Ipswich Town lost 1-0 to Colchester in the Carabao Cup last night. Andy Warren has his say on the Blues' defeat at Portman Road.
A frustrating tale
The story of this game is a fairly simple one.
Make a decent start, concede a poor goal and then struggle to break down a side who now had the opportunity to drop back and defend their lead.
It’s a story we’ve read plenty of times before, but knowing the plot doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
The fact this reading resulted in yet another cup loss and the winning goal was gift-wrapped for the opposition, only heightens that frustration.
Ipswich had 78% possession, 17 shots and 11 corners. They were by far the more threatening team.
Colchester United had just one effort on target, provided to them by a slack Rekeem Harper pass which presented Luke Hannant with the opportunity to slam home the winning goal.
Having failed to take any of their early chances, Town ultimately had no answer despite continuing to dominate the game after falling behind, creating openings without ever overly extending Colchester goalkeeper Sam Hornby.
Manager Kieran McKenna made the first quadruple substitution in the club’s history but, unlike in Ipswich’s two league games this season, those introduced weren’t able to make a tangible impact.
And that’s the long and short of it across the 90 minutes, as Town exited at the first hurdle.
Same old story
The story of the game may be simple, but it’s hard to simply view this match in isolation.
Here are some facts. Some pretty dire facts.
Ipswich have only won five League Cup matches since reaching the semi-finals of the competition in 2011.
They have made it past the first round on just four occasions during that 11-year span.
Town have been knocked out by Stevenage (twice), Northampton, Carlisle, Crawley, Exeter, Newport and now Colchester in that time.
Ipswich and Colchester have played three competitive games in the last four seasons, with Town not managing to win any inside of 90 minutes.
So much has changed around Ipswich Town over the last 17 months. There is investment in the playing squad, strong management both on and off the pitch, visible improvements to the club’s Portman Road home and a real energy coming from packed stands onto the pitch.
Yet this was a night where it felt so much has stayed the same.
Speaking after the game, manager McKenna admitted his frustration at being knocked out of the cup earlier than he had wished, but also made it clear Ipswich’s priorities lie elsewhere this season.
He’s right, of course he is. The priority for Town this season, as it was in each of the last three, is to win promotion from League One.
While continuing one of Ipswich’s more miserable trends isn’t the best way of inspiring supporters to truly believe this season will be different, victory over MK Dons on Saturday will mean all is forgotten.
Frustrating, yes, but Ipswich have bigger fish to fry this season.
All change (nearly)
McKenna, taking charge of his first Ipswich Town cup tie, made 10 changes to his side.
Only Cameron Burgess kept his place from the weekend win at Forest Green, with a host of players who have begun the season on the outside looking in having a chance to impress.
It was certainly a team strong enough to reach round two.
We knew the changes were coming and we know clubs up and down the country take a similar approach in the cup year in, year out. And surely at every one of those clubs the same debate is had by supporters, heading into the match and again after it.
Is it right to use the squad and give players a chance to stake a claim? Or would the team be better served by fielding a first-choice XI and looking to build some vital momentum?
We’ll never know what the outcome would have been had we seen Town’s frontline players on the pitch against Colchester, but we did get to see a group who would all have designs on a starting spot in League One games.
In truth, very few, if any, really put their hands up.
Kane Vincent-Young and Kyle Edwards had forays down the right but weren’t able to consistently combine to threaten Colchester, while Kayden Jackson and Tyreece John-Jules worked hard but didn’t have the same spark which we’ve seen them bring from the bench during the first two league games.
Harper, who started well enough but played an extremely sloppy pass to gift Colchester a goal, had an up-and-down contest after his error and certainly hasn’t done enough to threaten Sam Morsy and Lee Evans for a starting spot.
There were some solid individual displays, but Christian Walton, Janoi Donacien, George Edmundson, Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Freddie Ladapo will all surely come back into the side to face MK Dons on Saturday, too.
A positive
McKenna stressed post-match that it wasn’t the time to discuss any positives which could be taken from the game.
But the performance of teenager Cameron Humphreys would surely be near the top of that list.
The youngster was at the heart of almost everything Ipswich did prior to Colchester’s goal, popping up in attacking areas and threatening the visitors’ box.
He had chances to score, which he certainly should have done better with, but the youngster showed plenty of ability and desire.
There are areas of the game he needs to work on but he clearly has a big future with the Blues.
Old dogs
This was Colchester’s first win at Portman Road since 1951.
And they did it with two players who combined to make nearly 700 Ipswich appearances in their ranks.
Luke Chambers and Cole Skuse received good receptions before kick-off, with the latter applauded from the pitch when substituted in the second-half.
Chambers played the full 90 minutes, winning a string of important headers early and then dropping deeper once his side were ahead, not allowing Ipswich to use the pace of Jackson or John-Jules in behind.
After celebrating victory with the Colchester fans, the former Ipswich skipper applauded the three stands containing Town fans as he made his way off the pitch.
This one will have meant a lot to both he and Skuse.
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