Another Ghoul-less Draw

Although it was far from a Halloween horror show, the home game against Cardiff was a bit of a drab affair, played out in front of our lowest home attendance of 17,169.

There was hardly a 'cauldron like' atmosphere inside Portman Road, the most scary thing was watching Daryl Murphy's complete lack of confidence in front of goal - what a contrast to last season.

It was the second home game on the trot to finish nil- nil and leaves Ipswitch down in fourteenth position. Let's not all over react just yet as we are only six points from the play-off positions. Mick McCarthy will need to come up quickly with a plan to break this recent spell of poor form, starting with the home game on Tuesday night, against fourth from bottom Bolton. The match is then followed up with a trip to Rotherham next Saturday, who are currently propping the league up, so there's a good opportunity to get our season back on track. Failure to do so and I fear a season of mid-table mediocrity!

After the match Sharon and I stayed in town, we had a quick drink in Degeros, before going to Rios Brazil Churrascaria, an all you can eat steakhouse and then onto Christchurch Park for the firework display at eight o'clock. At least we got to see one good display on Halloween, although that wasn't brilliant!

Weather With You

Things ain't cookin' in my kitchen! Another poor performance by Ipswich in a drab nil-nil draw against Huddersfield, on a drab Saturday afternoon at Portman Road, that was what we got after a three week wait for a home game. That now makes it one win in the last seven games for us, the wheels do seem to have come off the tractor!

Our form has declined along with the weather! Time to crack out my birthday present 

Great - the week that I start a carb free diet!

Only 17,937 in attendance

There are now 'fans' calling for Mick McCarthy's head, I'm sorry but I don't subscribe to that point of view, but I have to admit to becoming very frustrated in recent weeks. Perhaps I like many others thought that we would be pushing for automatic promotion, especially after the start we made back in August, but then again perhaps the writing was on on the wall, defensively, if you look back to those two injury time goals that we conceded at Brentford on the opening day of the season, throwing away three points.

McCarthy will be earning his money in the next few weeks as he tries to get our season back on track, starting at Hull on Tuesday night - no easy game that one!

In Mick we trust!!

Bristol Titty

What better way is there to start a holiday than with a football match? In this case it was a game against newly promoted Bristol City.

To be honest it was a bit of a nightmare!

There was a season ticket holders offer to buy up to four tickets, for a tenner each for the match, I had already got two for Sharon & Tracey during the week. Max asked me to get a couple more, which I duly did and printed them on Saturday morning.

Half an hour before we left home Max asked Harry if he wanted to go to the game. I went on-line and tried to get him a ticket at 1.15pm but was blocked out, so I spent the journey into town emailing the club and telling them that I would be seeking a refund for the difference in price etc! As it turned out they were more than helpful at the ticket office and printed him one out, so all seemed well.

We made it to the K Bar with the time ticking away where we met Tracey, who had been to work and was running late. It was then that I realised that while I was flapping about worrying about everybody else's tickets that we hadn't brought our own, which were pinned on the office wall at home! So off we marched back to the ticket office where they kindly printed two tickets off for us. The match was about to kick-off by the time we made it into the ground.

The first half was fairly tame, we didn't create too much and Bristol seemed content to play out for a stalemate - even that early on.

Luke Chambers opened up the scoring for Town within a minute of the restart, heading in Jonas Knudsen's cross from close range and so everything seemed rosie in the garden, surely it wouldn't be too long before we'd score a second goal to get our stuttering season back on the road - or so l thought.

Surprisingly though City levelled things up in the fifty-third minute when a shot from Luke Freeman deflected off Tommy Smith and past Town keeper Dean Gerken. Even worse was to come three minutes later when they took the lead through Jonathan Kodia, surely we weren't about to throw the game away, were we?

With Just four minutes remaining Ryan Fraser gave Town a lifeline reacting quickly to a Freddie Sears cross to level things up. As much as we tried though we couldn't find a winner and so I along with several thousand Ipswich fans left the ground very disappointed.

Back in Degeroes I learnt that the ticket office had printed out Ali and Reece's tickets for Sharon and Tracey, in section 6 of the Sir Bobby, so when Ali and Reece attempted to get in they were denied! They had to go to the ticket office where Sharon and Tracey's tickets in section 4 were printed out! What a balls up all round - never again!

Tracey seemed to be up for a drink, her and Sharon returned from the bar armed with two bottles of Prosecco "It was buy one, get one half price."

We ended up getting a lift home, not very graciously I might add, from Max after buying some food for a TV picnic from Waitrose and having a quick beer in The Arcade Tavern. He was driving Sharon's car and was the only one of us with a door key. 

It was hardly worth going to bed, by the time that Tracey went home, so we just got Max to drive us to Stansted - our flight to Naples was due to fly out at 6.10am.

What should have been a nice relaxing start to the holiday for Sharon & I and three points in the bag for Ipswich, turned out to be a very fraught one. Too many bad decisions made - will I ever learn?

Foot note: To make matters worse, Napoli were due to play Juventus on Sunday afternoon and we had planned to go to the game, the kick-off was brought forward to Saturday evening so we had to forfeit it, or pay another £150 to fly a day earlier.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

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

Sears For Years

Freddie Sears celebrated signing his new contract at ITFC by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 victory over Burnley. The Clarets are finding life tough back in the Championship, following their relegation from the Premier League last season.

It was the first mid-week league game of the season under the Portman Road floodlights and it was quite a tense affair until Sears' goal in the sixty-sixth minute broke the deadlock. David McGoldrick headed in a Ainsley Maitland-Niles corner five minutes later which secured a second home win in the space of four days and effectively put us top of the league!

'He's getting the bus' It was the Park & Ride from Martlesham for me, meeting Max from work in Degeros

Ipswich attacking the Sir Bobby in the first half - Im never keen on this

A good nights work

Another fist pump from Luke Chambers - keep 'em comin'

Running Down A Dream

I spent the Friday evening before our first home league match of the season, running twice under the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand and around the perimeter of the stadium as part of the inaugural Ipswich Twilight 10K race. It was a good course and an enjoyable run, particularly as I got a PB. Anyway enough about me!!

It was nice sunny afternoon in Ipswich  -  much too hot to play football, but very pleasant for enjoying a cold Amstells at Degeros!

Sheffield Wednesday are a much improved side from last season and are tipped to do well this time around. They took the lead through Ross Wallace in the nineteenth minute, but as in Tuesday's nights game versus Stevenage we came back to win the game 2-1, thanks to goals from Freddie Sears and the much maligned Tommy Smith.

Mick McCarthy has targeted the team to go unbeaten at home all season, so far, so good!

We rounded the afternoon off back at Degeros, Sharon was driving so it was a quick pit stop before going home - how sensible!

So far, so good

Portman Road selfie!