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Where Did it Go Wrong? Play-Off Semi-Finals
Written by GeorgeITFC24 on Saturday, 16th May 2015 15:10

We all will be forced to remember the excruciatingly disappointing end to the 2014/15 season. 4-2 on aggregate we lost to that lot up the road. We pretty much nailed it at home with the 1-1 draw. We kept them at bay and matched them in every area. But away at Carrow Road it all just fell apart. But why exactly?

In the first half we were the better team. There were few chances at either end but we were the better team. Our first chance Daryl Murphy just headed over from a Kevin Bru freekick. A good start really. This chance was followed by an ambitious shot from Bru which he rifled into the top of the Norwich stand.

There wasn't to much else from either side in that first half. A bad foul by Bradley Johnson earned him the first booking of the match. A delay in the match just before hal- time by the arrogant Cameron Jerome added a few minutes to the end of the first half. If I remember rightly, Jerome went down because he was a bit thirsty. At least the Sky Sports commentators agree with me.

Second half. A terrible defensive display right at the start cost us. Poor defending allowed Norwich to fire at our net. He had Bartosz Bialkowksi beaten (little surprise there) but Christophe Berra was there to rescue Ipswich Town, or so I thought. Berra filled me with delight when I saw what must have been block of the season, but on closer inspection it wasn't what any of us would have wanted to see.

Red card. He's off. Matching orders for Christophe Berra. But why? Nothing happened! There was no foul. What's going on? However the replay said it all. A blatant handball ended his season. Our best centre-back is off. It's difficult to blame him though. He took one for the team. He did what he had to do. It was a risk worth taking in my eyes. Berra walked off the pitch and Wes Hoolahan stepped up to the spot, and it's in.

1-0 Norwich, 2-1 on aggregate. It was going to be an uphill battle from there. Our belief and desire in our squad would be the only thing which we could hope would shine through and save the day. It did just that. Ten minutes later Bishop floated a nice ball into the box, Murphy flicked it on and Tommy Smith was there to round John Ruddy and roll home.

2-2 was the aggregate score! We're back in! Back in for three minutes. We were again being ripped to shreds by Norwich. The ball fell to Nathan Redmond, Tyrone Mings failed to get close enough to him and the ball was fired below Bialkowski. We only had ourselves to blame. We couldn't pass the buck, it was our fault.

3-2. It's slipping away. We are clinging hold of a Wembley dream by the grip of a pinky. That last finger finally let go when Jerome stepped up. A lofted pass went over the heads of our defence allowing Jerome clear through. Bialkowski couldn't get down quick enough and the ball was prodded home.

And that was that. 3-1. Aggregate of 4-2. Our dream was over. Nobody saw us qualifying for the play-offs in the first place so whatever the result of the match our season would be a success.

It's always painful to lose to our rivals but when you lose in a match that cost us £130 million the sadness is increased. What did we learn from the experience then?

. Avoid getting sent of at all costs. No matter what the situation, don't risk it. Especially when you are the best defender this club has.

. Get as close as possible to an attacker. Don't allow them the time or space to shoot. Lunge in. Or at least fill that space left between the ball and the goal.

. We have great desire. 1-0 down and and a man sent off in a play-off semi-final against a much superior side, many teams would've thrown in the towel. Ipswich Town aren't one of them. Keep going. A match isn't over until the referee blows that whistle.

. Cameron Jerome is the most arrogant footballers to ever grace this league. Constantly moaning, picking arguments, clever little niggling challenges on our defence all topped off by faking an injury for a drink. I don't like him you may have noticed!

A very good season from the Town. We played consistently well all season to a certain extent. Not many people saw us as play-off material. Now it's time to sign some players in positions we need to improve on and we will have a team which can aim for automatic promotion next season. That seems ambitious, but 12 months ago so did the play-offs.




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Arch98 added 17:42 - May 16
Interesting read mate!
1

ChrisFelix added 18:08 - May 16
I remembe Jerome diving winning a penalty and getting Fabian wilness sent off
1

Soccerteaser added 21:38 - May 16
Well , over the season , the score is 7-2)
-2

itfc1981 added 00:04 - May 17
Well over the history of our clubs the score is 3-0 :)

See you next season Soccerteaser, Boro will stroll past you based on your play-off showings.

The number of times you rely on us being down to ten men to beat us at your tiny ground is startlingly. Like I said see you and your tin pot club next season.
2

bluesince84 added 01:28 - May 17
Whilst a lot of blame will go to Berra for that handball i agree, he had to do what he had to do. However, where i am seeing no blame anywhere on here is Tyrone blooody Mings. For some totally odd reason, we see him as the great savoir and talent of this club and im sorry to disappoint...no he is not. One or two blistering runs past the half way mark per game and everyone thinks hes messi. He's painfully slow the other 88 minutes, gallops, and hoofs like hes being blackmailed to do so...but oooh he just run 40 yards, hes so incredible. I hear this from fans every game i go to, which is all of them home and away, but never reflected on here. Great lad outside of football so this criticism is purely based on the pitch. I say sell up for the inflated price and get the greatest steal in transfer history.Down arrow me all you want, but someone had to say it. Its all i hear every week from more than me. And before you click that down arrow key, he was at fault for THREE of the norwich goals over the two legs, as agreed by most fans and every football pundit ive listened too. click away, but you know im true, until at least he runs forward once a game and people think im nuts.
2

DurhamTownFan added 09:18 - May 17
Not a fan of this blog. It's just a big moan! Maybe it's better to write with a bit of distance the day after or after thinking a little more deeply about things. You can't just slate 'poor defending' as the reason we went behind!

Minus marks coming maybe, but I don't feel like this blog brings much to our understanding of the game and our season as a whole.
0

commuterblue added 11:20 - May 17
I also missed the handball at first. I wondered why no one else was clapping the pub.

Some sending offs are taking one for the team and a worthwhile gamble. This one wasn't (and I would have said the same even if we had won). It's one thing to commit a professional foul to save a goal scoring chance outside the box with a few minutes left. But to get sent off for a penalty with 40 minutes to go? Personally I would rather play the 40 minutes looking to get one goal with 11 men. Especially given how strong Berra is. Yes it was instinctive, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake.
2

commuterblue added 11:35 - May 17
bluesince84. you are entitled to your opinion. But I disagree. Tyrone could have been closer for the goal at PR, but the fault for that goal was Tommy Smith for getting muscled off too easily. And we should acknowledge it was a decent finish. Not dissimilar to Bishop's goal earlier in the season. For the first goal yesterday he put the tackle in and the ball fell kindly for Norwich. Hardly a howler. For the second it came down the right and what about the previous chances to clear? And again he went out to block. He didn't cover the near post enough is that your complaint? And the third goal is Tabb's fault.

If i had a pound for every time a fan on here has cirticised one of the Ipswich backline as overrated who then went on to be successful elsewhere, often in Premiership I could have paid the Sears transfer fee myself... Cresswell last season (I guess two seasons ago now), McCauley, Delaney, Rosenior, Bruce and to a lesser extent Harding)
4

DurhamTownFan added 12:00 - May 17
Good point, commuterblue. Almost every goal scored in football can be blamed on the defending team, but you have to be a truly exceptional player to never ever make mistakes, especially at our level!

Ty switches off sometimes, but all young players do. Smith is sometimes outmanoeuvred but that's because he's playing right sided so often trying to tackle with the 'wrong' leg because that's his natural movement.

Sorry, I can't think of any excuses for Tabb...
0

Superblue95 added 12:12 - May 17
Agree with everything you have said commuterblue, apart from the Delaney part because he was sh1t here. Berra should never have handled on the line and it was game over from the second he did it. The criticism of Mings is unfair as I didn't think he defended that badly over the 2 legs. If we keep him he will be much better next season and will continue to get better so I don't think we should sell. Get rid of 3 or 4 players and bring in a right back an attacking midfielder a left winger and another striker and we may go all the way next season
2

commuterblue added 12:39 - May 17
DurhamTownFan that's because there are none (excuses for Tabb).
1

tractorboybig added 13:12 - May 17
I think we have to accept that Norwich over all 4 games have been better than us. Ok we frustrated them for the first 45 mins but never looked like scoring. The question was when and if norwich upped their game.
1

Funky4000 added 19:29 - May 17
The handball wasn't a risk worth taking as we would have had more chance of getting back into the game with 11 players still on the pitch and virtually the whole of the second half still to play. If it had happened with the score still 0-0 with 10 mins left to play than it might have been worth taking the risk.
1

BergholtBru added 19:23 - May 18
Why did it fall apart? Well, Berra was sent off! Didn`t you notice??
1

loudnproud added 06:47 - May 28
Hoofball vs the passing game.....emmm let me see.....No brainer
0
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