Friday On My Mind

I'm sorry but I'm not a fan of Friday night football - it just messes up the weekend!

We've just had two consecutive matches moved back a day from their traditional 3 o'clock Saturday kick-off's, thanks to SKY TV. First one was Reading away, a game that I would have picked to go to when the fixtures were released.

Dad was over from Ireland to celebrate Sharon's ..th birthday and it would have been good to take him to the game along with Sam & Max. Instead we racked up at Degeros to watch the game there, oh dear!

The less said about the game the better, it was car crash football from Town's point of view, losing 5-1, so out of character for the current Ipswich regime. I'm sure that the result would have been different had the match been played at 3pm on a Saturday, but I would say that, wouldn't I?

Ipswich bounced back from that mauling, winning one-nil away at Leeds the following Tuesday evening (that's another away game that I would have gone to, if it had been played on a Saturday, I can't blame SKY for that one though!)

Next up was the home game against Birmingham City, who have made a decent start to the season.

It was all a bit of a rush getting into town, there was just about time time for a quick pint in Degeros before heading to Portman Road for the 7.45pm kick-off.

Town were dominate from the start, but surprisingly went behind in the 22nd minute when Christophe Berra slipped on the wet turf. Andrew Shinnie made the most of the opportunity, with plenty of time and space he was able to pick out David Cotterell, who lashed the ball past the much berated Town keeper, Dean Gerkin (don't think you can blame him for that one).

Birmingham, in their Spanish-esque red black & yellow away kit only managed to hold onto the lead for ten minutes, Brett Pitman equalising from the penalty spot, following a trip on Ainsley Maitland-Nikes, who had made a fantastic run through the heart of the Brummie's defence before being upended. This all happened in front of Churchmans (aka The Sir Alf Ramsey Stand), but from the other end of the ground where I was it looked like he had over run the ball. I haven't seen the replay on TV yet, but apparently we were lucky to get it.

There was only likely to be one winner of the match and as hard as we tried we just couldn't score a second goal and so ended up with a disappointing draw.

After the match we went back to Degeros, only to find that it had turned into a nightclub! I was hardly dressed for it, or in the mood to cut some shapes on the dance floor! So after a pint of Amstells we moved down the road to the more sedate Thomas Wolsey!

Roll on next Saturday at 3pm.

Birthday Blues

The Wildings at the Kesgrave Park Run

Sam was back home from Vietnam and following the mornings Kesgrave Park Run (which he took part in alongside Max & I) was in attendance at both the K Bar and Degeros for pre-match drinks, it was Max's birthday, as if he needed an excuse!

Saturday afternoon's weather was perfect for football, although not quite as hot as it has been, it'll probably be the last time I'll be wearing shorts to a game this side of Easter, as Autumn is just around the corner! 

The home match versus Brighton didn't go according to my script, it was first v second and the chance for Town to put some breathing space between themselves and the other 23 teams in the Championship. I had us down for a three-nil win!

In hindsight Albion couldn't have picked a better time to play us, It was Ainsley Maitland-Niles' eighteenth birthday, (sharing the day with Max, who is six years his senior, that's frightening!) and his mind didn't seem to be on the game. Christophe Berra was out with a hamstring injury and keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, whose father had recently died, was left on the bench.

Town were two-nil down with just twelve minutes of the match gone, Kazenga LuaLua and Tom Hemed scoring the goals and we 'looked all over the place'. Half-time couldn't come sooner enough!

Mick McCarthy changed things after the interval, replacing Josh Emmanuel with new signing Piotr Malarczyk (who had only been at the club since Friday) and David McGoldrick came on for the birthday boy Maitland-Niles.

Freddie Sears got us back into the game with a close range effort and McGoldrick levelled the match in the sixty-fifth minute when he scored from the penalty spot. Brighton to their credit re-took the lead within two minutes, Hemed scoring his second goal of the afternoon. As much as Town looked to get back on level terms, it wasn't to be, which means that the Seagulls go in to the international break top of the table.

Following the final whistle, on what was a disappointing afternoon, we went for a quick beer back at Degeros before sauntering off home.

Norh Stand selfies

Piotr Malarczyk coming on for his ITFC debut