Match Eighteen – Bournemouth 2 – Ipswich 2
Bournemouth would have been a long way to go and come back with nothing!
I wasn’t optimistic as I sat having brunch in Carluccio’s in Waterloo station and nothing on the way down did anything to convince me that we wouldn’t lose.
But lose we didn’t and I was one of a group of fellow Ipswich supporters, who took the train back to London.
I won’t talk about the two Bournemouth goals, but I will say that our first equaliser was surprising and the second was well-taken.
Teddy Bishop‘s first goal for Ipswich was surprising, in that instead of being from a long range effort, he appeared in the box to side foot a low Tyrone Mings cross past the keeper.
On the other hand, Daryl Murphy’s goal was typical of what he has been scoring in the last twelve months. It is best described as a well-taken looping header from a superbly taken free kick from Paul Anderson.
As to Bournemouth, they were the best team we’ve faced at season and I think that pundits underrate them at their peril. Make sure you get your ticket for the return match at Portman Road on Friday, April 3rd, early.
Walking To Dean Court
Dean Court is not too far away from Pokesdown station. But the route between the two does need to be better signposted and it isn’t all tarmac
The shortest route through the park was not easy in the dark for someone with dodgy eyesight. Luckily, I was guided by a group of Bournemouth fans. This map shows the area.
Pokesdown And AFC Bournemouth
Come out of the station, turn left and then left again into Clarence Park Road. When you get to the park and the cemetery, you should be able to see the ground. There are paths through the park to the ground.
The great advantage of this route is that it brings you to the corner of the ground, where the away fans enter to take their seats. It also avoids having to walk past the Ukip shop.
It took me about seventeen minutes to walk back to the station after the match. Ipswich station takes about ten minutes from the ground.
Match Seventeen – Ipswich 1 – Watford 0
This was a another cracking game, where Ipswich got their third win on the bounce.
The goal was a long range effort for Tommy Smith from just outside the six ysrd box, after Kevin Bru’s shot started to play pinball.
Kevin Bru is coming on and I think we could see a lot of him this season. He certainly is better than a free transfer.
Oxford Takes A Leaf Out Of Cambridge’s Book
When I visited all of the 92 football clubs in England, Oxford was one of the most difficult to get to. I said this.
Oxford, must surely be one of the most difficult stadia to get to from the town centre, even if you have a car. And if you do, you have to actually drive along the by-pass where there are queues of traffic. Of all the taxis I have taken to get to and from grounds, Oxford was by far the most expensive.
But from 2020, it’ll all be different.
According to the BBC, Chiltern Trains are opening up the Cowley branch to passenger trains, which will stop at the Science and Business Parks. Some reports say this will also handle the football ground.
But it is good to see Oxford following Cambridge and having a station at the Spence Park.
Match Sixteen – Ipswich 2 – Wolves 1
This was a cracking game, where Ipswich got another well deserved win.
The star of the Ipswich side was Daryl Murphy, who at the age of thirty-one is playing better than ever before in an Ipswich shirt.
It is often said that strikers can’t tackle! But Murphy can tackle and he can defend too.
In fact, his tackling got him the first goal, as he dispossessed one of the Wolves defenders in the penalty area and then blasted the ball into the top corner.
For the second goal he ran from deep onto a superb pass from David McGoldrick and then when the goalkeeper came out and spread himself, he chipped the ball neatly into the net.
He wouldn’t have done that last season!
Match Fifteen – Blackpool 0 – Ipswich 2
Ipswich finally got their first win since they beat Rotherham in September.
Blackpool 0 – Ipswich 2
It wasn’t that easy a win, but according to some Blackpool fans I met on the way back to the station, it was typical match for that ground, when the wind blows.
There was certainly, a lot of booting the ball a long way or towards the stratosphere.
Match Fourteen – Ipswich 2 – Huddersfield 2
Ipswich carried on here just like they did against Blackburn and Cardiff.
As we did in those two matches, we threw away a good start and were in some ways lucky to get a point.
There were two plus points to the match though. It was played in glorious sunshine for a lot of the time.
Portman Road In The October Sun
And there was two black managers on the benches.
Chris Powell, Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor
I saw Mick McCarthy greet his old friend and member of the hard-done Managers Club, Chris Powell, extremely warmly.
Those who don’t want to give black managers a chance or at least an interview are dinosaurs.
Match Twelve – Ipswich 1 – Blackburn 1
This was very much two points lost, rather than a point won.
I think it illustrates how important Daryl Murphy is to the team, as he was injured today.
But it has been a lot worse in recent seasons at this time of the year!
Match Eleven – Nottingham Forest 2 – Ipswich 2
After Hillsborough on Tuesday, it was good to be in a much better staium in Nottingham.
As is usual at Forest, there was a good turn-out of Ipswich supporters, in a total crowd of over 24,000.
Not A Spare Seat!
It was a pity in a way that Town couldn’t hold on to their lead in a hard fought match.
But I suspect most supporters are fairly pleased we got five points out of three tricky away matches at Wigan, Wednesday and Forest.
One plus side for me was that my two First Class tickets bought day before cost me just £34.35 in total. And I got a proper InterCity 125 rather than a dreaded Class 222, with free tea and coffee both ways.
Why Is It Not Planned To Take The Nottingham Tram To Trent Bridge?
From my limited knowledge of Nottingham, I find the Nottingham tram, a bit of a conundrum, in the way it doesn’t serve the football and cricket grounds.
England has four major cities; Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle and Nottingham, that use tram or light rail to move passengers around the city. In addition, Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol have heavy rail networks that do a similar job.
Most major sports ground and arenas in larger cities are located on these networks. In fact, some clubs have the tram stop or train station named to connect it to the stadium or club.
There is Arsenal, Upton Park and White Hart Lane in London, St. James in Newcastle, Hawthorns in Birmingham and Hillsborough in Sheffield.
Nottingham has three stadia in the Trent Bridge area of the city; Trent Bridge cricket ground, Forest’s City Ground and County’s Meadow Lane, but surprisingly the Nottingham tram doesn’t go or isn’t even planned to go to the area.
However this lack of connection to the City Ground, didn’t stop the tram advertising in the stadium.
I am totally surprised that Nottingham are spending all these millions on constructing a tram system, that doesn’t go near the area, where a lot of visitors to the city want to go.
Today for instance, after arriving from London, I took the tram up the hill to a restaurant I like in King Street. After my lunch, it would have been so easy to walk to the tram line and then get a tram to the ground! I’d have also probably taken a tram back to the station. So instead of probably a day ticket for £3.70, I bought just one single ticket at £2.20.
And did a lot of walking!
Match Ten – Sheffield Wednesday 1 – Ipswich 1
Hillsborough, is still a stadium living on its past.
The Tired Hillsborough
Most stadia these days don’t have pillars that obstruct your view. But Hillsborough does! And it also has the worst information display in the Championship.
The only good thing about the place, is that the Leppings Lane tram stop is near to the visitors stand.
But at least Ipswich got a point in a hard fought draw.
Welcome back Jonny Williams!
The Anonymous Widower 