Ipswich Town 0:0 QPR
“BI8 DYK” was the highlight of our journey by car up to Ipswich. That was the number plate of a 4×4 we spotted on the road. I wondered if it was a Rangers fan, so if you are and you’re reading, well you’re not particularly famous yet, but you did make the news here on my blog. 
I really enjoyed the match. The first 25-30 minutes were breathtaking and we were treated to a wonderful game of open-ended football. Some of the attacking play from both teams was a joy to see and both sides stretched the play with fast and incisive counter attacks. It only looked like a matter of time of who would score first, so really, it was a surprise that there were no goals in the end.
Within 2 minutes however, Ipswich played two straight long balls over the top of our defence, right down the middle. Matthew Connelly struggled but dealt with the first, then Damion Stewart struggled and dealt with the second (although it was actually offside). Both deliveries caused a little panic but came to nothing. It was immediately obvious then that the Tractor Boys’ Danny Haynes and his pace were going to be a little bit of a problem for us.
Ipswich had some great moments to score in this period and with the game so stretched early on, Haynes was able to come up one-on-one with the majority of our defenders on different occasions. He gave all of them a real hard time and was unlucky not to score when he struck the post in the 8th minute after turning Fitz Hall inside out. The majority of the time however, the defence managed to hang on and get in a last ditch block or tackle. We conceded many corners in the process, but it was good defensive work all the same.
In between all this, we played some lovely football too, but whenever we lost possession, Ipswich’s direct balls were causing panic at the back, but after we rode the storm that Haynes provided, we settled down fairly well.
Haynes still provided an outlet, but after so many sprints in that period, at least four or five of them, I was banking on him burning himself out, because while it was very impressive to witness, those sprints were often starting from quite deep and eventually that taxes your body. His final ball or the final pass often just eluded him and I thought that was down to him not having enough energy at the end of so many blistering runs.
On the other hand, Patrick Agyemang provided an outlet for us, and from defending corners, he was left up top and caused Ipswich problems of their own with his pace on the counter. We used him really well and he stretched the play intelligently by running the ball into the channels and waiting for support. In contrast, whenever we had a corner, Ipswich always had everybody back defending and left nobody up top.
Ipswich created numerous chances in the first half though and they probably should have scored from at least one of them. Lee Camp pulled off several fine stops to keep them out and I was worried that if the trend continued into the second half, they would make us pay for it in the end.
To our credit, we appeared to play more cautiously in the second period, which was required. The team shape and balance was tighter and that meant the game was not as open at times, but there was still some excellent football being played by both teams. We restricted efforts on our goal for the most part, but we didn’t create a great deal ourselves apart from some encouraging build up play and half chances.
Had we done better with our dead ball deliveries, both from corners and free kicks, we may have been able to snatch a goal. Hogan Ephraim didn’t quite get his corners right and we didn’t look threatening in this regard until Martin Rowlands came on and took over the responsibility.
Ipswich on the other hand made the strange decision to move Haynes out wide right in the second half (they also moved him over to the left in the first), where he was less effective but also maybe because he had burned himself out somewhat. Still, he played very well on the day and I also think the wind played a little factor in their favour in the first, which helped him.
They will also feel hard done by through Connolly’s goal line clearance which may have been a goal or a hand ball on the line. I thought it was a goal at the time and you could tell from the reaction of the Ipswich players that they genuinely believed they’d been hard done by.
Overall, to sum up the performance and the players -
What can you say about Lee Camp? Some of the saves he made were fantastic, absolutely fantastic. His performance left me purring. He made three or four excellent stops and took some difficult catches from corners. The saves he made, at least two or three were from very close range and they were excellent stops which left Ipswich stunned that they’d not scored from one of them.
Michael Mancienne was excellent in defence, but his passing let him down when going forward. The other three, while getting in some great blocks when it came to one-on-one duals, they all looked a little hesitant. Alan Lee and Danny Haynes’ movement and pace caused them a lot of problems, but they dealt with it and Connelly didn’t ever really look comfortable at left back.
We were a bit sloppy at times with the ball at the back and we must be careful that we’re not made to pay for silly mistakes. We need to work on improving how the defence distribute the ball and that also means the midfield need to work on their positioning to provide a short and long option to them.
The other danger is our concentration levels right at the end of either half. We gifted Ipswich with a glaring chance to score, but Alan Quinn (I think it was him) wasted it by putting the ball way wide and high when it was easier to hit the target. That isn’t just the defences fault though, the whole team need to take responsibility and not think the half is over until that whistle is blown.
I thought Mikele Leigertwood and Gavin Mahon had reasonably good games in the middle, but Leigertwood has to be careful when he’s playing the ball square. Either side of half time, he misplaced passes that went straight to Ipswich players who were able to break through and hone in on our goal. It was these passes that put a dampner on his performance and it was the right decision to replace him soon after with Martin Rowlands. Mahon’s best work was keeping it simple. When the game was so frantic in the first half, he did a good job of just collecting the ball and playing simple passes to ensure we retained the ball.
Martin Rowlands and Kieran Lee both had good cameo appearances from the bench, particularly Rowlands, who was excellent after he came on. I was thrilled to see Lee getting a little more time on the pitch too.
I was very pleased with Hogan Ephraim’s performance. He got up and down the pitch, worked hard and was threatening when on the ball. I think it’s the best I’ve seen him play for some time and up to the levels of some of his performances when he was here on loan. He should have scored with a great chance in the first half though, but he shot wide. Rowan Vine on the other hand had a decent game but nothing more, although he was involved in some of our best attacking play.
Up top, Dexter Blackstock worked really hard. He’s still not quite there but he should be very pleased with the shift he put in. He won more headers than he has been recently and he looked like he had that spring back in his legs and generally looked sharper and happier. Patrick on the other hand seemed to grow as the game went on and he had a determined look about him, as if he really wanted to win this game. He also made a couple of fantastic solo runs which seemed to come out of nowhere where his strength is also an asset as he can brush off the tackles with considerable ease.
We will be slightly the happier of the two teams with a point and should be pleased with the performance we put in. Ipswich are a good footballing side and playing them in that form provided us with a stern test and a good experience for the future.
