After a shaky January, Ipswich Town came back with a bang, winning four, drawing one and losing one of their six games in February. Alex Jones picks his award winners for the month.
Player of the Month
Omari Hutchinson has been on fire this month. Having shown improvement throughout his time at Portman Road, he reached a whole new level in February.
He needed it, too. He had a big chance to impress with a rare start against Maidstone United at the end of January, and while he came close to scoring, he was ultimately part of the side that suffered an embarrassing defeat. He came off the bench a week later at Preston North End, but he didn’t have much of an impact.
Perhaps those setbacks fuelled him, as he’s been electric in Town’s last five games. He scored stoppage-time goals against West Brom, Rotherham United and Birmingham City while also bagging assists against Millwall and Swansea City.
The way he comes to life in big moments is extraordinary, but his performances aren’t defined by short bursts. He’s become consistent, and his work out of possession is an aspect that really stands out. His defensive awareness has come on massively.
He’s only started nine league games this season, but has five goals and four assists to his name. In a team where substitutes can shine as much as the starters, he’s the poster boy.
Surprise package
Fans had big expectations of Ali Al-Hamadi, having been tipped by many lower-league experts to become the next breakout star to reach the top level. That being said, he was seen as ‘one for future’ when he signed for Ipswich, looking like a player who may need time to adapt to the step up from League Two to the Championship.
That hasn’t been the case at all. The 21-year-old was thrown in at the deep end, coming off the bench at Deepdale less than a week after joining the Blues. He’d only just returned from the Asian Cup, where he suffered a back injury, but looked lively and exciting in a game where he easily could’ve scored.
He hasn’t looked back, impressing against West Brom, Millwall, Swansea and Rotherham. He scored his first goal for the club at The Den, winning a penalty before dispatching it in front of a jubilant away end, capping off yet another excellent cameo.
Supporters have quickly taken to him because of his incredible backstory, his quiet confidence and the energy he brings to the team. Nobody expected him to have such a big impact, and a first start can’t be far away.
Goal of the Month
Ipswich scored some lovely goals in February, but none of them stood out like a Jack Taylor screamer or a Wes Burns trivela. With that in mind, I’m giving this to Conor Chaplin’s clever flick against Birmingham.
Ipswich had plugged away nicely against the Second City club, but they couldn’t find a way through. The players easily could’ve become frustrated, but they remained calm and composed. That was exemplified by Hutchinson, who was played down a dead-end on the right flank, but he cut back to find Sam Morsy on the edge of the area instead of crossing or going for goal himself.
It was the right decision. The captain fired a shot through numerous bodies, but the ball flew towards Chaplin, who had less than a split second to decide what to do. Should he control it and go for goal? Should he try to set up a team-mate? Should he duck out of the way and hope Morsy’s shot went in?
In the end, his goalscoring instinct kicked in. With his back to goal, he stuck out his right heel and flicked it into the bottom right corner, leaving John Ruddy stranded.
Birmingham appealed for offside, but the goal was given. It feels like one that might slip under the radar when we look at the best goals of the season, but Chaplin deserves a lot of credit for the way he turned it into the net.
Best individual performance
There were a few candidates for this one. Kieffer Moore deserves praise for bagging a brace on his second debut against Preston, while Axel Tuanzebe put in a superb shift at right-back against Birmingham.
It’s hard to look past Wes Burns’ performance against Rotherham, especially considering his recent dip in form. Rightly or wrongly, the winger was criticised for some of his performances at the end of January and the start of February. Was it something to do with his haircut?
He was clearly fired up as a result. When rock-bottom Rotherham arrived in Suffolk, Burns took centre stage. Having conceding early on, he made an intelligent run from deep to connect with Sam Morsy’s cross, heading into the bottom corner on nine minutes.
He almost bagged his second goal soon after, but ended up turning provider with an excellent low cross for Moore, who converted in the 14th minute to make it 2-1. He wasn’t done there, tapping home a rebound just before the half-hour mark to make it a brace.
It’ll surely go down as one of the best 30-minute spells of his career, and he easily could’ve had a hat-trick. On a night when Ipswich were off it, he really stood out.
Standout moment
It has to be Hutchinson’s last-gasp winner against Rotherham. Wow, where to start with this one?
As mentioned, Town looked far from their best against the Millers, but they still scored four goals and took three points. At around 9:45pm on Tuesday, February 20th, that was looking unlikely.
A controversial penalty decision saw Cafu (no, not that one) score from the spot in the 93rd minute, levelling the scores at 3-3. It would’ve seen them drop points in their game in hand on Leeds while also missing the chance to move ahead of Southampton in the promotion race.
There was still time left to change that, and three substitutes combined to make it happen. Al-Hamadi picked up the ball down the right and set up Kayden Jackson, who in turn cut it back to Hutchinson. The Chelsea loanee didn’t hesitate, smacking the ball low and hard past Viktor Johansson to seal a 4-3 win.
Portman Road erupted. Those who made the decision to leave early came rushing back in. It was a sign that this team never gives up, and they can still pick up wins at their worst.
Best opposition player
There weren’t too many players who stood out against Ipswich this month. Preston’s Will Keane came very close to taking this one with his brace against his former side, but I had to give it to West Brom goalkeeper Alex Palmer.
Yes, he conceded two goals, but the 27-year-old showed why he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the league. He’s the main reason why the Baggies boast the third-best defensive record in the division, and he’s an excellent shot-stopper.
Town were dominant in the second half against Carlos Corberan’s men. They took 15 shots, five of which were on target, giving them an expected goals [xG] of 1.38. It took a late strike from Hutchinson for them to find a way through.
Across the 90 minutes, Palmer made five saves, facing an expected goals on target [xGOT] 1.80. He also played 45 minutes without Kyle Bartley - West Brom’s most experienced centre-back - in front of him. Instead, it was defensive midfielder Okay Yokuslu.
If it wasn’t for him, Town would’ve ended the month with five straight wins.
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