What a week it’s been! It began on the 23rd of March when a Town eleven defeated a Tottenham eleven 3-2, having been trailing 2-0 at half-time. Conor Chaplin did the business with a hat trick in the last 20 minutes. This was a nice start to a fantastic week!
As if that was not good enough for Kieran Mckenna’s side, Nathan Broadhead got a last-gasp debut goal to claim a 1-1 draw in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier in Split against Croatia. Wales manager Rob Page explained afterwards that it was an emotional time for the Ipswich 24-year-old, who became the only Town player to score for Wales in the club’s history, and he came on again in midweek in their 1-0 win against Latvia too, as he seems to be cementing a place in the Welsh squad.
“I’m really pleased for him. He’s not going to like me saying this but, it’s an emotional game, he was in tears at the end of the game with the supporters. It means the world to him. I’ve worked with Nathan in the U21s in Toulon six or seven years ago. I know Broady, I’ve watched his development, and he’s earned the right to be part of the squad now. I’ve known all about Broady before, and we’ve been itching to get him involved.”
Then on Sunday, we discovered that Ipswich Town’s Tractor Girls were top of the table again, after beating Gillingham away from home 0-1. And more good news was to follow that day for the Blues when Sheffield Wednesday went down 1-0 to basement club Forest Green Rovers! Rovers recorded their first win since December, and the first under boss Ferguson, who replaced Ian Burchnall in late January. What a huge shock!
Shocks this week are par for the course it seems, and last night Barnsley were defeated 3-1 by in-form Exeter City, and by the end of this hard-fought encounter, the visitors looked a tired and battered lot. Town are in a very healthy position in the League One table. All we need is for them to beat an out-of-sorts Derby for a perfect seven days!
