The View From Churchmans

Scunthorpe are one of those unprepossessing teams who you’d normally have a soft spot for, but by the end of this one, after ninety minutes of them trying to kill the game as a spectacle, the Portman Road faithful were baying for blood. When the late, late winner went in, the sight of the Scunthorpe players slumped disconsolately on the pitch provoked no sympathy whatsoever, however much effort they’d put in to get a draw out of the match. This was one where the good guys most certainly won.

But it so nearly wasn’t the case. The opposition may have told Town from the outset to come and beat them, but the creativity to do that proved too much of a challenge. The odd Scunthorpe breakaway or set-piece was enough to ensure that the Murphy in the Ipswich goal was tested just as much as the one at the other end. With the midfield swamped, Owen Garvan barely had a chance to set anything up, and as ever, Counago’s very presence just fractured the play and prevented any of the sweeping moves which had been on display just a few days before. Few Town players had much to be proud of in this one.

And don’t get me started on the officials. Let’s just be happy with an 11th successive first-half clean sheet, the 18th match since being behind at half-time, and most importantly, getting back-to-back wins for the first time.

Overall Town performance:
5/10 – No point in moaning about the negativity of the opponents, the challenge (to break them down) was clear, and for 93 minutes it wasn’t met

Opposition quality
6/10 – Almost zero out of ten for ambition, but they did what they set out to do pretty effectively

Referee:
2/10 – One terrible decision after another all afternoon, compounded by what seemed like an absurd red card for a fairly weedy trip

Match excitement:
4/10 – Rescued at the last minute, literally

Opposition supporters:
4/10 – Few in number, made a bit of noise initially, then seemed to lose the will to live, like the rest of us

Player ratings, as ever 1 to 5 for each of effort/achievement…

MURPHY 6 (3/3) had very little to do

WRIGHT 6 (3/3) looked pretty reasonable again; McAULEY 6 (3/3) set a good example and held things together late on; DELANEY 5 (2/3) let himself down with a silly foul, even though he’d never have expected to have been red-carded for it; and O’CONNOR 6 (3/3) was solid enough

WALTERS 4 (2/2) put himself around a bit in the first half, but missed the chances which came his way, then had a stinker of a second half. Why is he considered so untouchable? …He was the obvious player to come off in the second half, rather than Garvan; NORRIS 5 (3/2) worked hard without much result; GARVAN 5 (3/2) was firmly marked out of the game in the first half, but never got a chance to show what he could have done against a ten-man opposition thanks to his daft withdrawal; and COLBACK 6 (3/3) put in his normal lively display.

COUNAGO 4 (2/2) as usual broke up almost every Town move with his awful control, as well as squandering the few chances which came his way; MURPHY 5 (3/2) was reasonable but didn’t get many breaks.

From the bench, WICKHAM was comfortably the pick of the four strikers on display, and now he’s got the monkey off his back and scored a first-team league goal, maybe he’ll move up the pecking order a little, which would be great. Took his goal beautifully. EDWARDS put in a decent shift, including a couple of dangerous crosses, which nobody else looked like doing all afternoon. HEALY however had little impact.