Ipswich Town vs Bristol City 
Tuesday 5th March 2024 – 20:00
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
I think it is fair to say that Saturday turned out to be a pretty good day for all connected to Ipswich Town, rarely do things almost all go our way but on this occasion there isn't much I would have changed. Not only did we go out and do the most important part by winning at Plymouth but we also had Huddersfield doing us a big favour by holding Leeds to a draw with Ten men, that was the One thing that maybe could have gone a tad better as having watched the game I felt Huddersfield would have won that game with a full compliment of players on the pitch, of course we will never know for sure but they were giving it a right good go.
Even better than that was lowly QPR going to Leicester City and turning them over, I don't think anybody really saw that coming but Leicester are most definitely having a wobble at just the wrong time and will be feeling the heat in the coming weeks and with some tough looking fixtures coming up they are nothing like the certs for promotion many people thought, Three defeats on the bounce takes their number of losses to Seven, almost double the Four Town have suffered.
At first glance it was so annoying to see Southampton come from behind and score a last gasp winner at Birmingham City which keeps them clinging to our coat tails, however delve a little deeper and on closer inspection it may not be quite as bad a result as we initially thought, as has been mentioned on the forum we need them going into that final day battle against Leeds with something to play for, it needs to mean something to them and with us having a winnable game at home on that final day it could well be a blessing in disguise that they kept themselves in the hunt.
From our perspective we take our winning streak to Five games following a very satisfying win at Plymouth, a team who in recent times have been like the small noisy neighbours from up the road in as much that they would not go away throughout the whole of last season and then took great delight in reminding us at every opportunity, for some reason they seem to hold a grudge and reading their fans comments they feel we are team hell bent on thuggery and who get favours from the officials game after game, no mention of course of the luck they got last season at Portman Road which saw them escape with a fluky point so I make no apology for the feeling of smugness I had after the full time whistle sounded at Home Park.
I must confess I did not enjoy the first half at all, I thought it was a terrible Forty Five Minutes from Town as we huffed and puffed and failed to get into our usual effective stride, the early moments of the game saw Plymouth in the ascendancy and a couple of half chances had us on our heels, none more so that when Luke Woolfenden somehow blocked a goal bound shot on the line to keep it level, at the other end the disappointing Kieffer Moore did have a clever header saved when it looked to be creeping into the net, I thought Moore was One of a number of Town players who just looked a little off colour in that opening half, thankfully there was better to come after the break.
Although it was never vintage Town the second half was much much better as we looked more on it and hungrier for sure, suddenly we were controlling all aspects of the game and looking the more likely to break the deadlock, we were now seeing Morsy and Travis winning the Midfield, Davis and the excellent Tuanzebe were now getting forward to support the attack, Hutchinson was now getting the better of his marker and Moore looked much more like the Striker we know him to be, all the time the defence were staying solid and not overly troubled.
We cannot ignore the fact it took a massive stroke of luck for us to take the lead and I guess that evens things up just a little bit, a lovely surging run from the skipper Sam Morsy saw him play in Conor Chaplin who took a touch before firing at goal, clearly it was going wide before striking a defender, wrong footing the keeper and nestling into the far corner of the net, it was just the break we needed and came at a time when we looked at our most dangerous.
Barely ten Minutes later and it was Two Nil and game virtually over, a high looping cross from the Right side seemed to be going out but Cam Burgess somehow retrieved it with an excellent header back into a dangerous area where Chaplin cleverly nodded it on for Kieffer Moore to smash his strike home with some aplomb, cue the celebrations with the Town fans behind that goal. It was the breathing space we needed and more much of the time that remained it was Town who looked like adding another rather than the home side getting back into it, although they were unlucky with One effort that saw Hladky get the slightest touch with his fingertips to divert it onto the post and away to safety.
This had the look of a Banana skin game all week for me as it's never an easy place to go, factor in the distance and the clear animosity towards us by many of their fans and I was not completely confident on this one but as is often the case the boys dug deep and got the job done, Three or Four regulars missing and still we had enough in the tank augers well for the games that remain, McKenna has his troops firing and we are hitting some great form at exactly the right time which gives real hope for what is to come. of course we'll continue the One game at a time way of thinking but you cannot help but look at that League table and get a tingle of excitement at what is within our grasp, the best thing about it all is that it is now in our own hands again.
To achieve Six on the spin we have to overcome Bristol City at Portman Road this Tuesday evening, the Sky cameras will be in attendance once more for the watching world to get a glimpse of what we are about again. City really are a Jeckyll & Hyde team of late, they've just lost games against QPR, Sheff Wed & Cardiff City and yet sandwiched in between they took Southampton apart courtesy of a very impressive display so you never really know what to expect from them. They come to Portman Road on the back of Three defeats so confidence will not be high and while their mid table position may feel safe they will know things can change very quickly and they only have a Six Point gap to the dreaded drop zone, teams at the bottom are starting to pick up points and coming up with shock results so nobody is safe in the bottom half, Town need to ensure we are victims of One of these upsets.
We know we have to at least match Leeds results from here on in and with them entertaining Stoke City at Elland Road we have to assume a win is paramount to keep them behind us, struggling Leicester go to Sunderland who are on a woeful run right now, normally that would look a tough fixture and there is hope Sunderland return to some kind of form, Southampton play on Wednesday with a tricky tie at home to Preston North End who are right on the cusp of the Top Six and will be wanting something from this game.
Town just need to turn up and do what we know we can and we will still find ourselves in the top Two come Wednesday morning, any complacency and we could undo all the good work we did at Plymouth, we look hungry, we look confident and we look a team full of belief that we are right in this, which of course we are. I think we will get the job done but probably not without the usual heart stopping moments which we have become accustomed to. Town win for me By One or Two clear goals. Keep believing. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Bristol City - Honours
League
Second Division
Champions: 1905–06
2nd place promotion: 1975–76
Third Division South / Third Division / Second Division / League One
Champions: 1922–23, 1926–27, 1954–55, 2014–15
2nd place promotion: 1964–65, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2006–07
Fourth Division
4th place promotion: 1983–84
Western League
Champions: 1897–98
Cup
FA Cup
Runners-up: 1908–09
Associate Members' Cup / Football League Trophy
Winners: 1985–86, 2002–03, 2014–15
Runners-up: 1986–87, 1999–2000
Welsh Cup
Winners: 1933–34
Anglo-Scottish Cup
Winners: 1977–78
The Manager – Liam Manning
League Table as at 03.03.2024
Form Guide
Ipswich Town
14 Feb Millwall 0 – 4 Ipswich Town
17 Feb Swansea City 1 - 2 Ipswich Town
20 Feb Ipswich Town 4 - 3 Rotherham
24 Feb Ipswich Town 3 - 1 Birmingham City
2 Mar Plymouth 0 - 2 Ipswich Town
Bristol City
10 Feb Middlesbrough 1 - 2 Bristol City
13 Feb Bristol City 3 - 1 Southampton
17 Feb Bristol City 0 - 1 QP Rangers
24 Feb Sheffield Wed 2 - 1 Bristol City
2 Mar Bristol City 0 - 1 Cardiff City
Head to Head
Match Referee – David Webb
IPSWICH TOWN 2 BRISTOL CITY 1
