from Dan Harding then turned 2 defenders, turned again, and again into space before unleashing a near-post rising shot which the keeper couldn't get close to. He's in fine form ready for Sunday...

This game really marked how good Town can be, a hard test from one of the better sides in the division who we made look pretty dire at times. The whole side played together well today and again apart from one or two short lapses from individuals, were solid to a man. Dan Harding and Pablo Counago stood out as having top performances, both working hard to create and break down the opposition. As for the goals, it would be cruel to choose one our of the 3 crackers we saw today. Bring on the Budgies.

Just as last year Colchester treated this game like their cup final, they turned up in numbers very excited and making noise but went away with nothing to show for their efforts. Also like last season it was a pretty exciting match too. Our neighbours got the first goal, there was a bit of controversy then we wrapped it up, simple.

Sylvain Legwinksi started the game once again, with Gary Roberts warming the bench. Pablo Counago, Alan Lee and Jon Walters provided the familiar and thus far successful home attack formation, alongside Billy Clarke making another start. Town got at the visitors straight away, and all the early exchanges were mainly towards Colchester's goal, although without much to test their keeper. Colchester's travelling fans were in good voice from the off, and this seemed to be reflected in their team's passion as they defended every ball pretty sternly and were keen to break.

The first decent attempt on the Town goal saw Neil Alexander palm a long header over the bar for a corner. Colchester seemed to be able to take decent corners all night long, whereas ours seemed to fly way too long all too often, or maybe I only remember the bad ones. Two or three more chances came our way and just as we were beginning to think about the result looking more likely for us, Colchester went and scored. The goal was what the phrase "against the run of play" was invented for, although they had already been given a couple of sights at goal without using them. Our defence, pretty solid bar on or two slips, parted like curtains and allowed the visitors to set up a long range effort from Clive Platt, which to be fair he did strike perfectly, very solid and beyond the reach of Alexander.

We did continue in fairly confident mood though, and the closest we came to an equaliser was from a Dan Harding cross after leaving their goalie stranded, Alan Lee shaped up at the far post to knock it home but a defender got between the two and blasted it over the bar - would've been an excellent own goal. Then as the half wore on we got caught out, Platt again was clean through and Alexander rushed out to meet him wide on the edge of the area, rounding the keeper easily before shooting at, but thankfully not into the empty net. A let off indeed.

We were not the same in the second half, Colchester looked the more eager side and although we ran we looked panicky and the passes were going astray. The visitors were chasing us down but really didn't have a great deal of creativity themselves. Jim Magilton made his first change by withdrawing Billy Clarke who had certainly run out of ideas and not been as involved as he should, on coming Danny Haynes.

Ten minutes later it looked as though our home record would be coming to an abrupt end when the ref gave a ridiculous penalty against us. Alexander came out wide to challenge Kevin Lisbie who, after kicking the ball forward leapt to the floor as if he'd been run through with a sword, which I'm sure wasn't the case. The ref dallied and consulted he lino before giving it. Neil Alexander after receiving a yellow card, rectified things and became a hero too by diving the right way and making a fantastic full length save from Yeates. The crowd were up, the players perked up, and the game for Town sprang back into life.

Very soon we embarked on a 13 minute goal spree to turn the game on it's head. Jon Walters was first to register off a nice cross from Dan Harding. Sylvain Legwinski, quiet but reliable today, was taken off and Liam Trotter came on for his home debut. At last we took a decent corner, and none other than Liam Trotter was there to meet Owen Garvan's kick, heading home from the edge of the 6 yard box. As you can imagine the fans went ballistic.

We wrapped it up minutes later when Danny Haynes, scoring the 3rd goal in the same fixture last season, headed the game beyond doubt from a Fabian Wilnis cross. Counago was subbed for Gary Roberts late on, a good performance from him even without a goal. Alan Lee too without score today, but ran madly for the whole match.

This was a great result and very special to those locals who have Colchester supporting friends and colleagues. Bragging rights are ours for the time being. Not pretty at times, but an exciting match to the death for both sets of fans. Colchester will feel that they let the game slip from their grasp after missing the open goal, but particularly the penalty, a pivotal moment that swung the pendulum back our way. 9 games won in a row at home, double figures would be nice but a harder test is expected from the visit of in-form Wolves.

Town pushed for their first away win of the season but after taking the lead away at the bottom club in the league, once again surrendered it and ended up with just a point to show for their troubles.

Jim Magilton decided to bring back Sylvain Legwinski into a 5 man midfield. Frontman Pablo Counago gave way and started on the bench, his away form being quite average at times. The first half was hardly a lesson in beautiful football. Town stuttered their way through it and whilst QPR looked eager to get their second win in a row and their second of the season (the first of course being to lowly Norwich last week), they barely threatened goal. The most significant event for Ipswich in the first was Tommy Miller getting injured and being replaced by Gary Roberts after half an hour. Roberts actually looked pretty keen.

The second half started far more brightly for the Tractor Boys. After 5 minutes Billy Clarke had a good effort after a ball in from Roberts but the save was made. Shortly after we got the opener as Legwinski received the ball and after deftly lifting it off the floor, he thundered a volley from 30 yards over the keeper into the net.

We kept the pressure up, but QPR were not for rolling over and gave it back in equal measure although again, not through quality chances. Almost inevitably we got caught out as we pushed for the goal to kill the game. Clarke could've scored 1 if not 2 before Nygaard collected a stray ball and raced goalwards with only Neil Alexander to beat. He made no mistake.

Ipswich kept their peckers up and seemed to sense an injustice and continued to chase another goal. We came close, Jason De Vos putting a free header wide, Danny Haynes - on for Billy Clare later on - had a good header saved, but it was all in vein. Even the introduction of Pablo Counago for Alan Lee couldn't liven it up 5 minutes from time.

So we remain without an away win, but it was yet another game in which we had the chances to win comfortably and really only have ourselves to blame for not taking all the points. We seem to be looking a better prospect on our travels albeit without that extra 2 points. It would be nice though to save our first away win for the trip up the road to Norwich, who of course have a problem at home as well as away.

Preston came to town off the back of a 5 - 1 thumping of George Burley's Southampton during the week, so presumably were in confident form having found their scoring boots. They showed little of that form in this match though, barely getting a shot on goal of any note and having to rely on a more than iffy penalty late on for their consolation goal.

Jim Magilton stuck with Billy Clarke after his good display at Burnley on Tuesday with Pablo Counago and Alan Lee up front again, and with Jon Walters too out wide it gave a very positive looking starting line-up. This meant that Gary Roberts had to drop to the bench, and Sylvain Legwinski sat it out, on his birthday too! Elsewhere Alex Bruce made way for Fabian Wilnis.

From the start it was all Town. Pablo and Walters got efforts in, and Jason De Vos crashed a header goalwards from a corner but could only direct it straight at the keeper, the Town defender bellowing his frustration. Soon after we won a free kick wide outside the box which Owen Garvan curled over towards the far post. Billy Clarke had easily lost his marker but sent his free header outside the post. It was an easy chance that would've done him the world of good. Even Fabian Wilnis got in on the action, although was left kicking himself at his missed opportunity after he pounced on a De Vos effort which came back off the bar into his path. The ball had been sent in from a Garvan free kick, but Fabian nodded the ball against the post from 2 yards.

It took half an hour for Town to finally score, and it was Alan Lee who added to his tally with an extremely low header. Pablo exchanged passes with Walters who crossed towards the near post and as the ball came in at about a foot off the ground, Lee launched himself at it head first when most would've probably opted for the foot based lunge approach. Who cares though, his connection was perfect and in it went for one nil.

The play was clearly all with Town, we were controlling the game which was almost "all up their end". Wilnis was involved in a good Preston move, the Town defender lashing a high foot at a nothing ball that Neil Alexander seemed sure to collect. His kick only made half contact and the ball spooned in the opposite direction over Alexander and goalwards, thankfully going just wide for a corner. This was about the only thing Wilnis did wrong all game though, he was pretty charged and made some good solid tackles.

We should have stamped on this game before half time, but that was how the score stayed when the ref blew for the break. The danger was that Preston would receive the much justified kick up the arse in the dressing room and come out all guns blazing to rectify things, a story we've become familiar with and a situation we've fallen foul of. Although Preston did indeed come out fired-up, it was more a case of all laggy bands blazing as they didn't seem to have the quality up front to trouble a Town defence that had been pretty stubborn thus far.

Town did weather a brief storm of possession from the visitors but they never really came close to the equaliser. Billy Clarke saw a powerful long range shot whiz past the keeper from outside the box, but his shot cannoned back off the far post. We were clearly still on top when we at last doubled the lead a few minutes after Billy Clarke had left the field for Gary Roberts. Tommy Miller fed Pablo in the box, who held the ball up before cheekily back heeling it into the path of the advancing Miller, who made no mistake with his powerful effort to open his Ipswich account for the second time with Ipswich.

We saw Danny Haynes late on when he replaced Pablo and as usual, he hit the ground running taking no time at all to get stuck in. He made use of his time on the pitch getting in a decent shot and some handy crosses.

With just a couple of minutes left and most of us still sighing with relief from getting the much needed second goal, Preston were handed an undeserved lifeline from the ref. Mellor ran into the box across David Wright, and as he advanced wide Alexander came to tackle him. Mellor seemed to have lost his footing and the ball before he met the Town keeper, but although Alexander seemed to make no contact at all with him the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot. It was ridiculous, the lino hadn't seen anything wrong despite being well placed so the ref consulted him, but still never changed his mind. Mellor scored the penalty and we were left with a full 5 minutes injury time to sweat out and mutter to ourselves about not taking chances.

We weathered a late rally from Preston, but could also have scored ourselves, and the game ended 2 - 1, a score line which flattered the visitors. Jim had apparently been asking for more from Miller and Lee, and so it was good to see them bag the goals to win the game. Our 100% home record is still intact, 25 years since we last strung 8 home wins together by all accounts.

Town are still winless on their travels but picked up another away point at Turf Moor after being 2 goals to the good after less than 10 minutes. Sylvain Legwinski and Alan Lee were on target with headers and the elusive first away win looked like it might just be on the cards, but after being pegged back to 2 - 1 moments later, after half time Ipswich gave away a freak equaliser.

Leggy scored the opener from a corner taken by Owen Garvan, skilfully skimming his header home. Very soon after Billy Clarke, starting in place of travel-sick Pablo Counago, raced forward after receiving the ball from Alan Lee who himself sprinted on and met Clarke's cross, brilliantly heading home over the keeper. As if those two goals had not happened quickly enough, Burnley pulled one back almost immediately from close range.

Town continued to play well for the first half and deserved to be in front having creating numerous chances. The positive play continued into after the break but it was Burnley who would score next. They found themselves back in the game on 60 minutes, and unfortunately it was a bit of a gimme. Neil Alexander had rushed out of his goal to clear a ball as Andy Gray chased in the opposite direction, and although the Town keeper made it to the ball first his hoofed clearance thumped off the advancing striker, back over Alexander and into the net. Bugger.

We still had the chances to win the game, and also a good penalty shout when Jon Walters appeared to be felled in the area but, nothing doing. Pablo was brought on with 20 minutes to go replacing Billy Clarke, and with just minutes left Town thought he had bagged them the 3 points. He fed Walters who advanced on the keeper then unselfishly slotted it forward to Pablo who tucked it home. Although the Town striker was clearly onside, the lino waited an age then raised his flag to wipe out a worthy winner.

That was a shame (for us of course!) as the effort today deserved a win. Yes we surrendered a 2 goal lead, but had it not been for a couple of bad decisions from the officials we might be up in the right half of the table. Burnley were never going to roll over that early in the game, and although conceding so soon after scoring falls into the schoolboy error category a point and a good performance is a step in the right direction.