Patched Up Town Defy The Cynics

This was an important victory for a number of reasons. This win ensured that the Blues left the field to the sound of applause and not booing and after that devastating defeat at the hands of Charlton last week, the cynics were out in force once more.

With a patched up team, the Blues struggled in the first half and there was little cohesion in their play. Whether the 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Addict’s had influenced their general state of mind is hard to say but the belated loss of McGoldrick and Celina certainly did not calm the supporters nerves.

In fact, it was Birmingham who looked the most likely to score in the first half and Bartosz Bialkowski was certainly the busier of the two keepers and one header from Michael Morrison, he manage to clutch on the goal line, as we all feared that it might just sneak into the net.

Of his many attributes, I particularly like the way wants to get the game moving quickly – even when he prevented a goal and generally his distribution was good and he did things with a speed of purpose that was admirable throughout.

The first half ended with six medical people surrounding poor Andre Dozzell who had played outstandingly well, only to find himself attached to an oxygen mask and in utter pain.

The seriousness of his condition is still unknown but it does appear to be cruciate ligament damage which would be such a tragedy for a player who was on the verge of cementing a place in the team and who had played excellently prior to his injury.

The only goal, when it came, was very well engineered and it began when Grant Ward fed the overlapping Jonas Knudsen and he delivered a low ball into the box which evaded Sears but fell perfectly into the path of onrushing debutant Joe Garner, who slid the ball expertly into the back of the net.

Town and Freddie Sears in particular should have had more because at 1-0 there is always the fear the opposition could come back. Thankfully on this occasion the Town back line held firm and manager Mick McCarthy will obviously have been a relieved man at the end where he could hear some cheers in his ears for a change!

The result gets the Blues season up and running and the cynics amongst us, will have to wait a little longer before finding good reason to point an accusing finger in the direction of the manager, the players and indeed the board.

Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich