Ipswich Town’s perfect start to the season continued with a 1-0 win at QPR yesterday. Stuart Watson reflects on the action.
BELOW-PAR START
QPR were fired up for their first home league game of the season. Buoyed by a vocal home crowd tight to the pitch, they pressed with collective aggression from the off.
Spearheaded by raw and powerful young striker Sinclair Armstrong, the Hoops mixed things up nicely when in possession. Sometimes they popped it about, with former Town man Andre Dozzell dictating the tempo, and sometimes they went direct – as we expected from a Gareth Ainsworth side.
It was pretty clear early on that the West London hosts, among the bookies’ favourites for relegation after narrowly avoiding the drop last season, were going to be no pushovers.
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All that said, Ipswich didn’t exactly help themselves either. There were an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors all over the pitch.
Sam Morsy passed behind a team-mate and into touch, Massimo Luongo was booked after losing his runner, twice Cameron Burgess sent long forward balls out for goalkicks, Luke Woolfenden produced a moment of mis-control in a dangerous area, while Harry Clarke came on for the injured Janoi Donacien (groin) and immediately gave the ball away cheaply.
It was clear the Blues needed to up their game after the break.
BIG SAVES AND A BIT OF LUCK
Town ultimately kept a clean sheet in this game thanks to a mixture of some big saves and a little bit of luck.
Armstrong’s low shot inside the area hit the inside of the far post, spun along the goalline and popped back out off the inside of the opposite upright in the 10th minute. Did Vaclav Hladky get a vital touch? I think he might have done you know, looking at the replay.
The Czech custodian stayed big and narrowed the angle when Armstrong rampaged towards goal early in the second period. He also did superbly to scamper back and tip an audacious long-range lob from Ilias Chair over the bar late on as the hosts looked for a leveller.
MORE: Kieran McKenna's verdict on Town's 1-0 win at Loftus Road
Not only that, Hladky came up with some confident high catches and decisive bits of sweeping up too. The 32-year-old has filled Christian Walton’s sizeable shoes well so far.
Town's keeper would have powerless to stop QPR right-back Osman Kakay stabbing in from close-range in the early stages of the second half, but thankfully the ball came at him too quickly and he put it the wrong side of the post. That proved a huge moment in this game.
THE SNAFFLER
QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth is right – it could have been a different story had his spirited side taken one of those aforementioned chances.
Then again, the same could be said about Wes Burns putting a glorious far post headed opportunity wide for Town at a 10th minute corner too. Ultimately, a fine margins game was still goalless as it entered the final stages.
Armstrong limping off for the hosts undoubtedly helped Ipswich’s cause. QPR rapidly started to run out puff and Ipswich began to see the benefits of their gruelling pre-season preparations bear fruit. Slowly but surely the Blues began to build more attacks.
WATCH: Alex and Stu's video verdict from Loftus Road
Should Ipswich have had a penalty when George Hirst got ahead of Steve Cook in the box? Maybe. The Blues striker was a little eager to go to ground though.
Thankfully it mattered not. Leif Davis, who was Town’s best attacking outlet all game from left-back, supplied the pinpoint low cross and Conor Chaplin provided a trademark snaffled finish in a crowded spot.
When his initial left-footed shot was blocked by Jack Colback, the Blues forward was sent sprawling to the deck. He sprang quickly to his feet though and, under pressure, bludgeoned a low right-footed shot through the defender’s legs into the net.
Town’s No.10 has spoken in the past about being a ‘purple patch’ goalscorer. Now off the mark for the season, hopefully several more are to follow.
ORANGE ARMY
That goal sparked joyous scenes in front of an away end containing more than 3,000 fans.
Town could probably have tripled that number had they been afforded such an allocation. Tickets are like gold dust right now.
Normally we talk about a ‘sea of blue’, but it was more like a ‘wall or orange’ here given the vast number of supporters sporting the popular new away strip.
The number of players who took to social media after the game to hail Town’s fanbase tells you everything about how much of a boost the current backing gives them.
SUPER STATS
Town had lost their previous six visits to Loftus Road. That was then though and this is now. Kieran McKenna has ticked yet another ‘hoodoo’ off the list.
Ipswich have become the first newly-promoted team to win their opening three Championship games since a Southampton side led by Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana got off to a flyer in 2011 (The Saints went on to seal back-to-back promotions to the Premier League).
It’s now 17 wins from the last 19 games. An unbeaten 21-game run across all competitions, dating back to the FA Cup replay defeat at Burnley, has set a new club record. It eclipses the 20-game run set by Sir Bobby Robson’s men back in the UEFA Cup winning campaign of 1980/81.
“When I arrived Ipswich had a whole lot of negative records - every week you would tell me how long it’s been since they beat a certain team or how they’ve never won on TV,” said McKenna. "So it’s better that it’s the other way around now.
MORE: QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth's verdict on his side's 1-0 loss to Town
“With records like the unbeaten one, you only really look back on them when they’re finished - and we don’t want this to finish any time too soon."
Next up is a mouth-watering home clash with freshly-relegated Leeds United, under the management of former Norwich boss Daniel Farke, on Saturday. Portman Road will be sold out again.
McKenna will block out the buzz of excitement building around his team – both close to home and, increasingly, from further afield – and keep his players’ feet on the floor. As he methodically works with his squad, the rest of us, quite rightly, can keep basking in the glow of this moment. Enjoy it. Soak it in. These sort of runs don’t happen very often.
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