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The Town Defence Was Simply Immense

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I did not expect to be writing this, but yesterday, at Lincoln, the Ipswich Town defence was immense. For the full 97 minutes, they played as a unit, and hardly put a foot wrong. Manager Paul Cook must be a very relieved man. They must have worked very hard on the training field to put right what was so wrong defensively against Bolton when our defenders played like strangers.

Even the recalled Vaclav Hladky in goal looked like a changed man, and he remained relatively composted throughout. Our central defensive pairing of Goerge Edmunson and Cameron Burgess were solid at the back and on the same wavelength this time around, but the star of the show has to be Janoi Donacien! He was superb and deserves all the plaudits for an outstanding display.

Hayden Coulson was also very enterprising, and he was responsible for the excellent cross that led to the only goal of the game when Macauley Bonne thundered a powerful header into the net on 30 minutes. Home fans believed he had blatantly pushed TJ Eyoma before connecting with the ball, but if this was the case, then why did the player not protest? Other Imps surrounded the referee, but Eyoma just lay on the ground in despair. And, when Coulson left the field due to an injury, on came Luke Woolfenden, and our defence continued to look as solid as ever.

This was a great team performance, and how nice it was to see the side finally beginning to gel and managing to keep a clean sheet in the process! There were rumours that Cook only had to the end of the month to turn things around, so this victory was perhaps more important to him than to anybody else. He badly needed this.

The talk was that the owners would be actively seeking a new manager at the start of October – if we were still winless by the end of the month. I am sure they will now sit back and relax a bit.  It is only one small victory, but the reaction of CEO Mark Ashton as he shook as many of the 1,710 away supporters hands as possible at the end of this game, tells you everything you need to know about how important it was to everyone.

The fickle nature of football means that a manager is living on borrowed time almost from day one in the modern game. This victory might be a game-changer and give Town the momentum they need to push on. Next up are two home games, so there is every chance to extend this winning run and boy, how we need that!

I am flying over from the Netherlands to take in both games at Portman Road, and I should get to see Sam Morsy make his home league debut for the Blues against Doncaster Rovers. Being an overseas supporter means I get to see all the matches on ifollow, but there is nothing quite like the atmosphere generated on a Tuesday night at Portman Road!

Bersant Celina will have benefited from getting 66 minutes under his belt, and it was good to see Rakeem Harper rekindling some of his form of old when he replaced him. Wes Burns looked impressive again too but if I was to single out one player who made the world of difference then it would have to be Janoi Donacien.

Lincoln City: Griffiths, Poole, Eyoma, Montsma, Bramall, Bridcutt (captain) (Nlundulu 81), Bishop (Sorensen 78), Fiorini, Maguire (Adelakun 36), Hopper, Scully.

Unused substitutes: Long, Robson, Sanders, Longdon.

Ipswich Town: Hladky, Donacien, Edmundson, Burgess, Coulson (Woolfenden 51), Carroll, Evans (captain), Burns, Fraser (Aluko 82), Celina (Harper 66), Bonne.

Unused subsitutes: Holy, Chaplin, Norwood, Pigott.

The referee was Ben Speedie from Bootle on Merseyside.

Attendance: 9,874

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2 comments

  • Richard Gardiner says:

    Like you Frank I had expected another defeat against the Imps! How wrong we were. Well done lads, so pleased that we have turned the corner. Sobering thought that if we had lost, we would have been bottom of the table.
    Looking on the bright side, win our game in hand and we will be just four points behind 6th placed Rotherham.
    What a difference a win makes.
    Agree that Donacien had a cracking good game. One of the few survivors from last season. Onward and upward for him too.
    Momentum and confidence are oh so important.
    Win our next two games and the Blues will be a very different proposition.

  • Frank Weston says:

    Yes, Richard, this victory, I hope, is a game-changer!

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