This has been, by all accounts, a very disappointing season and the only possible bright spot is that we have not done what Blackburn Rovers did today and that is to go yet further down the football pyramid but we came close!
The 3-0 defeat today means that we have ended up in the Championship in 16th place and you have to go back almost 60 years to see Town finish so lowly and that was in the 1959/60 season in the old Second Division and even I cannot remember that, as I was just 3 years old at the time!
As I have said on many occasions before, it is not just the defeat that is disappointing but the manner of it. Forest started as if they meant business and could have gone in front within the first minute, when a pass from Jamie Ward deflected off Christophe Berra and almost into the path of the onrushing Britt Assombalonga but thankfully for the Blues, the ball just evaded him and the away support could breath more comfortably again.
It was all Forest from the start however and Town were under the cosh for the first five minutes, until slowly but surely they eased their way into the match with some slick passing.
Grant Ward produced Town’s first real strike on goal as the game progressed and it took some sharp reflexes from keeper Jordan Smith to avert the danger for the home side.
Town at this stage were stroking the ball around delightfully as Forest fans heard the news that Blackburn had gone two goals to the good against Brentford – which if the scores stayed the same would relegate the home side.
The Blues had the bulk of possession until the goal which came with just 5 minutes left of the first half and this was after Town could well have gone in front, when a Danny Rowe strike from the edge of the box deflected into the path of Dominic Samuel who smashed the ball goalward, only for keeper Smith to push it onto the crossbar and out for a corner and to the obvious relief of the home supporters.
Moments later though and Forest got their noses in front when Myles Kenlock switched off after a quickly taken throw-in and allowed Jamie Ward to race into the box only to be clattered by Bartosz Bialkowski and the ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot as Bialkowski did not make any contact with the ball.
Britt Assombalonga blasted the ball into the roof of the net giving Polish keeper Bialkowski no chance.
That was the beginning of the end for the Tractor Boys and even though Bialkowski saved another penalty from Assombalonga the writing was on the wall for the Blues and the home side doubling their lead in the 57th minute when Cohen`s fire-cracker from 25-yards took a wicked deflection off Jordan Spence, before finding the top of the net and the contest was effectively over.
Town were lame after this and lacked any real motivation and they no longer took the fight to Forest who were now in the ascendency.
What now for Ipswich Town football club is anybody’s guess but if manager Mick McCarthy is intent on sticking around, then he needs oodles of cash from super rich owner Marcus Evans in the summer, if we have any chance of competing in this division next season.
A failure to do so may just mean that instead of finding ourselves free of the drop zone next time around at this stage of the season, it could be us doing a Nottingham Forest – or worst still a Blackburn Rovers by the end of the next campaign.
Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich
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