Ipswich Town drew 1-1 with Plymouth Argyle at Portman Road yesterday afternoon. STUART WATSON reflects on the action.
WHAT AN ATMOSPHERE
A crowd of 29,069 packed into Portman Road for this hotly-anticipated clash.
That's the most the Suffolk stadium has held since the Championship play-off semi-final against rivals Norwich City back in 2015.
That's more than Brentford v Bournemouth in the Premier League and 10 of the 12 games in the Championship attracted yesterday.
Blues boss Kieran McKenna had called upon supporters to 'make it a really intense atmosphere'. They did just that.
A visceral roar went up as the teams emerged from the tunnel. Blue and white scarves were twirled in unison. The name of Town legend Marcus Stewart - back at the club for the first time since his MND diagnosis - was chanted with gusto. Every early attack brought animalistic shouts of encouragement.
Plymouth's impressive travelling contingent of 2,144 also played their part in filling the air with big game energy.
FRENZIED FIRST HALF
All of the above made for a derby-like occasion.
Two teams that are used to having lots of possession of the football found themselves embroiled in a frenzied first half.
Wes Burns left a little bit on Macauley Gillesphey. Referee Andy Woolmer booked him. Marcus Harness and Freddie Ladapo were both fouled. Woolmer kept his cards in his pocket. That whipped the crowd up more.
Morsy provided central thrust. Ladapo hustled and bustled up top. Chaplin buzzed about. Ipswich players maybe got a little too wound up by the occasion though.
Too many times passes went astray or crosses were over-cooked at the crucial moment. Christian Walton was edgy with the ball at his feet. Ladapo was certainly guilty of tunnel vision when opting to shoot rather than pass to an unmarked Burns.
Plymouth were happy to take some risks with a man-to-man marking system. They were happy to hit it long to front men Ryan Hardie and Niall Ennis too. Burns and Leif Davis both had to make vital blocks in the box.
When the half-time whistle blew it was impossible to call which way things would go.
TWO HUGE CHANCES
Would the pace of this game slow down after the restart? Nope.
The crossbar was left rattling at both ends in the space of four breathless minutes.
Davis' clever pass found Marcus Harness in acres of space inside the box. This was his big moment. The deep-lying forward's sharp-shooting is meant to outweight his ability to surrender possession. But the left-footed effort slammed into the angle of bar and post. He had to do better.
That spurned opportunity should have been punished moments later. Thankfully, Arygle produced a miss-of-the-season contender.
A long kick upfield, two headed flick-ons and suddenly Ennis had swept the ball to an unmarked Hardie at the back post. Somehow he side-footed against the bar from six-yards out.
"We can have a laugh and joke about it now, but at the time I wanted to kill him!" admitted Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher afterwards.
BIG MOMENT MAN
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Wes Burns was Town's match-winner in big home games against Portsmouth and Derby earlier this season.
And it looked like he was going to be the hero again.
After a corner was half-cleared, Davis put the ball back into the box, Luke Woolfenden produced the deftest of lay-offs and Burns lashed a shot high into the net from an acute angle. Even Michael Cooper couldn't stop that.
For the 25th time in 35 games this season, Town had scored first.
THE LATE LEVELLER
There was a long stoppage after Plymouth defender Dan Scarr suffered a head wound. There was another delay when Burns limped off to be replaced by Kane Vincent-Young.
Add in nine second half substututions and it really shouldn't have been a great surprise to see nine minutes of stoppage-time go up on the fourth official's board.
McKenna's right when he says his team hadn't faced any real bombardment in the final half an hour of this game.
But as the match entered the final act you could see the Blues, understandably tired and nervy, start to get deeper and deeper.
Should Humphreys have done more to stop Bali Mumba drifting inside? Probably. Could Cameron Burgess have done more to charge down the shot quicker? Possibly.
For me, there's a danger of over-analysis. It's a clever pass by Finn Azaz and a great finish aided by a slight deflection.
A draw, if we're being honest, was probably about right.
None of that makes it sting any less though. Obviously it had to be the Norwich City loanee to land the body blow.
A SURPRISE CONFIGURATION
Not long after Burns' goal, McKenna replaced Ladapo and Harness with newly signed George Hirst and newly contracted Cameron Humphreys.
It was a surprise to see skipper Sam Morsy move into the inside left forward role and Humphreys play alongside Lee Evans.
Would the equaliser have been prevented had the more experienced and combative player been deeper? It shouldn't be forgotten that Plymouth carved open that big Hardie chance before those changes.
Personally, I would have liked to have seen Kayden Jackson or Kyle Edwards test the discipline of James Wilson (on a booking) in the second half.
Finishing the game with Morsy and Vincent-Young in attacking roles was arguably a bit too defensive.
It's always easy to be smart with hindsight though.
BROADHEAD BLOW
Things might also have been different had new £1.5m signing Nathan Broadhead been fit. But he wasn't.
Explaining the forward's absence from the squad afterwards, McKenna said: "He's travelled from North Wales a couple of times, been in a new bed and had some muscle tightness.
"He's a short, medium and long-term investment for the club. We need to make sure that we protect him in the right way."
Hopefully the Blues can get him up to speed sooner rather than later.
SOME FACTS
Plymouth have now gained 15 points from losing positions this season. Ipswich, meanwhile, have dropped 15 points from winning positons.
(For context, Plymouth have dropped 11 from winning positions and Ipswich have gained six from losing positions).
This is the fourth game this season that the Blues have let wins slip in the 89th minute or beyond (Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton and Fleetwood previously).
Town’s record against the 10 teams that finished above them last season, under McKenna, read: W2 D4 L3.
Town’s record against the current top-seven this season reads: W1 D4 L2.
The last time Town won back-to-back games was in October. Since then, McKenna's men have claimed 15 points from a possible 30 (W3 D6 L1).
That puts the Ipswich ninth in the last-10 games form guide.
In the actual table, Town remain third. They stay seven points behind leaders Plymouth (with a game in hand) and are now four behind second-place Sheffield Wednesday (who won at Wycombe).
Derby could move to within four points of Town if they win their game in hand. Barnsley could move to within five if they win their two games in hand.
Fifty-one points from 26 games is pretty much the two-points-per-game average that usually secures automatic promotion if maintained.
Town remain the division's topscorers, they've still only lost three times and they still have 20 games to play.
Next up is a trip to Oxford United on Saturday.
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