Finally! Finally Ipswich Town have won a game, and it came at the fifteenth attempt this season against a rather poor Derby side. The fans celebrated at the final whistle as if they had just seen their side win the league, but I can’t remember the last time when a win felt so good. Correction, I can’t remember what a win felt like!
Ipswich had to cling on for the final few minutes, not to mention the nail-biting four minutes of injury time, but the Blues stood firm and came away with a 1-0 win thanks to the most unlikeliest of hero – David Wright, who has rarely even featured in the 18 man matchday squad this season. His goal came in the 65th minute, a header from a Liam Rosenior cross. What was he even doing in the box!? I don’t care, we won!
Despite the fans calls for a settled side, manager Roy Keane made four changes from last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Plymouth. Asmir Begovic was still in goal, but the centre backs were completely new. Gareth McAuley was ruled out in midweek with a thigh injury that will probably keep him out for around a fortnight, while Tommy Smith picked up an injury to his hand. Alex Bruce and Damien Delaney (yes, Damien Delaney) started as the pairing in the middle. Liam Rosenior and Wrighty were the right and left backs respectively.
Carlos Edwards continued on the right, as did Alan Quinn on the left. Grant Leadbitter was partnered by the returning Liam Trotter, Jack Colback the man who made way. In attack, Jon Stead got his start after scoring the equaliser last weekend and Jon Walters both kept his place in attack, and also held onto the captain’s armband despite the return of Bruce.
To sum up, the first half was a shocker and I started to get the feeling that it just wasn’t to be yet again. Neither side created much in terms of chances and 0-0 was the right scoreline at the break. On 10, Stead was forced back on his left foot when in the box but curled his shot a few yards past the post. Alan Quinn had a decent shout for a pen, but the ref didn’t think twice about it and waved play on.
Derby reminded me of Swansea in that they like to play it about at the back, but they more often than not resorted to a long ball to the diminutive figure that is Paul Dickov, up front on his own. Robbie Savage was certainly seeing plenty of the ball but nothing was going for him. Shame.
The Welshman was booked early on for hauling down Walters when the Ipswich striker was too powerful for him. Walters showed Savage who is boss by using his force and holding the long-haired midfielder down on the ground.
Apart from a half chance with Walters’ head and a Gary Teale effort at the other end, there was only one more notable chance. Derby broke with just three minutes left on the clock before the interval, the ball somehow made its way to Savage all alone in the box just a couple of yards out, but he completely fluffed his chance and took all the pace off the ball, which rolled harmlessly to Begovic.
The Bosnian keeper made a terrific save from Paul Dickov in the early stages of the second half, but his efforts were pretty redundant seeing that the linesman’s flag had gone up for offside. He was needed a minute or two later though, when Teale’s shot stung his hands and again to tip a cross turned shot around the post.
Then came the substitutions that changed the game. Trotter, who had again not had his best game, came off as did Steady, who had been equally quiet. On came Pablo and Priskin, with Walters moving to the left and Alan Quinn switching inside. It was the two subs that caused havoc in the Rams box, and Rosenior was there to cross back in after the ball was only half cleared. As mentioned earlier, Wrighty popped up from nowhere to head Town a goal to the good as Portman Road erupted.
Ipswich craved that second goal to put the game to bed and settle everyone, but in typical Ipswich style, that wouldn’t come despite the best efforts of Pablo Counago and Alex Bruce. Nerves kicked in and Derby piled forward but Begovic was equal to anything chucked at him.
Town’s counter-attacking play nearly brought a goal on a number of occasions, but the game could have been sealed by Tamas Priskin. The Hungarian striker was quick enough to escape the Derby defence after being played through one-on-one, and could have gone down after he was clipped, but chose to stay on his feet and looked to pass the ball to Bywater’s right. Unfortunately, the former loanee guessed the right way and just about stopped the ball from going in.
Four minutes of injury time. Was the fourth official/referee having a laugh? Surely, because there weren’t that many stoppages in play. The South Stand did their best to waste away a few seconds of injury time when they refused to chuck the ball back into play, but when Bryan Hughes fired over with ten seconds to go, the whole ground stood up and began cheering. They think it’s all over…
…it is now. Referee Anthony Taylor signalled the end of the match and FINALLY Ipswich Town have won a game. The supporters remained on their feet to applaud the efforts of the players, and it was nice of Liam Rosenior to do a lap of honour to thank the fans for their support.
I said weeks ago that Ipswich will play a lot worse than they did at Sheffield and win, and they definitely did that against Derby. Without being Mr Pessimist, the match as a whole was very low on quality and neither team looked capable of doing anything special. But a win is a win, and the season starts here.
Player Ratings
Asmir Begovic – 7.5
Star player
Liam Rosenior – 7.5
Nothing gets past him!
David Wright – 7.5
The match winner – he never lets the team down.
Alex Bruce – 7
Went about his work quietly and effectively.
Damien Delaney – 7.5
Delaney has received endless stick since he joined Ipswich from QPR in the summer, but looks to have found his home at centre back. Nothing was going to beat him and would have been my vote for star player had it not been for the heroics of Begovic.
Carlos Edwards – 6.5
Drifted in the centre a little too often, but didn’t have a bad game in all. Was replaced with 15 minutes to go.
Alan Quinn – 6.5
A much better display when he switched into the middle because he was, like Carlos, drifting from the wing inside too much.
Grant Leadbitter – 7.5
Town’s engine, everything went through him yet again.
Liam Trotter – 5.5
For a big lad, he doesn’t use his strength and brought very little to the team.
Jon Stead – 6
Will be disappointed not to have carried on from where he left off last weekend.
Jon Walters – 7.5
A real captain’s performance – he powered past defenders and had one of his best games so far this season.
Sub: Pablo Counago – 7.5
Quality on the ball, he changed the game.
Sub: Tamas Priskin – 7
Should have scored when clean through but his arrival on the pitch changed the game.
Fifteen minutes wasn’t long enough to make a significant impact.
