Stuart Watsons post match synopsis

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Ipswich Town won 1-0 at Southampton last night. Stuart Watson reflects on the action.


ANOTHER MILESTONE

Kieran McKenna is big on setting progress markers.

He was keen for his team to show they could win at Hillsborough at the weekend having lost and drawn his first two trips there.

And he will have been keen for his team to get something against freshly-relegated Southampton following last month’s 4-3 home loss to a power-packed Leeds side that had just dropped down from the Premier League.

Yes, a Saints side in transition had lost their previous two games by heavy margins – 5-0 at Sunderland and 4-1 at home to Leicester – but do not underestimate the strength of their squad.

Here’s some context about how much of a mis-match this could, and arguably should, have been...

Southampton have spent the previous 11 seasons in the top-flight. Ipswich have spent the last four seasons in League One.

Southampton’s 20-man squad cost close to £140m in transfer fees. Ipswich’s cost around £9m.

Southampton’s 20-man squad contained 1,204 combined Premier League appearances. Ipswich’s contained 51.

You can't put a price on stability, unity and momentum though.

I DO LOVE PLAYING AWAY!

Bolton, Derby, Peterborough, Barnsley, Sunderland, QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and now Southampton... Town have provided their travelling fans with some memorable away wins over the last seven months.

If the win at Oakwell back in April was the night we knew promotion was happening, this victory under the lights at St Mary’s might well be the evening we look back on in months to come as the moment we knew Town could mix it with the best a division higher.

Omari Hutchinson’s acrobatic goal celebration as former Portsmouth player Conor Chaplin cupped his ear to the home fans was just as iconic as Cameron Burgess’ roar to the top tier at Bolton.

Another thing that will stick in my mind from this game was when the Blue Army adapted the lyrics to Southampton anthem ‘when the Saints go marching in’ and sang it even louder than the home support. Goosebumps.


A STAR IN THE MAKING

The bespoke game plan is back. McKenna decided that having two high-energy, dynamic wide men could exploit the spaces left by Southampton's inverted full-backs and force errors. He was right.

Kayden Jackson would probably have replaced Nathan Broadhead on the left had it not been for a knee injury picked up at the weekend. In his absence, Omari Hutchinson got the nod and rose to the occasion.

We knew the 19-year-old Chelsea loanee was a box of tricks, but could he replicate Jackson’s work rate and press? The answer was yes.

When Shea Charles tried to step out the back with the ball, Hutchinson crunched into a slide tackle, got it back off Chaplin and did superbly to find the bottom corner on the stretch. That wasn’t the only time he got stuck in like that either.

His battle with two-time England international Kyle Walker-Peters was fascinating to watch.


SOMETHING TO WORK ON

Just like at Hillsborough three days’ earlier, Ipswich got the all-important first goal to turn the home crowd. Just like at Hillsborough, they then got well on top but weren’t able to add a killer second.

Chaplin’s chip came back off the bar after the Saints once again were locked in. The forward saw a volley well saved in the second half, while sub Massimo Luongo slashed an effort over. Burns had put an outside of the boot effort just wide at 0-0 too.

“As much as we had momentum at that stage, you know if you don’t get the second goal then that’s going to flip, they’re going to bring on more quality, we’ll tire and you have to see the game out in a different way than we would ideally want to,” said McKenna.

“We know we need to be more clinical, but it was a good thing for the squad to feel and see that we can trust ourselves to defend a one-goal advantage.”

Personally, I’m not worried about the recent profligacy. No-one has scored more goals across the top four divisions than Ipswich in 2023 - not even Man City. The Blues put three goals past Leeds and Cardiff only a couple of weeks ago, remember.


SEEING IT OUT

After conceding eight goals in three games prior to the international break, two successive clean sheets are just what the doctor ordered.

Ipswich stayed on the front enough to limit the length of Southampton’s pressure spells. And in those moments where they were under the cosh, the men in blue were organised, focused and physical.

Vaclav Hladky made one big stop with his face to deny Che Adams, made some confident punches/catches and bravely flung himself on a low cross too. Sam Morsy snapped at heels and constantly stepped in at vital moments. Wes Burns jumped into a kung-fu style tackle. Massimo Luongo made a lunging block. Cameron Burgess and Luke Woolfenden got their head on several balls into the box. To a man, Ipswich dug in.

It wasn't all heart-on-sleeves, body-on-the-line stuff though. Like at Sheffield Wednesday, the team’s collective game management towards the end – not getting too deep, winning clever fouls and keeping disciplined – was impressive.

There was a time when Town looked like a side that could be very good for 60/70 minutes. They’re now proving they can do it consistently over 90+ minutes.



SHOUT OUT TO THE SUBS

This hectic period will start to show just how much depth in quality this Town really squad has. Last night certainly bodes well on that front.

Brandon Williams, Jack Taylor and Hutchinson all made key contributions on their full debuts.

Luongo, Dane Scarlett, Dominic Ball, Marcus Harness and Broadhead then all stepped off the bench and played their part too. I was particularly impressed with the way Ball and Harness got to the speed of the game so quickly given their lack of minutes of late.

Everyone is going to need to play their part over the coming weeks. Next up, Blackburn at home on Saturday