Stalemate At Portman Road As Bishop Starts

The game, in front of a big Boxing day crowd of almost 19,000, failed to live up to expectations and the inclusion of Teddy Bishop for the first time this season failed to ignite Town – although he showed some deft touches before he was replaced just before the break with Grant Ward due to yet another injury.

If anything it was the visitors who were on top and although both keepers had little to do Rangers looked a threat when they pressed forward and had the best of a fairly even first half.

Town huffed and puffed but could not really penetrate the QPR back line and perhaps the nearest the Blues came to a goal, was from the second of two corners in quick sucession by Martyn Waghorn that almost crept in at the near post.

Jonas Knudsen was back in the starting line up, as was Dominic Iorfa and Freddie Sears, at the expense of Bersant Celina who had to be content with a place on the bench.

The second half began in much the same way as the first half had ended with little to get excited about.

QPR continued to look good on the break however and when Jonas Knudsen lost possession halfway inside the visitors half, alarm bells sounded again, until Rangers misplaced a pass which stopped the danger in its tracks.

As we went into the last quarter of the game, it was beginning to look like it would be first goal the winner. But this game had 0-0 written all over it and so it was to prove, with a series of disjointed moves from both sides and some very fussy refereeing.

With Bersant Celina joining the fray with only minutes remaining; shortly after Scowen was shown a second yellow for a foul on Grant Ward, there was still some hope of a breakthrough but his free kick went over the wall and also over the bar and sadly that was the end of that.

Even the late sending off failed to inspire the Blues, and to a round of boos as they left the field, few of the festive followers will be encouraged to return to Portman Road any time soon.


Ipswich Town: Bialkowski, Iorfa, Chambers (captain), Webster, Knudsen, Connolly, Bishop (Ward 42), McGoldrick, Waghorn, Sears, Garner.

Substitutes: M Crowe, T Smith, Celina, Spence, Kenlock, McDonnell.

Queens Park Rangers: Smithies, Baptiste, Onuoha (captain), Robinson, Wszolek, Cousins, Luongo, Scowen, Bidwell, Freeman, Sylla.

Substitutes: Lumley, Furlong, Hall, Washington, Smith, Chair, Osayi-Samuel.

The referee was Andy Davies from Hampshire.


Attendance : 18,696