Ipswich Town beat Bristol City 3-2 on a dramatic night at Portman Road. Stuart Watson reflects on the action.
FRUSTRATING HOUR
At half-time of this game, Ipswich heavyweight boxer Fabio Wardley faced off with upcoming opponent Frazer Clarke to promote their Easter Sunday fight at the O2 Arena. Clarke played the role of pantomime villain by wearing a Norwich shirt. That was more entertainment than the crowd had been dished up in a fairly uneventful first period.
Blues boss Kieran McKenna was keen to look beyond Bristol City's recent morale-denting defeats to lowly trio QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff going into this game. He'd warned that the Robins' counter-attacking approach made them a real threat against teams who, on paper at least, are better than them. Their recent results/performances against Premier League duo West Ham and Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, plus Southampton in the league, backed up that argument.
Liam Manning is a top young career coach cut from the same cloth as McKenna. His well-organised and hard-working team stopped the Blues from executing their usual patterns of play. On the few occasions Town did work an opening, the final touch, pass or cross was lacking.
Two lengthy injury stoppages, which saw Ross McCrorie and Joe Williams receive treatment for the visitors, created a frustrating stop-start feel. After the restart, Kieffer Moore rolled his ankle and moved gingerly for a spell. Not long after that, Taylor Gardner-Hickman kicked the ball away at a throw-in to further disrupt the flow.
Then, in the 54th minute, Manning's men broke the deadlock. After Omari Hutchinson was muscled off the ball in the final third, a quick counter was launched. Anis Mehmeti danced inside Axel Tuanzebe off the left and fired home with the aid of a flick off the trailing leg of Luke Woolfenden.
For the next five minutes, Town were rocking. Nahki Wells left both Cameron Burgess and Leif Davis on their backsides in the box before curling a golden chance against the corner or bar and post. It really should have been 0-2.
To say the opening hour of this game had been tough is an understatement.
TRADING BLOWS
McKenna had seen enough. Normally his first changes don't come until 70+ minutes. On this occasion, sensing his side were fading off the back of a long trip to Plymouth, he made a quadruple change on the hour mark. It paid immediate dividends.
Wes Burns, one of the men who had just been introduced, latched onto a ball up the line, rode one challenge, shook off another man and cut the ball back. Leif Davis arrived late on the scene to shoot through a crowded box. Ali Al-Hamadi, another fresh to action, stuck out a foot to claim the final touch on a goalbound effort.
Would this be the cue for Town to kick on? No. Bristol, sensing the game had opened up, were willing to throw some punches back themselves. Mehmeti saw a dipping shot clawed out from under the bar by Vaclav Hladky. Then, in the 77th minute, they retook the lead.
It's a poor one from an Ipswich perspective. Davis appeared to think a long ball into the corner was going out for a goalkick. Mark Sykes didn't give up on it though and hooked it back into the area tight to the byline. Tommy Conway's looping headed finish was excellent, but he was afforded far too much time and space in the box.
ASSISTS MACHINE
It took Ipswich less than three minutes to draw level again.
Al-Hamadi won a foul up the left, Davis whipped in the free-kick and Chaplin glanced home on the run beyond the near post. Keeper Max O'Leary got a hand to the ball, but couldn't prevent it flying high into the net. It was a goal reminiscent of Chaplin's winner against Sunderland at Portman Road back in mid-January.
Two assists in the game took Davis' tally for the campaign to an incredible 14. That means he's equalled the Championship record for assists from defenders in a season. With 10 games to go, he'll no doubt surpass what Kieran Trippier (Burnley, 13/14) and Barry Douglas (Wolves,17/18) achieved.
PRESSURE PENALTY
Burns limped off early in the 3-1 home win against Birmingham with a calf strain and subsequently sat out the 2-0 victory at Plymouth. When he stepped off the bench in this game though, he picked up exactly where he'd left off in that two-goal, one assist display against Rotherham.
Having played a huge role in Town's first equaliser, he showed another impressive show of pace and strength to streak into the box and win an 84th minute penalty. Cameron Pring thought he got a sliver of the ball when desperately diving in. Replays show otherwise.
Chaplin grabbed the ball. He was the most obvious penalty taker on the pitch. But then, to everyone's surprise, he passed it on to Al-Hamadi. The same had happened at Millwall recently, of course, and Al-Hamadi scored to wrap up a 4-0 win. This was a very different scenario though.
For the young Liverpudlian to take on such a pressure moment speaks volumes of his confidence and character. Should Chaplin have gently pulled rank though? Maybe. Hindsight's a wonderful thing.
Al-Hamadi's spot-kick was poor. O'Leary landed on it to his right. It was a moment that had the potential to suck the life out of players and supporters alike...
COMEBACK KINGS
You know what happens next. A Luke Woolfenden ball over the top, a headed flick-on by Jeremy Sarmiento and Davis is there to rifle a low shot in via the aid of sliding defender Rob Dickie. It was a moment that sparked yet more Portman Road pandemonium.
Davis is Ipswich's 22nd different goalscorer of the campaign. Ipswich have claimed 28 points from losing positions this season (W7 D7).
This was the fourth successive home game in which Town have struck late on. That's now 13 goals that have been scored beyond the 85th minute.
Manchester United, famously, had the knack of scoring late goals during 'Fergie time' back in the 90s and 00s. To outsiders it can seem fluky. You make your own luck though.
"The more it happens, the more belief you have that it will come again," said McKenna.
"Look, it's not by accident. It's fitness, it's tactics, it's squad building and, of course, character is a big, big part of it. It's taken a us a bit of time to build that."
Just a few years ago, I referred to the string of 0-0s, 1-0s and 1-1s under Mick McCarthy's management as 'binary boredom' and mused whether flatlining Ipswich Town were the dullest club in the land to support. Now Portman Road is the most exciting place in the country, bar none, to watch football. From late August onwards the scorelines on Suffolk soil read: 3-4, 3-2, 4-3, 3-2, 3-0, 4-2, 3-2, 1-3, 3-2, 3-1, 2-1, 2-2, 1-1, 0-0, 2-1, 1-2, 2-2, 4-3, 3-1, 3-2.
Be careful what you wish for.
SIX ON THE SPIN
That's six league wins on the spin.
To give you an idea of how just special that is, only twice before has it happened in Ipswich Town history at this level or higher. That was in 91/92 (when John Lyall's men won the Second Division title to secure promotion to the inaugural Premier League) and in 80/81 (when Sir Bobby Robson's men finished second in the top-flight and won the UEFA Cup).
It's as you were at the top after Leicester won 1-0 at Sunderland and Leeds beat Stoke by the same scoreline at home. Southampton host Preston tonight.
Town have 78 points on the board. That would have been enough to finish fourth in the Championship last season. It's the amount Mick McCarthy's men got when securing a play-off place in 2014/15. A reminder that there's still 30 to play for.
Up next... a Saturday lunchtime game at Cardiff.
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