Town's European run came to an abrupt end as a Christian Vieri hat-trick and a goal from Kallon gave the home side a deserved win. Alun Armstrong scored a late goal from the penalty spot as Town rallied, but in truth the game was lost when the defence were caught daydreaming at the beginning of the second half and Kallon scored the third.

Surprisingly, given George Burley's statements claiming that Town needed to be positive, the Blues lined up playing a 4-5-1 formation with Richard Naylor the lone man up front. The defence was the now regular foursome of Makin, Bramble, Venus and Hreidarsson. In midfield Town were, from the left, Clapham, Magilton, Holland, Wright and Finidi.

Town had the better start gaining a couple of freekicks up the field. However, Inter gradually came into it more and Kallon hit a shot which was saved by Sereni on 5, before Di Biagio had a header saved by Sereni.

In the 16th minute Naylor was almost played in by Magilton after good work on the right from Finidi.

Town appeared to have weathered the early storm, but on 18 all the good work was undone as Vieri put Inter ahead. Bramble had harshly been penalised for a foul on Kallon. The freekick floated over and Vieri got the merest of touches to put it beyond Sereni. There was a bit of an inquest in the defence with some suggesting that Sereni might have come for it.

Almost immediately Sereni was back in action, saving from Vieri with Kallon failing to get to the rebound.

In the 21st minute Richard Naylor headed a Finidi cross from the right over the bar.

Vieri was looking like a man in form and two minutes later he tried to flick the ball over Sereni. Town's Italian keeper pushed the ball wide as Kallon came in studs high. Sereni was in action again quickly as Zanetti hit a shot which he saved with his feet.

On 26 Kallon became the subject of boos from Town fans as he took a dive (by no means a rarity from Inter players) in the area as he and Bramble chased for the ball. The Inter player spent some while on the ground before being persuaded to get up by the referee.

Just before the half hour Richard Naylor had Town's best chance so far. Cordoba made a slip and gave Naylor a run in on goal about twenty yards out. The defender got back to force him wide and the Town striker cut inside him, but couldn't get a decent effort on goal and the chance was gone.

Town were finding it hard to get forward and the negative outlook of the Blues appeared to be playing into the hands of the home side. Whenever Town got the ball forward it was difficult to find outlets. Naylor was having a tricky time of it with the referee loath to give him freekicks while Cordoba climbed all over him. However, he was also finding it difficult to hold the ball to allow the midfield to break from deep.

On 33 Wright was booked for a foul on Zanetti, and the freekick led to Inter's second. The ball was passed to the right twice before a shot came in. This fell to Vieri, who turned swiftly and beat Sereni with his shot. It was a very cruel blow for Town as the freekick could have gone anywhere other than to their striker.

Inter came close to a third when Kallon had a shot tipped over by Sereni and that was that for the half. The game was balanced in Inter's favour, but Town were by no means out of it at that stage.

George Burley decided that the lone striker for the second half should be Alun Armstrong and he immediately replaced Naylor who hadn't looked comfortable in the role. Whether this would have made much of a difference to Town's fate was difficult to say as 28 seconds into the half Inter scored again. Town's defence were static as the ball came through to Kallon who flicked it over Sereni with defenders looking at one another and the keeper. It was a decisive blow and Town were pretty much out for the count.

On 48 Armstrong had a shot saved from point-blank but the striker had strayed offside. A minute later Finidi George fluffed a volley after a Jamie Clapham cross from the left.

Vieri was still getting in the thick of the action and on 54 Sereni saved the striker's header. The Town keeper had plenty to do and four minutes later he saved from point-blank as Hreidarsson failed to clear and the ball ran to Zanetti.

George Burley decided it was time to swap things around and Pablo Couñago replaced Finidi George and joined Armstrong in the attack.

Sereni saved again from Vieri as the Inter man got beyond the Town defence and was one-on-one with the Town keeper.

Two minutes later though, Inter were four up. Pablo Couñago failed to find Chris Makin with a pass and Inter broke quickly. Vieri made no mistake as this time he went past Sereni and stroked the ball into the empty net for his hat-trick.

That was that for Town and George Burley brought Sixto Peralta on for Jim Magilton.

Town had their best spell of the game as they took the game to the home side more than previously. Matt Holland headed over on 76, then two minutes later he hit a shot which struck a defender on the hand. The referee pointed to the spot immdediately. The Inter players argued despite the scoreline and Alun Armstrong cooly strode up and placed his kick to Toldo's left.

Town continued to rally in the closing stages. A number of shots were blocked and players made runs at the Inter defence. Sixto Peralta was fouled on the edge of the area by Di Biagio and a bit of a row developed. Toldo got himself involved with Matt Holland of all people while the referee tried to restore order. When he did Mark Venus hit his freekick into the wall.

Toldo was again in handbags action a minute or so later as Armstrong was caught offside in front of his goal. The Italian keeper saw something wrong in this and squared up to Town's scorer.

With two minutes left Makin was booked before sub Ronaldo made his only contribution to the evening - a header which went over the bar.

The whistle went on our European tour, and although going out to Inter was by no means a disgrace there were murmurings on the terraces regarding the tactics and some of the selections on the night.

Hermann Hreidarsson threw his shirt into the Town fans, Matt Holland did his applause bit and Titus Bramble ran off down the tunnel after Ronaldo's shirt to add to his collection.

Blues fans were kept back for around half an hour during which time supporters sang and partook in Mexican waves. A fat bloke took his top off and got sung to by all and sundry. Even the Carabiniari were finding it difficult not to giggle a bit.

Then it was off to drink a toast to Moscow, Helsingborg and Milan. It's been a good run, great fun and an experience we won't forgot too quickly. Now perhaps it is time to concentrate on the league and get all thoughts of relegation dismissed as soon as possible.

Photo: Action Images

ian_marshall added 09:11 - Dec 7 Sigh
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superblues9 added 07:47 - Dec 7 What a day that was pity I can't see it happening again :-( still got match and plane ticket and inter scarf on the wall
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