Ipswich Town 3 Cambridge United 0
October 6, 2022 October 6, 2022 / martinpbrooks / Leave a comment
If I had known on the third of April this year, as I made my way home from seeing Town lose 1-0 to Cambridge United, that tonight Town would again be playing Cambridge United, I would have been looking forward to it, even then. I had been looking forward to that game back in April because I wanted revenge for a 2-1 home defeat to Cambridge over thirty years before in the season that Town last won the second division championship. Back in 1991, entertaining, skilful, sexy Ipswich were beaten by a horrible Cambridge team managed by John Beck who had reduced the beautiful game to something like a cross between rugby league, cage fighting and carpet bombing. I'm a mild-mannered fellow, I don't think I'm one to bear a grudge, but in this case, I seem to have made an exception; I hated that bloody Cambridge team and want revenge.
After over eight hours of my one day a week in the office, I decide that I have been here long enough and break free of the shackles of my desk, tablet and screen; I start to roam, then I'm in town; it's a sadly depressing place at this time of day, everything is closed, it's like a ruin. After I've browsed the books in Waterstones and bought my mother a bottle of Croft original sherry (£12.50) for her birthday from Sainsbury's, where the very old man at the checkout struggles amusingly to remove the magnetic security tag, there's nothing to do. I take the sherry back to my car and head for the Arbor House, formerly known as the Arboretum. I walk past the Axa Insurance building (formerly Guardian Royal Exchange) and through the window I see one those supposedly inspiring quotes printed on a wall. "Don't be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered" it says. "Sod that", I think.
At the top of High Street, what was once the Arboretum shines out like a beacon in the fading evening light, as pubs do. I order a pint of Lacon's Encore (£3.80) and a portion of 'Very French French Fries' (£7.00) which consists of thick cut chips intermingled with bits of bacon and brie. Out in the beer garden I sit and wait for Mick and cannot avoid hearing the conversation of three lads sat a few tables away. They are talking football, it's a boring conversation. My Very French French Fries arrive before Mick does, but he's not far behind and he orders some chips covered with stuff too; we talk of my recent holiday in France and the six football matches I went to, of the French resistance and German U-boat docks, of Rennes, Nantes and the long deceased (1514) Duchess Anne of Brittany and driving in French cities.
With beers drunk and chips eaten, we depart for Portman Road, a bit earlier than usual but it's dark now and the lure of football under floodlights is drawing us in like moths to a flame, or even a floodlight. Leaving Mick at the turnstiles to the Magnus Group Stand (formerly the plain old West Stand) in Sir Alf Ramsey Way (formerly Portman Walk), I wish him 'Bon match' and strike out for turnstile 60 at the back of the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand (formerly Churchman's). The cheery young turnstile operator bids me hello, cheerily, and I thank her for doing whatever it is she does to let me into the temple of Sir Alf.
In the lower tier of the stand ever-present Phil who never misses a game is already here, but Fiona isn't and Pat from Clacton still has Covid, and for the first time ever I have arrived before the man who is definitely from Stowmarket. As I reach my seat stadium announcer Stephen Foster tells us that kick-off will be delayed by 15 minutes because of an earlier incident on the Orwell Bridge, which has apparently caused traffic congestion in the town. I am left to stand alone and watch the pitch being heavily watered and the stands fill up inexorably, which of course they do and before I know it the teams are striding onto the pitch and Fiona and the man from Stowmarket are sat beside me. Before kick-off we observe a minute's silence as mark of respect for the 174 football supporters killed in a stampede or crush at a match in Indonesia between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya. But for the roaring drone of a jet aeroplane above and a few coughs the silence is perfect and still.
When kick-off comes it is Town who get first go with the ball and are quickly into their swift passing game, producing slick interchanges of the ball down the right and crosses into the Cambridge penalty area. Up in the Cobbold stand close to 2,000 Cantabrigians are gathered and many ramble through some unintelligible, tuneless mantra as the lower tier of the Sir Bobby Robson stand launch into their signature version of Boney M's million-selling Christmas number one from 1978, although credit must also go to Harry Belafonte who first recorded it in 1956. "Who the fuck? Who the fuckin' 'ell are you" continue the Cambridge boys rather mysteriously, as if they'd forgotten where they'd come to in the course of an 85 kilometre one hour journey.
After the initial burst of noise from the excitement of kick-off, the stands fall quiet for a while, then Freddie Ladapo chases a through ball to raucous encouragement before being flagged offside. Town are on top, but the ball is moving too swiftly over the wet turf and through balls and forward passes are eluding the likes of Wes Burns and Freddie Ladapo. When Cambridge get the ball they try to break quickly too, causing ripples of concern amongst the home crowd. In fact, it is Cambridge who have the first shot that isn't blocked, although the player responsible might have wished it had been as Jubril Okedina's effort poses more threat to the people sat behind the goal than it does to Christian Walton's clean sheet.
The man from Stowmarket and I are swopping comments about the wet pitch; he says he is expecting to see a submarine surface any minute. As long as the torpedoes are ours I tell him, and it's not a Russian submarine, he adds. Nearly twenty minutes have been lost to history and talk of underwater craft; Conor Chaplin wins a free-kick on the edge of the Cambridge penalty area as he appears to be lifted off the ground by a challenge. Chaplin gets back on his feet to lift the ball over the defensive wall nicely enough, but it's an easy catch the Cambridge 'keeper Dimitar Mitov. "De, de-de-de, de- fuckin' useless" chant the Cambridge boys to the tune of Pigbags' 'Papa's got a brand new pigbag', which they obviously know reached number three in the UK singles chart in 1982. The Town fans retaliate with the same chant just a few minutes later as full-back George Williams wellies the ball hopelessly into touch with all the finesse and control of Boris Johnson's hair stylist.
In a break from tradition tonight at Portman Road, it is the away supporters who are telling the referee that he doesn't know what he is doing as he resists the temptation to award free-kicks whenever a Cambridge player comes in contact with the wet grass. Some habits die harder however, and the Cambridge fans are still the ones to ask "Shall we sing, shall we sing, shall we sing a song for you?" and as per usual no one takes them up on their kind offer.
Nearly half an hour has gone and whilst Ipswich are dominating, their frequent crosses and forays down the flanks aren't producing many shots that Mitov is having to save. Again, Cambridge spurn a rare chance when Sam Smith shoots both high and wide after a free-kick and low cross. Cambridge are frustrating Town with their dense defending and as usual the Town supporters clam up when their team aren't winning. "Your support is fucking shit" sing the Cambridge fans, quickly following it up with "You're supposed to be at home", and I imagine a youth up in the Cobbold stand sat thinking "which chant criticising their support shall we sing next?" and someone else is saying "Oooh yeah, that's a good one, let's do that".
Wes Burns can't keep the ball in play from another forward pass and Pigbag's only hit is heard for a third time; it's getting boring now. But then Wes has more luck and Janoi Donacien heads one of his crosses narrowly wide before another cross sets up Leif Davis for a header which is blocked to give Town a corner. Both teams then win aimless corners and Town produce one of the finest moves of the half as Marcus Harness threads through a through ball for Wes Burns who then crosses to the far post for Leif Davis to strike the ball into the side netting. Another corner follows and a minute of time is added on, but the score remains disappointingly blank which means that Cambridge are effectively winning. The players leave the field to the opening bars of Elvis Costello's 'Pump It Up', another song from that wonderful year 1978.
With the half-time break I leave my seat to go and speak with Harrison and his dad; Ray isn't here tonight because he is at the Ipswich Regent watching Steve Hackett, another of the community of literally immortal prog rockers from the 1970's who just can't stop playing.
The football resumes at seven minutes past nine and for the opening minutes the Sir Bobby Robson stand lower tier have renewed voice. "Come On Ipswich, Come On Ipswich" they chant. "Fuck off Ipswich, Fuck Off Ipswich" respond the lads from the Cambridge Footlights Review satirically, before quickly remembering that they were meant to be criticising us for our poor support and switching to "We forgot that you were here". We are no match for the untamed wit.
The second half is a repeat of the first, but with more square passes from Ipswich and fewer successful through passes and crosses, but equally Cambridge hardly get forward at all. Something better change I think and with sixty-six minutes of the game gone forever Kyle Edwards replaces Wes Burns, Lee Evans usurps Dominic Ball and Tyreece John-Jules is the new Conor Chaplin. Tonight's attendance is announced as 26,414 with 1,745 being Cambridge fans and they sing "Football in a library, de-de-dur" as they continue to riff on the familiar theme for just a short while longer and sing another song in which at least half of the 'words' are really just noises made with their front teeth.
Everything is in place for the seventy-second minute, which arrives on time and sees Lee Evans play the ball out to Marcus Harness whose low cross is brilliantly but inadvertently flicked up in the air by a Cambridge defender. From where I'm sat it looks like the ball spins up and drops down under the cross bar, but in fact Tyreece John-Jules is the man to apply the coup de grace and Town lead 1-0. What a relief, and once again the substitutions have worked almost instantly, as if some sort of magic wand has been waved. Tonight, there is no fear that the magic will be undone with a sudden unwarranted equaliser and the reason for this is that within two minutes Town score again, this time Kyle Edwards possibly shaping up to cross the ball, but instead launching it into the far top corner from an improbable distance and bearing. It's not luck, it's the law of averages; if you cross the ball enough sooner or later a defender will deflect it favourably for you or a cross will go straight into the goal.
With fifteen minutes of normal time remaining Portman Road is filled with the noise of the home supporters emitting "lo-lo-los" and "Ei-Ei-Os" for all their worth. The transformation from the relative quiet of five minutes before is astonishing and the Cambridge chants of "Sing when you're winning" don't really begin to describe how fickle we are in our support for our team.
Kayden Jackson replaces Freddie Ladapo and Cambridge makes substitutions too, one of whom is former Town starlet Jack Lankester; the other is Fejiri Okenabirhie whose name is pronounced by PA man Stephen Foster with the verbal dexterity one would expect of a former BBC presenter, even if he was on Radio Suffolk. The goals haven't changed the game tonight, Town continue to plug away and Cambridge can only defend. Sam Morsy hits a post with a shot which looked to be about to hit the net, and then with four minutes remaining of normal time a Tyreece John-Jules shot is blocked and spins across the penalty area, Kyle Edwards reacts with an alacrity that makes the Cambridge players around him look like they've been rolling joints for the past hour and steers the ball into the Cambridge goal with the outside of an outstretched foot.
The ensuing joyful songs and chants are too much for the Cantabrigians, many of whom begin to head back to the sanctuary of the A14. Four minutes of added on time are played and then it's history, Ipswich Town have beaten Cambridge United 3-0, it's the sound thrashing that we've been waiting to give them for thirty years. It's just as well revenge is a dish best served cold.
Forest Green Rovers 1 Ipswich Town 2
August 8, 2022 August 9, 2022 / martinpbrooks / Leave a comment
The wonder of Google Maps tells us that from my house it's a three and a quarter hour, 280 kilometre drive to the Forest Green Rovers park and ride car park at Woodchester, but from my step-son's house in the silvan suburbs of Basingstoke, the same destination is less than 125 kilometres away and can be reached in under 90 minutes. With these statistics in mind, I have adopted the excuse of 'seeing the grandchildren' in order to get free board and lodging and to break up the journey for what will be the first time I have driven to an away match since Town's 5-2 win at Rotherham in 2015, back in the heady days of Brett Pitman, Jonathan Douglas and Kevin Bru.
Leaving the house at a civilised 11:30am, the journey down the M4, up the A419 to Cirencester and along the A46 to Woodchester is a breeze, and the good karma continues when the park and ride turns out to be free today because the organisers aren't sufficiently organised, although as the very nice man at the gate tells me this isn't good really because the takings would be donated to local schools. The white bus, reminding me of the 1967 film debut of Anthony Hopkins, is already waiting and after waiting a bit longer to fill up with a full load it lurches off along the valley into Nailsworth before turning right in the town centre and struggling up Spring Hill and Nympsfield Road to the New Lawn, the current home of Forest Green Rovers. "Not very environmental" says the Forest Green fan sat in front of me on the bus "Must use about four 'undred quid's worth of fuel getting up 'ere". Ironically, the all-white bus is operated by a company called Cotswold Green. What they need are trolleybuses.
Thanking the lady bus driver, who to my shame makes me think of Diane the community service supervisor in the BBC tv series The Outlaws, I alight from the bus with the other sixty-odd park and riders. The New Lawn is every inch a typical non-league ground sitting in a field at the side of the road and is mostly all the better for that. I visit the club shop, a portacabin, but the array of souvenir toot is sadly disappointing, although I do meet ever-present Phil who never misses a game and his son Elwood there; Phil has bought a shirt for his collection; it won't fit him, but it had been reduced to a tenner. I take a wander and find the Town team bus, a lovely view over some fields, the dressing rooms, which remind me a bit of somewhere like Kirkley & Pakefield or Haverhill in the Eastern Counties League, and a bar called the Green Dragon. Feeling thirsty after my drive and my bus trip, I decide to go in. "Is it okay to go in?" I say not verbally, but with my eyebrows and general expression to the steward outside as I reach for the door. "Home or away?" he asks suspiciously. Thinking quickly, but not really having to because my seat today is with the home supporters, I feign my best insouciant Gloucestershire accent by rolling my 'r's and pursing my lips slightly over the 'o' and answer "err, home".
Inside the Green Dragon, which despite the pub name has the charm and character of a works social club or village hall, I queue a good ten minutes for a pint of Stroud Brewery 'Budding' (£4.80), and very tasty and refreshing it is too, even if the price is exorbitant; presumably however it would cost even more if there wasn't just one very pleasant lady serving the drinks and one operating the till. Beer consumed I decide to enter the stadium, I walk towards turnstile number four only to see the turnstile operator climbing over it; quickly assessing the situation I head for turnstile number three and show my ticket to a lady steward, who becomes the second woman to remind me of tv's Diane of The Outlaws today. Diane 2 simply ushers me through an open gate into the stand. I like to think this is my reward for responsibly asking her where I can dispose of my environmentally friendly plastic beer mug; in the bins inside the stand, she tells me without hesitation.
Inside the ground there is a long queue for vegan food at the oddly named "Oh, it's you again" food outlet; most people seem to favour chips with curry sauce, but there are a few quite tasty-looking Quorn pies in evidence too. If I hadn't lost time enough from my life already by queuing for beer, I would have tried one. Instead, I find my seat (£23.00) and wait for kick-off, absorbing the rustic non-league ambience of this most bucolic and lovely of Football League grounds. The cars parked up on a meadow at the back make it look like there could be a country fair or festival going on. At the back of the covered terrace off to my left a man in a cage and wearing a flat cap bangs a drum.
The players soon enter the pitch from the dressing room block in the corner and a terrifying, green but otherwise indescribable club mascot marauds towards the stand making a young woman cower in fear. After an unannounced, mystery 15 second 'minute' silence and subsequent applause, the game begins with Forest Green Rovers, wearing lurid green shirts with black tiger stripes and lurid green shorts and socks, kicking off in the direction of Stroud, whilst Town model their traditional blue shirts and socks with white shorts, and kick towards nowhere in particular except the Forest Green goal and that drummer in the flat cap. Apart from the Town players I have no idea who anyone is because Forest Green Rovers do not print a programme or even a team sheet and have only a rudimentary scoreboard. I would expect them to e-mail club members and ticket holders an e-programme as St Etienne in France do, but they don't, which to coin a phrase that seems popular amongst Town fans on-line, smacks of being 'tin-pot'.
Town soon win a corner. "Come On You Blues" chant a good number of the Ipswichians on the open terrace on the far side of the ground beneath the meadow with the cars on it. Town's Marcus Harness has a shot, which isn't very good and so far his touches on the ball have been poor; between the away terrace and the stand at the Stroud end of the ground I notice an ice cream van parked up on the Nympsfield Road, which sports a huge cone on the front. A couple of blokes are watchng the game for free over the fence. Nine minutes pass and Forest Green have their first shot, which swerves wide and high of the Town goal. The bloke in the flat cap bangs his drum and those around him sing "Campiones", because Forest Green Rovers are indeed the reigning fourth division champions, even if it is of England and not Spain or Argentina as their chant implies.
Twelve minutes gone and Marcus Harness attempts a half-volley which is on target, but frustratingly it's execution can't match the satisfying rhyming quality of his first name and surname. "It needs a goal" says the woman sitting next to me. "I'm not coming again if it's nil-nil." Five minutes on and Town win their second corner. "Hark now hear the Ipswich sing, the Norwich ran away" chant a good number of Ipswich fans channelling their strange love of Boney M Christmas hits. Marcus Harness tries his luck on the right-hand side of the pitch but unfortunately his touch is as uncertain as it was on the left. The woman in the seat next but one from me cheers Town's corner and I tentatively ask if she might be a Town fan too; she is, in a manner of speaking; she is here because Ipswich is her home town and it turns out she and her brother went to the same schools in Ipswich as my sister and I did; she now lives round the corner from The New Lawn and has simply turned up to support her hometown team, as any person with a soul would.
Twenty minutes of the game have gone and Town captain Sam Morsy has a header well saved by whoever the Forest Green goalkeeper is. The woman next to me expresses her admiration for Morsy. "He's fiery, that's what you want" she says, before adding in a thoughtful manner redolent of Pam Ayres with her rolled r's "In a controlled manner". Soon afterwards Freddie Lapado turns and shoots to force a flying save from the home goalkeeper. From the corner Wes Burns misses the ball and then Lee Evans loses it, allowing the Rovers to break away down the right and the resultant cross is hoofed away by George Edmundson for Rovers' first corner. It is a stark warning to Town that by dominating possession they can be vulnerable to such quick breaks which can happen almost by chance.
In crossing the ball in that breakaway the Rovers' number twenty-two is injured and is replaced by number three, a player who the woman next to me had commented upon as he warmed up, due to what she referred to as his "1970's shorts" which look shorter than those of the other players; she speculates as to whether he has tucked them up into his pants. Number three enters the field of play and very soon the woman next to me says "He's annoying me with those shorts", and she's right, so much thigh does look a little ridiculous, a bit like Alan Partridge in his running shorts. I like that according to his shirt this player is called Bernard, I think it suits his 1970's vibe. A third of the game is now forever lost in the mists of time, and Conor Chaplin shoots, but it's an easy save for the Rovers' goalkeeper. "Come on Rovers" chant the supporters to my left, the Town fans have fallen silent, sapped perhaps by standing out in the heat of the afternoon sun.
With less than ten minutes until half-time, Rovers almost score as a low cross from the right somehow only produces a goal-kick for Town when the defence looked breached. Typically however, a missed opportunity at one end sees a goal soon after at the other, and in the thirty-sixth minute a 'rifled' snap-shot from Marcus Harness hits the top left hand corner of net and Town lead. After a prolonged period of silence, the Town's fans can now burst into song again and begin a musical conversation with the Rovers fan which has me thinking of the song "Anything you can do (I can do better)" from Irving Berlin's 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun. "Sing when you're winning you only sing when you're winning" chant the observant Rovers' fans. "1-0 to the Tractor Boys" reply the Town fans as if to prove the point. "We forgot, we forgot, we forgot that you were here" reply the Rovers' fans although they are blatantly lying because it was only a minute ago they were chanting about Town fans only singing when they are winning. "Here for the Ipswich, you're only here for the Ipswich" is the sneering response from the away support, which they then cap with the withering put down "No noise from the Vegan boys, no noise from the Vegan boys" to which the Vegan boys either can't think of anything to sing in response or they no longer care, and would rather eat some more chips with curry sauce.
Town end the half as much the better team as first another slightly weak Marcus Harness shot is saved by the mystery goalkeeper and then in the four minutes of time added on, a move down the left ends with Sam Morsy placing a perfect arc of a shot into the top right-hand corner of the Rovers' goal for a 2-0 half-time lead.
Half-time passes talking to the women beside me, discovering that sitting behind the woman originally from Ipswich are two old boys who are also Town supporters and listening to an eclectic and enjoyable mix of music over the PA system including John Barry's theme from Goldfinger sung by Shirley Bassey and David Bowie's Starman, songs that somehow seem appropriate at a club where the owner is a New Age traveller turned eco-energy entrepreneur. It makes supporting a club owned by an American pension fund seem very dull indeed, regardless of the cash that has been splashed.
At seven minutes past four the game resumes, this time with Town getting first go with the ball, although it is Rovers who look most effective early on and they soon earn a corner. "Rovers (clap, clap, clap,) Rovers,(clap, clap, clap)" is the steady, traditional sound emanating from the locals and even some in the 'posh' twenty-three quid seats around me join in . The corner comes to nothing and soon Freddie Ladapo is teed up to hit a shot very high and very wide; then Town win a corner and then another courtesy of the energetic Conor Chaplin who looks like he's enjoying himself. The Town support is waning however and the chants of "Come On You Blues" before the corner are rather feeble, as if all that lunch time drinking outside in the sun is now taking its toll. On the hour there is a drinks break for the players before Forest Green make a double substitution, and the effects of the Lucozade and fresh legs are almost immediate as on 64 minutes the Rovers' number 28 knocks the ball into the Ipswich goal from close range in the sort of goal mouth melee which Ipswich are generally incapable of even creating let alone scoring from.
This is the home team's moment, and for a good five minutes they effortlessly drift past the Town defenders who look as if they have been dazzled by the glare from a judiciously angled solar panel. The 68th minute sees Rovers put the ball in the Town net again via a towering head from a corner, but the lurid day-glo green shirts make it easy for the assistant referee to spot that a couple of the Rovers players were offside.
Town need to shore up their defence and Greg Leigh replaces the crocked Lief Davis, but still Christian Walton is forced to make a save to keep Town's lead in tact. Twenty minutes of normal time remain and Conor Chaplin and Marcus Harness are replaced by Tyreece John-Jules and Sone Aluko. Town seem to have weathered the worst of what Forest Green can do and a shot on the turn from Sone Aluko almost seals the result. Another feeble chant of 'Come On You Blues' emanates from the sun struck recovering alcoholics on the far side of the ground. With time ebbing away tempers fray and Sam Morsy seems to be the target for some winding-up. He gives as good if not better than he gets but then stays down on ground to eek out some more time. "Wanker" calls out a rustic and slightly inebriated voice from somewhere behind me, it's the most impolite thing I 've heard all afternoon.
Six minutes remain and Kayden Jackson and Kane Vincent-Young replace Freddie Lapado and Wes Burns. The woman next to me has only just been convinced that the score isn't two-all. The final minute arrives and Town's Cameron Burgess is extremely lucky not to be sent off as he pulls back an opponent who appeared to have a free run a goal from about 20 metres out. "You don't know what you're doin" chant the home fans at the orange shirted referee, and they have a point, but he's not alone as the fourth official holds up his electronic board showing a staggering nine minutes of added–on time. It sounds like long enough to lay down another strata of Oolitic Limestone, but it passes surprisingly quickly which is a probably a measure of how much Town are on top.
With the final whistle I bid farewell to the two women and make an unauthorised exit up the steps and through the hospitality area behind me, leaving the stand via the 'grand', carpeted central staircase before dashing off to join the queue for the white bus. I've had a lovely afternoon as I had thought I would. The win helped of course, but for a country lad The New Lawn has lived up to expectations, despite the obvious short comings such as no programmes, no decent, pointless souvenirs and inadequate staffing in the bar, but there's more to life than collecting stuff and getting served quickly. The Football League needs more clubs like Forest Green Rovers.
'How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers won the FA Cup (1975) by J L Carr
Cider with Rosie (1959) by Laurie Lee
Ipswich Town 0 Cheltenham Town 0
February 24, 2022 June 27, 2022 / martinpbrooks / Leave a comment
It's been a while since I've been to watch the Town at Portman Road, having forgone the last six matches thanks to the pandemic. But it's been a lot longer since I last saw Cheltenham Town play (7th September 2002 at Layer Road, Colchester to be precise), and it's a lot longer still since Cheltenham Town played at Portman Road (19th March 1938 in the Southern League). Add to the weight of history the fact that because I am not in my nineties, I have never seen Ipswich Town play Cheltenham Town at Portman Road, and you have the recipe for an evening of excitement to rival that of the last match I saw live, Town versus Barrow in the FA Cup, a truly awful goalless draw as I recall. On days like this I don't miss the Championship one little bit. What's being in the third division for if it's not for playing the likes of Cheltenham Town? Live for the moment and breathe as deep as you dare.
Rocking up on Anglesea Road at twenty-seven minutes to seven, I park my trusty Citroen C3 on a single yellow line and head for what I call the Arboretum pub, but the current occupiers label the Arbor House. Eight minutes later I have hurried as quickly as I could through the bar, pausing only to mumble a request for a pint of Lacon's 'Jack Valentine' (£3.80) through my face mask, and now I sit in the peace, solitude and creeping cold of the softly lit beer garden. Amusing myself with the wonders accessible on my mobile phone I sip my beer and get into the funky groove of the righteous soul music climbing out of the plastic speaker in the corner of the garden shelter in which I'm sat. If I didn't know I was in Ipswich I'd think I was in 1970's Harlem as the sounds of Sir Joe Quatermain and Free Soul ((I got) so much trouble in my mind (1973)); Smokey Robinson (Baby that's backatcha (1975)) and the Bobby "Blue" Band (Ain't no love in the heart of the city (1974)) move my feet and my boogie body. Beginning to feel like I've stepped back in time and looking forward to seeing the likes of Ian Collard, David Johnson and Colin Harper at Portman Road tonight I suddenly return to the now with the realisation that for £3.80 I could probably have bought everyone in the pub a drink or may be two in 1973, although I would have been a tad underage to have done so.
Leaving my reverie in the pub garden I head for Portman Road, my heart leaping a little as I catch a first glimpse of the glare of the floodlights in the night sky. I approach the ground along Alderman Road to manufacture that 'going to the match' down terraced streets feel. In the back of the Sir Bobby Robson (North) stand supporters already in the ground appears as silhouettes on the stairs and through the plate glass windows of the concourse. Having purchased nothing with coins of the realm for over a month I recklessly buy both a programme (£3.50) and a Turnstile Blue fanzine (£1). I walk between the rows of fumy supporters' buses lined up opposite the old tram depot and approach the Sir Alf Ramsey stand from the Constantine Road gate, eventually returning to Portman Road through turnstile number 60. I'm back.
In the stand I reacquaint myself with Pat from Clacton and ever-present Phil who never missed a game until he caught Covid; they've missed me, or at least that's what they tell me; they're nice like that. With seconds to go before kick-off Fiona arrives too and I say hello to the man who sits to my right, who I always imagine is older than me, but possibly isn't. The game begins; Town getting first go with the ball, but I am quickly struck by how disappointed I am by Cheltenham's kit. In my mind's eye, a phrase that reminds me of my favourite Small Faces song, I see Cheltenham Town in red and white stripes, but tonight they sport a sort of knock-off Arsenal shirt with pinstripes and a Raglan sleeve. The Raglan sleeve incidentally is the least desirable of all the sleeves for use on a football shirt.
Aside from the shirts, the football is fast and frantic, with Wes Burns uncontrollably shooting over the cross bar from close range after five minutes, and Bersant Celina making a weaving run before dipping the ball over the cross bar not five minutes later as Town confidently dominate their sartorial inferiors. The ostentatiously bald-headed referee, Mr Andy Davies, unexpectedly makes me think of the similarly hairless, on-loan St Etienne goalkeeper Paul Bernadoni, before a man behind me with a slightly Northern or Midlands accent annoys with a laugh that sounds like Disney's Goofy. "Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky; keep going, keep going, keep going" says an oddly repetitive woman from behind as another Town attack comes to nought and the Sir Bobby Robson Stand show signs of life, breaking into Boney M's "Mary's Boy Child", to sing as ever of ceaseless fighting despite Norwich having run away, and all apparently and mysteriously because of Boxing Day. High up in the Cobbold Stand the Cheltenham followers reveal a lack of originality matched only by their lack of memory as they chant "We forgot, we forgot we forgot that you were here" to the tune of Cwm Rhondda. With my attention back on the pitch, I can't help but guffaw as Cheltenham's Reece Hutchinson hurls himself headlong to the ground in a wonderfully unconvincing attempt to cheat his way to a free-kick. What was I thinking, staying away to avoid Covid when I could have been a part of this rich tapestry?
Ipswich's dominance is total and is such that two of our three defenders, Janoi Donacien and Luke Woolfenden are seen exchanging forward passes within twenty-five metres of the Cheltenham goal. Then a deep, angled Tommy Carroll cross is met with a diving header from Conor Chaplin, only for Cheltenham goalkeeper Owen Evans to palm the ball away in front of Bersant Celina, who is taken too much by surprise to attempt to kick the ball back at the goal. I'm just thinking how we haven't been able to exploit Kayden Jackson's ability to run very fast, when he suddenly breaks down the left, but when he comes to cross the ball he seems to have become over excited and at the far post the ball skids off the forehead of Conor Chaplin at such speed that it must have caused a friction burn. It somehow feels as if everyone is just a bit too eager, but out of the blue at the North Stand end Christian Walton fails to clear the ball successfully and his scuffed effort falls to a Cheltenham's theatrically named Elliott Bonds, but fortunately Bonds' left footed shot sails hopelessly high above the goal.
Town's onslaught resumes and Cheltenham show the first sign of resorting to non-footballing tactics to relieve the pressure. "Oh, get up you wanker" says a polite sounding woman behind me as a red-shirted defender lays prostrate on the turf following a gentle collision with another bloke in a football shirt. "Shall we sing, shall we sing, shall we sing a song for you?" chant the Cheltonians predictably in a quiet moment, and equally predictably no one responds. Kayden Jackson delivers a slightly limp shot into the arms of Owen Evans and with the first half half-over, Town win their first corner, from which Tommy Carroll shoots impressively wide to the extent that the ball arcs away from the goal and stays on the pitch; Bersant Celina spots the unlikely trajectory and crosses the ball back into the 'mixer' but there's no happy end to the incident.
The second half of the first half plays out in a succession of Town corners and missed goal attempts. Much of the first half football has been as exciting as it's ever been at Portman Road in the past twenty years, but the plain truth is there has been no one to put the ball in the net. As the half draws to a close Wes Burns turns to lash the ball back into the area in front of the goal from the by-line, but the ball strikes Hutchinson's outstretched arm or possibly arms; VAR would doubtless have recorded the crime but instead Town are awarded another corner from which Luke Woolfenden deftly diverts a graceful header very precisely over the cross bar.
With the half-time whistle the Cheltenham players jog hastily and as one from the pitch, as if someone had just said "last one back in the changing room's a sissy". By contrast Town's players seem either less enthused, or just less sensitive to childish name calling. It seems more likely they are lost in thought, grappling to understand how they are not two or three goals up. Forgetting about football for a bit I pop down to the front of the stand to talk to Ray, his grandson Harrison and Harrison's dad. Behind us stadium announcer and former BBC Radio Suffolk presenter Stephen Foster hands over his microphone to comedian and TV personality Omid Djalili, but sadly his words are completely scrambled by the hopeless public address system. Meanwhile Harrison's dad offers me what the Tim Horton's website enticingly describes as a 'mini donut style cake ball'. I am warned that it will probably taste of maple syrup; but contrarily it tastes of cinnamon. Whilst not ungrateful, and happy to ingest either cinnamon or maple syrup flavoured foodstuffs I am happy not to be offered another.
Cheltenham Town kick-off the second half by lumping the ball down field in the traditional manner. Town soon get back to winning corners, but with much less frequency than before and somehow the speed and excitement of the first half has departed, leaving in its place mis-directed passes and an unsporting belief amongst the Cheltenham team that they could break away and score a goal of their own. I remain full of hope, but either Town have lost their mojo or Cheltenham have worked us out. The game descends into more of a battle with half an hour to go as Cheltenham's Charlie Colcutt becomes the first player to enter Mr Davies' address book for a heinous foul on Wes Burns and then the substitutions begin with Kane Vincent-Young replacing Dominic Thompson and the oddly named Macauley Bonne appearing in lieu of Kayden Jackson. Cheltenham stopper Lewis Freestone is next to have his name etched in copper plate in baldy-Davies's book as ten minutes later the Cheltenham number six ruthlessly chops down Conor Chaplin.
One bright spot in the second half is the announcement of the night's attendance of 21,318, of whom 251 are supporting Cheltenham. Pat from Clacton announces to Fiona and I that the winner of the Clacton supporters' coach guess the crowd competition is the squirrel that steals the food from the bird table in her garden. I explain to Fiona that squirrels are very clever animals, but I didn't know they enjoyed coach travel.
Following speed, excitement and accurate passing, enjoyment now leaves the game as Callum Wright of Cheltenham hangs about too long in a prone position on the turf and draws the vitriol of the Sir Bobby Robson stand for his trouble. "Wanker, Wanker!" roar the lower tier to Wright's bemusement as he is soon substituted with Aaron Ramsey. "How could they tell?" he must be wondering to himself as he looks for hairs on the palms of his hands. Time is running out and in desperation a chant of "Come On You Blues!" is sent out into the ever more chilly night air. But the chant is only repeated twice more, almost as if everybody feels a bit self-conscious about shouting for any longer than that.
The final ten minutes are miserable as Cheltenham players spend an unusual amount of time apparently suffering from cramp, something that I thought only happened in extra time in Wembley Cup finals. Sadly, the ever-unresourceful Town fans can only think of chanting "Boring Boring, Cheltenham" rather than urging on their own team to victory by turning Portman Road into a frightening cauldron of noise. Cheltenham do waste time, but what professional football team doesn't when they are close to claiming a hoped for but not necessarily expected away point?
"Come on Ipswich, score in the final second" I say to creation as the sixth minute of added on time ebbs away. But the final whistle blows, and it feels a bit like we've lost. That's the trouble with expectation, especially when you've not had any for a while. Not to worry, I think I'll still be back again next time.
Ipswich Town 2 Shrewsbury Town 1
October 10, 2021 February 10, 2022 / martinpbrooks / Leave a comment
The football aspect of my weekend has started well. On Friday evening I logged into FFF tv, the free tv channel of the French football association, to watch one of my favourite French teams, FC Sete take on Stade Lavallois in Ligue National, the French third division; it's sort of like watching ifollow, but without BBC Radio Suffolk's Brenner Woolley or Mick Mills (Michel Moulins in France) , and not being English the FFF don't charge for it. Things didn't immediately go well, Sete went a goal behind, a blow from which they never recovered but early in the second half I checked up on how my other Ligue National team, Red Star St Ouen, were doing; somewhat annoyingly, seeing as I wasn't watching them, they were winning 3-0 away at Avranche. I soon switched feeds but not soon enough to see Red Star's fourth goal, although at least I saw their fifth and sixth goals to create some welcome Anglo-French symmetry with Town's recent thrashing of Doncaster Rovers.
This morning the sun continues to shine, literally, from a bright blue autumn sky. It's the sort of beautiful day that makes you feel glad to be alive. I do the usual things, parking up my trusty Citroen on Chantry and strolling down through Gippeswyk Park, but by way of a change from routine I am going to buy my programme (£3.50) before my pre-match beer. Having only a twenty-pound note in my wallet I decide to buy my programme from the club shop where I can pay by card; but stepping over the threshold I am witness to a sea of unmasked faces queuing at the tills. It looks like a cross between the January sales and the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Not wanting to even risk entering a scene of such thoughtless disregard for the health and safety of others in such a confined space, I make a hasty retreat and form a queue of one at the nearest programme seller's booth. Programme in hand, I proceed up Portman Road, along Little Gipping Street, across Civic Drive, up Lady Lane and St George's Street to what used to be The Arboretum, but is now known as the Arbor House. The bar is surprisingly empty and having purchased a pint of Nethergate Copperhead (£3.80) I make the short walk through to the beer garden where I am mildly surprised to find Mick already sat at a table behind a pint of Mauldon's something or rather (he can't remember exactly what), with his mobile phone in hand, texting me to say "Je suis dans le jardin", which I tell him is exactly what I was going to do if he hadn't beaten me to it.
Having discussed "new Labour", Mick's daughter's recent wedding and his father of the bride speech, how we have been born in the wrong country, the utterly unbelievable ineptness of Boris Johnson, the whereabouts of mutual friends, and the Sheffield Wednesday game we find we have drained our glasses and with no time for more beer we head for Portman Road. As we walk to the ground we share our bafflement over what appears on the front of Ipswich Town's shirt. I think we both know it's something to do with a tour by Ed Sheeran, but what does it mean? I tell Mick that I don't think it makes any sense in algebraic terms and we confide in each other that we had both wondered if the mystifyingly popular ginger recording artist was trying to say something obliquely about living in 'divided times', but we had both been a bit embarrassed to mention it to anyone else.⁹
Having bid farewell to Mick at the West Stand turnstiles in Sir Alf Ramsey Way, I proceed past checkpoint Covid on the Constantine Road gate to turnstile No 59, the portal to another world, the foyer to which is the men's toilet beneath the Sir Alf Ramsey stand; relieved, I am soon making my first appearance this month in the lower tier seats. Against the usual background of overly loud music, presumably intended to excite me as well as make my ears ring unpleasantly, stadium announcer and former Radio Suffolk presenter Stephen Foster somewhat alarmingly speaks of Town having put Doncaster Rovers "to the sword" in the last home game. Then, sounding like an entertainer at a child's birthday party, Stephen asks the crowd if Town can do the same to Shrewsbury. The response is not an enthusiastic one and suggests that "probably not" is the consensus.
Following the taking of the knee, which we all applaud, the game begins with Shrewsbury Town getting first go with the ball, which they are mainly hoping to aim in the direction of the goal just in front of me. Today, Shrewsbury are wearing an unusual kit of pink socks, black shorts, and black and pink hooped shirts; they look like a team of Denis the Menaces who are in touch with their female side. There don't appear to be any away fans wearing the replica shirts of this kit, although I think I can see a woman in a pale pink cardigan. To my right Fiona and Pat from Clacton discuss the UEFA Cup celebrating musical 'Never Lost At Home' which Fiona is seeing at the Wolsey Theatre tonight and Pat saw last night. "It brought back so many memories" Pat tells Fiona. I share with them that I am going to watch it on-line this evening, and I am destined to discover that my experience mirrors Pat's.
Eight minutes pass and Wesley Burns receives a through ball, which he crosses low for the oddly named Macauley Bonne to hit into the Shrewsbury goal from close range, only for Macauley Bonne to have been offside. The near miss provokes a burst of noise from the lower tier of the Sir Bobby Robson stand and a fulsome chant echoes around the stands for at least a few seconds. Town are permanently ensconced in the Shrewsbury half. "Here we go" says Pat from Clacton trying to influence events as the ball is crossed from a free-kick; but Wes Burns' header goes into the side netting. Town win a corner. "Ipswich, Ipswich", "Come On You Blues" chant the Sir Bobby Robson stand with gusto and Matt Penney sends an angled shot whistling past the far post from 25 metres out.
"Nice to see the ball down here" says the bloke behind me contrarily as Shrewsbury make a rare foray towards Vaclav Hladky's goal and Ryan Bowman heads over the cross bar. It's an incident that causes excitement amongst the Shropshire lads lurking in the shadows at the back of the Cobbold Stand, who don't sing but instead read from their books of poetry by AE Housman. Two minutes later and a left foot shot from Lee Evans is blocked. A further minute passes and the oddly named Macauley Bonne heads a Matt Penney cross goalwards forcing a flying save from Shrewsbury 'keeper Marko Marosi. But Marosi can only push the ball away and Conor Chaplin nips in to fire the ball into the net and give Town a deserved lead. A little bizarrely, the reaction of the lower tier of the Sir Bobby Robson stand is to go all 1970's and sing about endlessly fighting 'the Norwich' because of Boxing Day, I can only attribute this to a liking for the back catalogue of Boney M.
Relaxing, confident that we are on our way to another handsome victory, I think to myself how Town's Cameron Burgess reminds me of Town legend Terry Butcher; this is mostly because of his height and the shape of his legs, but also extends to his ability to boot a ball up the left side of the pitch and curl it out into touch for a throw to the opposition. Behind me one bloke asks the other if he thinks we might see another 6-0 win, but thankfully he doesn't mention the use of swords.
Five minutes go by in which Town worryingly follow my ill-advised lead and appear to begin to relax too. The inevitable result is that Sam Morsy loses possession on the edge of the Town penalty area, and the unfortunately monikered Shaun Whalley silences anyone tempted to call him a wally by lashing the ball into the net from 20 metres out. The recurring pattern has recurred. "Why don't we ever shoot from there?" asks the bloke behind me; possibly because the opposition don't give the ball away in that position I respond, but only in my head. Up in the shadows of the Cobbold Stand the Shropshire lads briefly chant "You're not singing anymore" but oblivious to the irony, very soon they're not doing so either, although for no particular reason such as Town scoring again.
With the scores level, Town seem to lose all memory of what they stepped out on to the pitch to do and the remainder of the half drifts away somewhat aimlessly, but with Shrewsbury Town spending more time in the Ipswich half of the pitch; at one point they even win a corner. With ten minutes of the half remaining Shrewsbury's number twelve Ryan Bowman is replaced by their number nine Sam Cosgrove. I think the scoreboard gets it the other way round, but it's an easy mistake to make given that in a sensible world players would be numbered 1 to 11, and substitutes 12 to infinity. Of course, I might have got that wrong, but it's an easy mistake to imagine given that in a sensible world players would be numbered 1 to 11 and substitutes 12 to infinity.
The final ten minutes of the half see Cameron Burgess booked by referee Mr Will Finnie, who kicks his heels too high and has overly neat hair for my liking. Three minutes of additional time are added on during which Pat from Clacton remarks on how nice Fiona looks in her new home shirt, which Fiona collected from the club shop today. As ever Pat is right, the home shirt is a rich shade of royal blue and suits Fiona to a tee. Half-time arrives and departs in the flurry of a toilet visit, a Nature Valley chocolate and peanut protein bar and a chat with Ray and his grandson Harrison. The talk is of whether we can score another goal in the second half; I think we can and am hopeful for a third too.
At 1605 the second half begins, and the floodlights flicker on soon afterwards despite it being a bright afternoon, and sunset not being for almost another two and half hours. I suspect our club's new owners are just showing off how Americans have no qualms about the conspicuous consumption of energy, or wasting it. Today's attendance is announced as 19,256 with the 202 from Shrewsbury being made up of not only Shropshire lads, but Salopians of all ages and sexes.
The half is nine minutes old, and Town earn a corner. Lee Evans crosses the ball and the oddly named Macauley Bonne runs towards it, jumps, and sends a glancing header obliquely across the face of the goal and comfortably inside the far post to restore Town's lead. I love a glancing header, one of my favourite types of goal; the twist of the neck, the precise contact with the ball, the eyes following its path into the net, poetry that A E Housman might have appreciated. " He's one of our own" sing the lower tier of the Sir Bobby Robson stand to the tune of Sloop John B, before going on to sing about beating up a Norwich City supporter (poor little budgie), this time through the medium of a top 20 hit recorded in 1979 by the Abbey Hey Junior School.
With the sun now hidden behind the West Stand, the temperature drops and the smell of the damp turf drifts into the stands; I breathe it in deeply like an inhaling dope fiend. Matt Penney whizzes in a low cross, which the oddly named Macauley Bonne fails by a matter of a fraction of a second to slide into the net. Kyle Edwards replaces Wes Burns with seventeen minutes of normal time remaining. Toto N'siala replaces Matt Penney with the game into its last ten minutes. Three minutes remain and Vaclav Hladky rises imperiously to catch a cross and reap the applause of the home crowd. Town haven't managed to score a third goal, but it doesn't look like they will need to. For Shrewsbury George Nurse draws laughter from the crowd, firstly falling over as he boots the ball up field and then heading the ball into the ground and somehow managing to get hit by it as it bounces up again; the boy is a natural. The oddly named Macauley Bonne is replaced by Joe Piggott and five minutes of added on time are announced. There remains time for Scott Fraser to go down in the penalty area and to be booked by Mr Finnie for diving. Predictably it's not a popular decision amongst the Town supporters, but this Town supporter thought it was a blatant dive and Fraser deserved to be booked and possibly kicked when he was on the ground, which then would have been a penalty.
The final action sees the Sir Bobby Robson lower tier singing "Addy, addy, addy-o" for reasons unknown other than that they must be happy and seemingly this makes them reminisce about pre-school. With the final whistle Fiona and Pat from Clacton make a sharp exit, but I linger to applaud the Town players and witness the sadness in the faces of the Shrewsbury players. It's been a good day; the sun is still shining and I still have the joy to look forward to of listening to the analysis of Town legend Mick Mills, and the Radio Suffolk phone-in as I drive home. Sometimes life just keeps giving, but then it stops.
Ipswich Town 6 Doncaster Rovers 0
September 30, 2021 April 1, 2022 / martinpbrooks / Leave a comment
Who doesn't love a match under floodlights? Not just the floodlights of a mere afternoon match once the clocks have 'gone back', but the floodlights of a fully-fledged evening fixture, one that doesn't begin until it's dark and when the walk to the match is like being drawn towards a glowing beacon; it's even better on a rainy night, and tonight is such a night.
Having arrived in town early for work related reasons, I get to park up my trusty Citroen C3 on Anglesea Road and amble down to the Arboretum (now known as the Arbor House) where I sit in the garden to eat a Scotch egg (£4.00) and down a pint of Woodforde's Kett's Rebellion (£3.80). The only other table in the garden that is occupied plays host to three twenty-something blokes, one of whom intermittently calls out "Blue army" as if he's suffering from some sort of oddly Ipswich-based variant of Tourette's syndrome. After half an hour Mick arrives, announcing his arrival in French; I treat him to a pint of Kett's Rebellion, because it's a beer the taste of which is worth sharing. Mick requests some dry roast nuts (£1) too, which don't come in a packet as we had both expected, but in a cup, "Ooh, you do them like that" I say to the young woman serving behind the bar, trying not to sound fazed. Back outside it starts to rain, and we move to a table with an awning whilst Mick and I curse the planet destroying evil of outdoor heaters. Mick and I talk of making speeches at weddings, of who Kett was, of Angela Merkel and of local government before 1974. Twenty or so minutes before kick-off we head for Portman Road, Mick walking his black bicycle beside him.
The rain is merely an occasional drizzle and having left Mick to lock up his bike somewhere in Sir Alf Ramsey Way, I am invited to prove that I wasn't frightened of a 'sharp scratch', unlike these scaredy vaccine deniers, who clearly are, and having snapped up a programme (£3.50), I proceed through turnstile number fifty-nine into the hallowed halls of the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand and the gents toilet nearest the players' tunnel. Relieved, I join the assembling throng as the two teams enter the field of play. Ever-present Phil who never misses a game is here (of course), and so are Ray's son and his grandson Harrison, but Ray and Pat from Clacton are absent; it makes me wonder if the Clacton branch of the supporters club aren't able to get a coach 'up' for midweek games, perhaps because the Tendring peninsula is under curfew once the sun goes down. I will later learn however that the Clacton branch run a coach to all home games, but tonight Pat is unwell. Get well soon Pat from Clacton. Fiona arrives shortly after kick-off; the train was late.
It's Doncaster Rovers in their red socks, red shorts and red shirts with thin white hoops who get first go with the ball, and although we don't know it yet, it will prove to be one of their best moments of the game. Cameron Burgess is an early casualty of hairless referee Carl Brook's yellow card as he tries to interrupt Doncaster goalkeeper Pontus Dahlberg as he takes a drop kick. Dahlberg is an unfortunately angular looking man who disproves the theory that Scandinavians are all tall, blonde and good looking, although admittedly he does score very highly on the first two criteria. Twelve minutes pass and a poor cross field pass from some or other adopted Doncastrian is intercepted by Wes Burns, who charges forward to the by-line and turns in a low cross which the oddly named Macauley Bonne has only to direct into the net. It's a good start. Town lead, and Mr Bonne celebrates like a Chantry boy who scores for the Town should.
"Hark now hear the Ipswich sing" chant the 'Boney M' supporters' group from the lower tier of the Sir Bobby Robson stand as they gear-up for Christmas. "Shall we sing, shall we sing, shall we sing a song for you?" chant the Doncaster Rovers supporters up in the Cobbold Stand as Portman Road once again goes quiet after the goal; presumably someone tells them "No thank you" because that's the last we hear from them.
With Town a goal up, the excitement subsides, and I ponder what "Built Environment Recruitment" is as referred to on the advertising board for Conrad Consulting. I like to think that I could maybe phone Conrad up and ask him to send round a couple of terraced houses, an office block and a beach café to drive some petrol tankers. The game is a bit scrappy, mainly down to Doncaster's lack of precision, but Sam Morsy is looking good for Town in front of the defence and intermittently Town break down the flanks to put in testing crosses.
A half an hour passes, and Town earn a corner. There is a lot going on in the penalty area but the kick sails across nearly everyone to a point beyond the far post, where Lee Evans is all alone waiting to stroke the ball into the net. Referee Mr Brook stares hard at the scrum of players in the front of the six-yard box, in the manner of a bald Paddington Bear, but can evidently not discern that any offence has been committed and the goal stands. Two-nil; Fiona confirms that we've been here before (versus Wimbledon) and not won.
Celebrations completed, the game re-starts and Doncaster's Joe Dodoo becomes the second name to enter to enter the notebook of Mr Brook, possibly because Mr Brook thinks it's too good a name not get in his collection, but also because he chops down Matt Penney. Town are now clearly the better team and playing some fine one and two-touch, passing football. Sam Morsy has a powerful shot from 20 metres that goes not too far over Pontus Dahlberg's cross bar; it's not the sort of thing we've seen for a while.
Half-time arrives to appreciative applause and with no Ray to chat to I eat a Nature Valley peanut and chocolate protein bar in silence, although I later speak with ever-present Phil who never misses a game. Phil tells me that there was no Matchday Special in St Jude's Tavern this evening and I feel his disappointment. At the corner of the pitch meanwhile, stadium announcer and former Radio Suffolk presenter Stephen Foster, who was at school with my friend Pete, conducts a Radio Suffolk style interview with former Town hero Jonathan Walters, who is the recipient of warm applause.
When it begins, the new half brings substitutions for Doncaster as Joseph Owulu and Rodrigo Vilca replace Jordi Hiwula and Danny Gardner. This evening's attendance is announced as 18,111, of whom 165 are from Doncaster, or are at least sat in the upper tier of the Cobbold Stand pretending to be so. As Stephen Foster reads out the numbers many in the crowd applaud, seemingly congratulating themselves for having bothered to turn up, odd. It strikes me that Doncaster's blonde-haired number fourteen Matthew Smith, looks a bit like 1980's Town midfielder Trevor Putney; I suspect however that he doesn't really and it's just his hair, either way he's changed since he played Dr Who.
"Who the fucking hell are you? sing the more impolite occupants of the Sir Bobby Robson stand to a Doncaster player whose identity I can't work out either, and then in a moment of uncharacteristic attacking intent, Doncaster's Tiago Cukur has a shot on goal which Town 'keeper Vaclav Hladky doesn't so much save, as just stand on tiptoes to catch. It's the last action Vaclav will see for a while as Town suddenly go into goal scoring overdrive. Breaking down the left, Bersant Celina, with open grassland in front of him, gets to a point where he needs to cross, so he checks and loops the ball over into the penalty area where as if by magic Lee Evans appears to head home unchallenged inside the far post. It's a goal of beautiful simplicity. Two minutes later and another cross from Bersant Celina on the left is controlled on his chest by the oddly named Macauley Bonne, who then proceeds to volley the ball just inside Dahlberg's right-hand post; it's the best goal of the night, or is it?. Just another two minutes pass, barely time for the Sir Bobby Robson stand to finish a chorus of "And it's I-pswi-ch Town, Ipswich To-wn FC, they're by far the greatest team, the world has ever seen" followed by "E-i-e-i-e-i-o, Up the football we go" when Wes Burns lays the ball on for Lee Evans to lash high in to the top right hand corner of Dahlberg's net. Cracking goal, possibly even more spectacular than the last one. From 2-0 to 5-0 in not much more than five minutes. Just four minutes later and the Sir Bobby Robson Stand are singing "Six-nil to the Tractor Boys" and sounding like the Pet Shop Boys, as George Edmundson diverts the flight of a free-kick from Lee Evans in the best possible way. Ever-present Phil who never misses a game, turns to me and Fiona to tell us that the last time Town scored six was away also against Doncaster Rovers (February 2011); I've no idea if he's right but if anyone should know it should be ever-present Phil who never misses a game.
Ten minutes of normal time remain, and without wanting to seem greedy I'm hoping for a seventh goal, after all, I haven't seen Town win 7-0 since 1974. It was Mick Mills who scored Town's seventh goal that Saturday night forty-seven and a half years ago, and tonight substitute Rekeem Harper tries to emulate him with two minutes left, but his shot travels in a frustratingly straight line and hits a post rather than swerving outrageously around the goalkeeper like Mick's shot did. I have no idea how many minutes of added time are added on, but when you're winning six-nil such details no longer matter; the minutes come and go however without further shots eluding Pontus Dahlberg. The final whistle produces the sort of love-in not seen at Portman Road since, well I don't honestly know when. Relief, elation and an element of disbelief swirl about as I applaud the team from the pitch. Paul Cook makes a laudably quick exit down the players' tunnel to allow his team to take the plaudits and hopefully so that he can put the kettle on and may be break open the Custard Creams.
As I hurry up Portman Road and back to my trusty Citroen C3, excited chatter and snippets of throaty chants fill the night air. "I'd have been livid if I hadn't come tonight" I hear a man say to a friend as they exit the Cobbold Stand, suggesting perhaps that he nearly stayed at home. "Were we really good or were they just bad?" asks a passing woman from within the crowd; unfortunately, she and whoever she asked the question of are out of earshot before she gets an answer. If she had asked me, and why wouldn't she, I think I would have said "A bit of both".
Driving home I hope that tonight has been a turning point; the night when our new squad of players finally endeared and proved itself to Town supporters; whether it is or not, I shall remember it. It's been a while since we scored six, or conceded nil at Portman Road though best of all it happened beneath the floodlights and in the rain.