Keeper Smithies Is Ipswich Town Saviour

Remember that name Alex Smithies because I am quite sure our manager Mick McCarthy will not forget it in a hurry!

When his team was announced this afternoon the crowd started booing and for good reason it seemed because this was another ultra negative line-up, that enraged the die-hard faithful, who had paid their hard earned cash to watch to the Blues at Portman Road, when logic suggested otherwise.

Luke Varney, Jonathan Douglas and Adam Webster came into the Town team for Freddie Sears, Josh Emmanuel and Teddy Bishop who found themselves on bench warming duties.

In the end goals from Grant Ward, Luke Varney and Tom Lawrence saw Town to a 3-0 victory over QPR in one of the most bizarre games seen in Suffolk for many a year.

Douglas linked up again with Cole Skuse in the centre of midfield, whilst Luke Varney; who was making the first start of his third spell with the Blues, went up front to accompany David McGoldrick.

The first 10 minutes was largely a lifeless affair, with neither side making serious inroads until the QPR keeper decided to capture the limelight but for all the wrong reasons!

QPR keeper Alex Smithies punched poorly to the very edge of the box where it found Grant Ward. The winger`s first effort was blocked but the former Tottenham man regained possession and took the ball in his stride before scuffing his shot across the wrong-footed Smithies and into the corner of the net to claim his fifth goal of the season.

It was a weird goal to put it mildly but there was much worse to come for the visitors.

The main architect of the QPR demise was their keeper Alex Smithies who was even more to fault with the second goal they conceded which was one horrendous gaff!

It was journeyman Luke Varney who had the pleasure of rolling the ball into an empty net, after QPR keeper Smithies miscued, after his mis-headed his clearance went behind him and straight into the path of the onrushing Varney, who stroked the ball home from close range and I bet he just he could not believe his good luck!

After that goal there was only likely to be one winner and so it was to prove, as Cole Skuse had a long-range shot that fell conveniently for loanee Tom Lawrence, who capped the scoring with a calm finish into the corner.

The Town fans went away happy from this one but they are generally still not convinced that it was more than just ‘lady Luck’ that got us all three points from a potentially arduous encounter.


Ipswich Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (captain), Webster, Berra, Knudsen, Skuse, Douglas, Ward, Lawrence (Best 81), Varney (Sears 67), McGoldrick. Unused: Gerken, Emmanuel, Bru, Bishop, Williams.

QPR: Smithies, Perch (Sylla 59), Bidwell, Lynch, Hall, Onuoha (captain), Cousins (Ngbakoto 66), Henry, Chery, Washington, Polter (Sandro 59). Unused: Ingram, Wszolek, El Khayati, Shodipoo.

Referee was Andy Woolmer from Northamptonshire.

Total Attendance: 16,510

QPR Followers : 1,225


Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich