Darren Bent Helps Town To Play-Offs!

It all started so brightly for the blues when a wonderful volley from Daryl Murphy put Town in front within moments of the kick-off.

And for the first half hour it looked as if there could be only one winner but that was before Jordan Rhodes header found the Ipswich net! Then there was an attitude sea-change from Blackburn Rovers and what appeared to be a lethargic display from the home side turned into a win at all costs mentality.

Town suddenly found themselves on the back foot for long spells and in next to no time Rovers were in front and threatening to score almost at will.

As a lot of results elsewhere started to go against the blues the only ray of hope was that Derby were losing to Reading at home.

As the blues conceded another goal in their attempts to get back on level terms, the 2,000 traveling supporters were visibly shaken. From 5th we dropped to 6th and Brentford and Wolves were both winning!

News came in that Darren Bent had missed a penalty but surely we could not expect the side that head lead the Sky Bet Championship just a few short months ago would fail to get back on level terms against a team that had lost five in a row and had nothing to play for?

Meanwhile Town were still trying to get back into the game against Blackburn but faced the risk of conceding even more and the afternoon was rapidly becoming a nightmare for blues fans everywhere!

And as the worst case scenario was becoming more of a reality the only glimmer of hope remained that score at Derby which seemed destined to change before the final whistle.Then the blues fans started jumping for joy and trying to convey to the players the amazing news that The Rams had fallen further behind.

In the meantime Daryl Murphy had reduced the deficit when he slammed a penalty into the middle of the goal and remarkably Town fans were jubilant again!

Incredibly news came through that Derby were losing 0-3 with just minutes remaining and trepidation was replaced with jubilation everywhere!

And as the clock ticked down this defeat was no longer painful because we all knew that our mission was accomplished under rather bizarre circumstances it must be said.

If Darren Bent had have scored that penalty then I feel sure we would all be feeling very miserable right now. Instead the guy who scored for us the last time we were in the play-offs against West Ham all those years ago gave the blues another unlikely life-line.

As the final whistle blew on an amazing series of events, we discovered that we would be facing our old foes from the other county in the play-off’s!

It may not have been the tie that everyone wanted but I believe it will be a case of third time lucky in our confrontation at Portman Road next Saturday.

Frank Weston. Editor of Vital Ipswich.