Ipswich Town v Huddersfield Town 
Saturday 4th May 2024 – 12:30
Portman Road
Pre-match Thoughts – Mike
WOW, JUST WOW !!!!! After so many highs this season it really is hard to keep digging up new superlatives for what this team we all love keep coming up with, just when you think you've seen it all they go One better. It would be wrong of me to not to admit I had my reservations going into Tuesday nights game against the Sky Blues of Coventry City, nerves, trepidation, the fear of missing out on the biggest prize in English Football, call it what you will but something inside me just had me so edgy it was untrue, like something I have never felt in truth, and yet by the close of play what had I been worrying about ? This is Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town and I should really have known better, they don't often fail to please and they NEVER let us down where effort and commitment is concerned and that was what got us to the very cusp of promotion to the Premier League.
The game was never going to be easy, despite many claiming that Coventry had run out of steam, or that their heads had gone following the Semi-Final heartbreak, there was talk of an injury crisis within their ranks and kids would get their chance, the feeling was they would not be up for it, yeah right, that all proved to be a load of old tosh as they more than made a game of it to keep everyone's nerves in tatters for the 102 minutes that we all had to endure.
Going ahead so early was a gift from above as kieffer Moore's lovely finish following great work by Wes Burns helped to settle those early nerves and allowed us to play our game. I thought for the opening 15-20 minutes we were excellent and Coventry barely laid a glove on us, it was pleasing on the eye and not too unbearable to watch at that stage but man that was about to change.
Gradually Coventry started to get a foothold in the game as we seemed to stop playing and retreated a bit too much for my liking, there was way too much time to go for us to be inviting them on to us and with the quality in their side it was a disaster waiting to happen. One goalmouth scramble almost saw them draw level but that man Burns was on the goal line to somehow keep it out and quite how Hladky managed to save the follow up from right in front of goal was anyone's guess, it was world class and went some way to atoning for his gaff at Hull. Town defenders were throwing themselves in front of anything and everything in a bid to defend the most precious of leads.
We did carry a threat on the break though and following more good work from the inspired Wes Burns we almost got a Two goal cushion but their keeper somehow kept out Nathan Broadheads downward header when it looked for all the world like he was going to give us a crucial Two goal lead. Thankfully we limed our way to half time with our slender lead intact but it was abundantly clear we had to up our game if we were to prevail come the full time whistle.
The second began far more even with Town having more of the ball and it was Broadhead who again came close to giving us some breathing space, unfortunately this time he slammed his effort onto the bar and away to safety, it was so so close but not to be. Ten minutes later there was disaster for Town as Coventry levelled, Hadji Wright's shot flying under the body of the diving Hladky who will feel he should have done better. This was the cue for McKenna to make some changes with Hirst & Sarmiento entering the fray.
It was long before sarmiento was testing their keeper with a long range effort but minutes later their was elation once more in the Town ranks as we again got ourselves back in front. A Davis free kick found it's way to the back post where Town's Two Centre backs somehow combined to fashion a chance from which Cameron Burgess scored to become an unlikely potential hero. The game swung form end to end after that although it was the Town who were having the better chances, none more so than when Hutchinson appeared to be felled in the box when in a shooting position only for the ref to waive appeals aside, we just don't get penalties.
Town did have a few more chances to give the scoreline a better look but in truth we saw out the final minutes quite comfortably although it did not feel like it at the time. The celebrations at the end told you just what a vitally important win this was and just how close we had put ourselves to back to back promotions. The celebrations in the away end were unbelievable and went on and on.
Of course now the dust has settled it has to be acknowledged that as it stands we have achieved nothing, there is a big big job to do on Saturday and the pressure will be untold, the atmosphere will be electric but also very tense, yes Huddersfield have little to play for and are down, yes they hate Leeds and would love to scupper their plans but they are professionals and won't want to roll over on Sky TV. this is in our hands to do what we have to do and if we play the way we can it will be good enough, just cast your minds back to Lincoln a couple of season's ago, 36 shots or something outrageous to their One and we lost one nil, nothing is certain, stay focused on the job in hand Town and do not get wrapped up in the emotion of it all.
I can only close by saying this Saturday is a monumental day in Town's history, One of the biggest days for many many years, the prize is enormous and changes our standing in Football big time, 150 million of TV income followed by parachute payments should we come back down again, that is a ridiculous sum of money that helps with the plans going forward. This is our destiny, it is our time and it changes the future massively, a generation of young Town fans have never witnessed what we are sitting on the cusp of right now and it is hard to take in. When I think back to not too long ago and standing on the terraces at a dank Rochdale with 300 hardy souls, or a bitterly cold and windswept Fleetwood it sends shivers down my spine as to how far we have come, it brings a tear to my eye writing this and what awaits us should we succeed, we all crave it, we all want it, and we all deserve it. Ipswich Town could once again be back in the big time, we are as close as we could be. Please please please Town give it your all as I know you will and make us the happiest bunch of fans in World Football come Saturday tea time. THIS IS OUR TIME !!!!!!!
IPSWICH TIL I DIE. COYB'S
The Opposition – Huddersfield Town - Honours
League
First Division
Champions: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26
Runners-up: 1926–27, 1927–28, 1933–34
Second Division / Championship
Champions: 1969–70
2nd place promotion: 1919–20, 1952–53
Play-off winners: 2017
Third Division / League One
3rd place promotion: 1982–83
Play-off winners: 1995, 2012
Fourth Division / League Two
Champions: 1979–80
Play-off winners: 2004
Cup
FA Cup
Winners: 1921–22
Runners-up: 1919–20, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1937–38
FA Charity Shield
Winners: 1922
Football League Trophy
Runners-up: 1993–94
The Manager – André Breitenreiter
Championship League Table as at 01.05.2024
Form Guide
Ipswich Town
6 Apr Norwich City 1 - 0 Ipswich Town
10 Apr Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Watford
13 Apr Ipswich Town 1 - 1 Middlesbrough
27 Apr Hull City 3 - 3 Ipswich Town
30 Apr Coventry City 1 - 2 Ipswich Town
Huddersfield FC
6 Apr Huddersfield 1 - 0 Millwall
9 Apr Preston 4 - 1 Huddersfield
13 Apr Bristol City 1 - 1 Huddersfield
20 Apr Huddersfield 0 - 4 Swansea City
27 Apr Huddersfield 1 - 1 Birmingham City
Head to Head
Match Referee – Simon Hooper
IPSWICH TOWN 3 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1
