Ipswich Town v Accrington Stanley 
Tuesday 7th March 2023 – 19:45
Portman Road
Pre Match Thoughts - Mike
Another game chalked off and job done following a comprehensive demolition of an in form Burton Albion side who had been on a decent run of form themselves prior to arriving at Portman Road for a game that really was must win for Town. While the scoreline may look emphatic it has to be said that the opening Twenty minutes or so was anything but as Burton started very well and had a lot of territorial advantage and were clearly pressing high up the pitch which we found hard to adjust to in the initial exchanges. It was always going to be a tall order for them to sustain that high intensity and so it proved as Town gradually started to get themselves on top and on the front foot.
Three well taken goals in a crazy Eleven Minute spell had the game won by half time as Town tore into the Burton defence at will, the crucial first came after some excellent work from Harry Clarke and a rejuvenated Wes Burns who teed up the ever reliable Conor Chaplin who took a couple of touches before despatching a sweet shot into the far corner of the net for his Eighteenth goal of the season. A few minutes later the Clarke/Burns combination were at it again, this time Burns put it on a plate for Nathan Broadhead to slam it home from a virtually unmissable position, it was a lovely move by Town which deserved to result in a goal. Town were not finished there as the impressive Chaplin threaded a glorious ball into the path of the onrushing Freddie Ladapo who made no mistake to fire home his Sixteenth of the season. Job done, game over.
The second half was always going to be a bit of an anti climax although it wasn't too bad as it goes but the goal rush was not ever going to continue in the same vein. Town did have chances with Chaplin missing a great chance as he pulled his shot wide, at the other end Walton was down to his right hand post to palm away a shot that could just have been creeping inside the post, Cameron Burgess pulled off a world class block to prevent a goal following some loose defending by Luke Woolfenden but by and large the Town goal looked untroubled. Town did finally get a Fourth with Twenty minutes remaining and who else but Conor Chaplin was on hand to fire home following a great piece of play from a surprisingly out of sorts Leif Davis although that one piece of magic alone was quality, that took Chaplin's tally to Nineteen for the season.
Town did come close to a Fifth in the closing minutes as substitute Marcus Harness had his effort superbly saved by the Burton keeper which would have made the score even more emphatic. That was pretty much the end of proceedings to a game which Town can feel very content with, a Fourth clean sheet on the bounce and the unbeaten run maintained, goals are flowing more freely lately and chances being taken, we are after all the top scorers in the division despite what some would have you believing. While the game remains at Five points to the top Two it was a good day with Bolton, Barnsley & Derby all dropping points, suddenly the chasing pack don't look quite so menacing although that is not to say they are not too close for comfort.
I think a special mention is needed for the excellent Massimo Luongo who was superb on the day and along with skipper Sam Morsy bossed the Midfield and drove us forward, it was clear how little space there was in the Midfield for Burton to exploit unlike other games where at times young Cameron Humphreys was starting to find it tough and as such loads of pressure was being heaped on Morsy, having Luongo available for the run in could be massive for our chances of a top Two finish.
There is not much time to dust ourselves down before we go into action again as Accrington Stanley head to Portman Road on Tuesday evening for what is another must win game in our quest for Top Two. Stanley are just One place and Two points above the dotted line so will be looking for a positive result themselves and are Three unbeaten so are making a fist of it. That said I cannot see us slipping up here again in a game that really should be Three points, with much harder games to come on paper we can go into those games in good form and positive mood, with Plymouth at home to Derby there is a good chance we can make up some ground on the Pilgrims, a draw would suit us fine but a Derby win would also be very welcome indeed but all we can do is do our bit and rely on others to slip up.
We are getting to the business end of the season now and hitting a bit of form again at just the right time so it would be a catastrophe if we were to slip up here, we won't !!! Town to win by Two clear goals at least, get this done then Bolton Wanderers here we come. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Accrington Stanley Honours
EFL League Two:
Winners: 2017–18
Conference National:
Winners: 2005–06
Northern Premier League:
Winners: 2002–03
Northern Premier League Division One:
Winners: 1999–00
Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
Winners: 2001–02
Northern Premier League Challenge Shield:
Winners: 2002–03
North West Counties League Division One:
Runners up: 1986–87
Cheshire County League Division 2:
Winners: 1980–81
Runners up: 1979–80
Lancashire Combination:
Winners (2): 1973–74, 1977–78
Runners up (2): 1971–72, 1975–76
Lancashire Combination Cup:
Winners (4): 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1976–77
Lancashire Combination League Cup:
Winners: 1971–72
The Manager – John Coleman
League Table
Form Guide
Ipswich Town
11 Feb Ipswich Town 2 - 2 Sheffield Wed
14 Feb Bristol Rovers 0 - 0 Ipswich Town
18 Feb Ipswich Town 4 - 0 Forest Green
25 Feb Milton Keynes 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
4 Mar Ipswich Town 4 - 0 Burton Albion
Accrington Stanley
11 Feb Cheltenham 0 - 0 Accrington
14 Feb Accrington 0 - 2 Wycombe
18 Feb Accrington 1 - 0 Shrewsbury
25 Feb Burton Albion 0 - 0 Accrington
4 Mar Accrington 2 - 1 Forest Green
Head to Head
Match Referee – Lee Swabey
IPSWICH TOWN 2 ACCRINGTON STANLEY 1
