A stunning debut goal from on-loan midfielder Jimmy Bullard saw Ipswich Town on their way to a hard fought 2-1 comeback victory against Derby County at Pride Park.
Ipswich boss Paul Jewell returned to Pride Park for the first time since his last match in an ill-fated spell as Derby manager; ironically a 1-0 defeat to Jim Magilton’s Ipswich in December 2008. Jimmy Bullard was handed his debut since joining on loan from Hull City in January, replacing Colin Healy in one of two changes from the team that played at Arsenal last week, Lee Martin also coming in for Darren O’Dea with Mark Kennedy going to left-back, while Carlos Edwards was again shifted into the right-back slot. Derby included former Ipswich loanee Stephen Bywater in goal, with Chris Porter and Alberto Bueno starting in attack following the departure of top scorer Kris Commons.
Town might have had their struggles in the last couple of months, but Derby have been on a serious slide themselves, bad form on the pitch combined with player sales and increasing fan opposition to the board off of it. It was little surprise therefore that the game started quite slowly, but the first real opportunity of the match gave Derby the lead. With Ipswich losing possession after a good run by Martin, Stephen Pearson sent Gareth Roberts clear down the left wing as Town tried to play Porter offside, allowing Roberts to square the ball past Marton Fulop for Alberto Bueno to tap home. It was a dreadful piece of defending from Ipswich and raised further questions over the use of Edwards at right-back, the Trinidadian coming too far out of position to allow Roberts clean through.
The Blues continued to look jittery in defence in what was a poor opening twenty minutes for Jewell’s side, Miles Addison nodding over from a corner before the ball nearly broke for Ben Davies on 11 minutes before running out for a goal kick. Fulop then did well to dive onto a dangerous cross into the Town box ahead of Paul Green before a poor goal kick from the keeper invited further pressure.
Ipswich looked somewhat short of ideas going forward as passing moves repeatedly broke down, and apart from a long Bullard freekick which had been hit beyond Gareth McAuley, they had failed to threaten the Derby goal. However, they came close to finding an equaliser on 25 minutes, David Norris hitting a low shot across goal which Bywater had to stretch to parry away before gathering up the loose ball.
Within two minutes however, the Blues were indeed back on level terms. Martin, who had looked lively switching between wings despite again lacking an end product, swung a cross in which Shaun Barker headed up and away. Racing forward however was Jimmy Bullard who decided to smash the dropping ball on the volley from 30 yards, sending it skipping into the net despite a touch from Bywater. For the Blues, who frankly had lacked any real penetration despite plenty of possession, it was a goal out of nothing.
Even after the goal, Town were still being wasteful with possession due to some sloppy passes here and there. Indeed, neither side created any chances of note for the remainder of the half, although Damien Delaney might have gifted the hosts a second goal with a back header that nearly caught the oncoming Fulop off guard were it not for some quick reactions to pluck the ball out of the air. Referee Carl Boyeson sounded the whistle four minutes later to send both teams in all square at half time.
Tamas Priskin had the first opportunity of the second half, the Hungarian taking a quick shot from the edge of the box which lacked either pace or accuracy as it curled wide of the far post. Despite that opening, it was the Rams who were soon posing the greater threat, Davies striking a powerful volley which swung narrowly wide of the near post before the Blues were forced to ride out a string of Derby corners, Bueno and John Brayford both missing chances to put the hosts ahead.
As the match approached the hour mark, Bullard and Norris – who looked to be forming a promising midfield partnership – combined well with the loanee putting the Town skipper through to strike on goal, firing wide of the left-hand post. At the other end, Bueno struck over from range.
With 68 minutes gone, Ipswich capitalised with the kind of penetrative passing they had failed to demonstrate in the first half. David Norris exchanged passes with Priskin before sneaking into the Derby box and slotting a neat finish to the keeper’s left to give Ipswich a 2-1 lead. It was a well-crafted and well-taken goal by the skipper, who is now Town’s leading scorer outright with 8 goals in all competitions; small wonder that the visiting Blues fans behind the goal reacted with chants of “sign him up”. The Rams fans meanwhile reacted with chants of “sack the board”, much to the amusement of the travelling crowd.
That goal seemed to change the game, with the Rams beginning to fade as Town started to get on top. Derby manager Nigel Clough sent on Steven Davies in place of Porter but it was Town who were now looking more threatening, Norris firing wide of the near post again after a good passing move before Tomasz Cywka came on for the hosts in place of Green.
Bizarrely, for the second match in a row, Ipswich found themselves held up by a brief pitch invasion in the 80th minute, a scantily-clad Derby fan racing around the pitch with surprisingly little in the way of a response from the Pride Park stewards, the interloper even finding an opportunity to aim some choice words at Clough before he was taken away along the front of West Stand.
Town were comfortable defending their lead for the remaining ten minutes, though there were some late scares from Derby set-pieces. Ben Davies struck a free kick into the wall before hitting another free kick on 90 minutes, Fulop getting to his far post to tip over. That was to be the last effort on goal from the hosts as the final whistle sounded to award Town a second successive Championship win under Jewell, his first on the road.
Ipswich had perhaps rode their luck on a few occasions during the 90 minutes and were far from their best. Whilst they were able to pass the ball around for sustained periods, their passing often seemed rather directionless and would frequently break down in the final third, allowing Derby to threaten on the counter. Derby are clearly a side struggling for form however and despite a somewhat below-par showing from the Blues, they did well to force a comeback and seemed to be in control once they took the lead.
New signing Bullard took a little while to get going but was often at the centre of the action after his stunning strike, and him and Norris could prove to be a powerful force for Town in weeks to come, both capping strong performances off with two very good goals. There are still question marks over Martin, who despite some lively runs still seems unsure of when to take a chance and play a ball into the box. There are also further doubts over the use of Edwards in defence, with Derby all too often finding a gap in which to play men in down the Ipswich right.
Nonetheless, Jewell will be very satisfied to have taken the points from his old club. Town look to be rediscovering their confidence under the new boss, who seems to be showing much greater patience in his lineup than his predecessor having made no substitutions for the second league game in a row. Now sitting in 17th level on 34 points with Derby – and having at least one game in hand over many of their rivals – the Blues now go forward in search of that elusive third successive league win at home to Sheffield United this weekend.
Derby: Bywater, Brayford, Roberts, Barker, Addison, Green (Cywka 79), Pearson, Bailey, B Davies, Porter (S Davies 72), Bueno – Not used: Deeney, Savage, Pringle, Hendrick, Doyle
Ipswich: Fulop, McAuley, Delaney, Leadbitter, Edwards, Norris, Martin, Bullard, Kennedy, Wickham, Priskin – Not used: Lee-Barrett, Peters, Smith, O’Dea, Healy, Civelli, Scotland
Did you travel to Pride Park on Tuesday? What did you make of the performance, and what did you think of Jimmy Bullard on his debut? Have your say on this game as well as all things Town by joining Vital Ipswich:
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