In the penultimate episode of a series looking back at what has been a memorable season, Mullet and HarryfromBath, with the help of some opposition supporters, turn their attention to a month which saw Town in a four-way bunch sprint for two play-off places.

Writing about April with only one game officially scheduled for May was a task laden with apprehension. The top eight has been a stand-alone league and when the team championed by the media, Bournemouth, came to Town it was a mini-league where teams were beginning to stand alone themselves. Town had suddenly found themselves propping up the seven others before kick off.

What tougher test could Town ask for than the side whose football excites the purists willing to turn a blind eye to the murk and mud beneath the surface of this South Coast torrent?

Fate be damned and so were the Cherries. It took six minutes of honest football to fire Town ahead, Freddie Sears capitalising on Daryl Murphy's delightful footwork, his eyes and Murphy's toes twinkled to create a cherished finish. Hakuna Matata!

With that came the onslaught. The numbers don't lie. Bournemouth passed and moved in greater volume and intensity than any other team could hope to do so.

Wasteful and wistful or just wishful thinking from us that Bournemouth's finishing would continue to be wayward kept fans on edge and our players on the back foot.

While Town retreated from view too often, Bournemouth made themselves seen and in the case of Harry Arter heard. The midfielder did little with the ball but much bawling as he positioned himself in the ref's ear.

It would take nearly 70 minutes of technical play and tenacious defending before the lead would be lost. From the bench, the shoestring side could only catapult forward one set piece. On to it all seven feet and £36,000 a week of Kenwyn Jones. Ball met face and nestled in the net.

Yet again, the champions-elect would make do with a point from Town. Small change, and no change in the post-match views from either side.

“Wow, just wow - that was possibly the worst goal conceded defensively all season”, “We're a bit all over the place at the moment”, “We’re terrific going forward but shocking at the back”, “Who wouldn't have taken a point from today’s fixture especially after we went one down?”

“They really are quite dull.” Cherries were delighted with a point from what was widely seen as their most difficult fixture in their run-in.

Their criticism of our playing style was mixed with praise, albeit through gritted teeth. “Ipswich are on us within a second of every pass. It's a high energy and fitness requirement.”

“Well despite having all possession we created barely anything. Credit has to go to Ipswich for the discipline and spirit. Ultimately we were our own undoing and gifted them a goal. Not a great performance but a draw was the required result and ironically it was playing Ipswich at their own game that got us over the line.”

There was one other topic discussed during the game. “Perhaps everyone is right when they call us ‘cheating Bournemouth’. A very unedifying site when we fall over”, “Fraser and Pitman diving and now Wilson. I'd call that cheating”, The diving is now getting embarrassing. We will start to now not get legitimate penalties.”

With Easter hopes rising thanks to a valiant display on the Saturday, a trip north to Huddersfield beckoned on the Monday. Thanks to a change of kit, the day would be anything but blue in the truest sense.

Loanee Zeki Fryers completed another start in the stead of suspended Tyrone Mings. He played well for all of a dozen minutes, outdoing those outnumbering him before giving play back to the Terriers with a short pass. Defenders backed off and Nahki Wells sprung forward to fire the home side ahead.

Town's best chance at parity came when Jay Tabb ran the left side by himself, playing in Daryl Murphy who rounded the keeper with another touch of class. The in-form goal machine stuttered his run a step too far and his finish was cleared off the line in just enough time to ring alarm bells across the travelling fans.

It got worse when the second flew in off the unmarked ex-Budgie James Vaughan, the header swallow-diving beyond all and into the net.

An opening half where the rarely seen Richard Chaplow caught the eye more often than his peers but where they barely caught on to his passes, saw Town go in two goals down and deservedly so.

The more things stayed the same, the more we needed a change. On emergence from the tunnel it was clear Mick had made two.

Chris Wood split and Freddie Sears was tasked with binding together the attack and the support alike. When he combined with fellow sub Teddy Bishop following good link-up play from Tabb it was Luke Varney who rose and crushed the opportunity with a crashing header. What a start, alas the game was halfway through less a minute.

Town endeavoured and engineered a slick passing game that from the off would have blown away the hosts. When returning Jonny Williams emerged for Tabb, all sense of shape broke free and the formless abandon of Town's attack sculpted hope, but little else.

If the miraculous grit and guts of the Saturday had earned a point against top class opposition, then the Easter weekend left a sickly sweet taste in the mouth. A rare rant and smattering of boos from disgruntled day-trippers was not the only price we paid for sloppiness as the Terriers had their day. Deservedly so.

“We're safe now”, “That was a great Huddersfield performance today. For anyone who was not there, I can't tell you how much we deserved it”, “Great performance. I honestly didn't think we had it in us after recent weeks but we started with the right intensity and tempo, and kept going.”

Terriers were delighted with their performance, especially after we looked like mounting a fightback. “It looked like they'd mount a comeback at the start of the second half but that never materialised and we looked far, far more likely to score than they did”, “I thought we responded well to conceding.”

Several felt that the win was achieved by not sitting back and letting us dictate the tempo or pattern of the game. “We still ended up playing up the field right to the death”, “I’m hoping I have seen the last Huddersfield team this season who sit off and let the other team dictate the field position”, “We are better shoved up.”

“Full credit to Mick McCarthy - there was no complaining, no ‘We should have won’. He just gave us credit for playing very well. Top bloke”, “I was very surprised with his starting line-up to have Murphy, Woods and Varney all starting, and leaving Sears out - just the sort of nippy striker who troubles the big defenders.”

A few days and another game in one of the busiest months of the season saw Town again at home, this time to the relegated Blackpool. The troubled Seasiders brought a small and admirable band to a game that many Blues felt was a formality and required only a casual attitude. How wrong could they be?

Fryers disappeared completely for the returning Mings and also back from injury was Jonathan Parr in another much-changed Town line-up. It took just four minutes for familiarity to breed contempt across the fanbase.

Blackpool attacked, and had the temerity to score, Andrea Orlandi sweeping up a decent move down the wing with a brush of the foot.

Varney should have made it two in two having finally opened his Town account but he squandered a close range header, which flew past the post. He would limp off a while later and Paul Anderson would take his place, Reg was injured rather than inept.

A header from Mings following Tommy Smith's deep freekick was spun into the net on the volley by the razor-like Sears. His 20th celebration this season, but only his sixth for Town since joining in January, he stacked up those numbers with a heaven-sent seventh. A gift from the departing Tangerines defence fell to the striker to do what he does best and fire low into the net.

It would take just over an hour of Town misfiring and aiming at their own foot too often with scares and spills before the unthinkable happened again. Blackpool levelled and the muted rage of those looking on and vibrating might well have done the same to Portman Road.

Who else but Cameron would cut the benefits of all Town's hard work this season? Equalising from close range following a sluggish reaction from us at their freekick.

Top-scorer Murphy would again turn provider as his delicate chip across goal would be met by Christophe Berra. The centre-back’s rich vein of scoring in the opening months had clearly not bled white as his header put Town back in the black and secured three points in the shakiest manner possible. How close we came to gifting a point to the side with a record low haul this term.

“We’re still in with a chance of lowest points ever and most goals let in. Good result”, “Dark days, indeed”, “We had two shots on target and scored both, but we never ever compete in games. We are always hanging on.”

Seasiders were pleased to see their team compete in the game but had far more pressing concerns.

“How does a manager go 14 matches without a win and still have a job?”, “The sad reality is that Lee Clark is the best we can get. No manager of any quality in their right mind would ever come here under the current regime.”

“The simple fact is we're just not good enough to compete in this division. When Oyston brings in League Two players to replace the League One players who are all leaving at the end of this season, it'll be same again for 2015/16 I'm afraid.”

Only three days later Town would again be at home and were much more comfortable against the Welsh side Cardiff. With the injured Varney replaced by Parr and Stephen Hunt on the opposite flank it would be Sears that would do the familiar and grant Town an early lead.

Only eight minutes had gone before Berra sent Sears through with a glorious ball, scraping the clouds before joy reigned. The £100,000 assassin cut inside and clipped a deflected shot past David Marshall. All was going according to plan.

That was until the away side's own lower-league goal machine - Eoin Doyle - was given free passage to the back post and met a cross from the left with ease to level. The almost comedic manner in which Town defend aerial balls in 2015 does not get better with age or repeat viewings.

With foreigners in town it was Ipswich who would provide something exotic. What could be rarer than the sight of Cole Skuse throwing arms up in celebration, rather than acknowledgement of another yellow card? The man who makes more interceptions than the Pentagon's computers, laser-guided a 30-yard screamer past the keeper - it didn't just sound like a wondrous thing, it looked it too.

While chances were stacking up for Town, the weight of expectation sat heavy as fears of another equaliser sat at the back of Ipswich minds whilst Ipswich players went forward. They were nearly realised as Doyle was allowed to go on and slide into the cutback, the effort teed-up spilled past the post.

Weak reffing and simmering tensions exploded on the hour when the diminutive Brazilian Fabio took on the towering Mings. Farcical as the confrontation was, the decision not to remove the former Red Devil from the field for such hot-headedness even more so. That was left to his manager soon after.

Town spent the half again failing to find the net from corners. Headers and half-chances cleared the bar or by the Bluebirds kept the lead far more modest than was deserved.

But the third goal would come from the man you'd most expect. For the 24th time this season Murphy drew adulation as well as admiration for his ability to score however he likes, stabbing home from the edge of the box in the 90th minute to secure another win for Town.

“It was disappointing not to get a result, but Portman Road is a very difficult place to go”, “We played well and had long spells of play, but Ipswich were better at finishing and that's what won it.” With two of the best players loaned out for the season and little to play for, Bluebirds were ambivalent about the result.

“Fabio started on the right of midfield but gave the ball away a lot. He made a few good runs down the wing without much end product and then was extremely lucky not to be sent off after completely losing his head after a clash with the Ipswich full-back”, “It looked like a case of season burn-out for me.”

With the race to the top six heating up and Town stealing a march on many rivals, they were given extra distance on the pack thanks to an early Sky kick-off at fellow contenders Wolves.

With the world watching and waiting to play in our wake, Mick returned to his former employers with a typical 4-4-2 and teamsheet.

An early shot fired across the face of Wolves' goal saw Murphy again come close to the quarter-century mark but curl his effort past the post.

Talking of typical, the pace and power of a big and athletic home side saw Town struggle to contain the surge down both wings. Flying at us, the narrow and compact nature of Town's resistance held firm.

It was another old boy that gave new life to Town's chances, as Christophe Berra read the game expertly to rally and repel.

Where Mings had generally excelled going forward, today he did his defensive duties diligently. Like his more experienced counterparts, the first full season for the boy plucked from obscurity was coming to an accomplished end as one of the toughest tests he could face flunked and snatched at chances from distance.

It would be Tommy Smith that would indirectly give Town the lead with a former favourite from Mick's early games grabbing a goal for him. With Smith breathing down his neck, one-time loanee Richard Stearman steered a header past his own keeper and put them behind and us ahead.

Surety and security were the watchwords at half-time as Town held a lead and their own destiny in their hands.

The Wanderers might well have wondered how Mick had taken a side far less blessed with attacking depth than them so far beyond them, so far. Scoring and supplying goals can be a double-edged sword with which to put teams to and Murphy heading back a much-needed clearance cut us open. Benik Afobe took the scent of opportunity earliest and turned a deflection into a debt collection. All level and always coming it seemed.

As the strike force struggled to find room and service from a midfield pinned back, the impressive Sears again was forced to scrap from deep and the substitute Anderson had good, bad and ugly chances to score, create and give away the whole lot in a display that summed up much of Town's whole success on balance.

Taking a point against the odds meant Mick could keep his poker face ready for the top table roulette of the play-offs with just two more games to go. Mental maths and deciding how to shuffle his pack marked the multitude of variables and outcomes still to come from 180 minutes of the season remaining.

“I wish Mick, Terry and Ipswich well, now that I believe that we are out of the running but I suspect they will be in this division again next season”, “The fact that Ipswich have boxed above their weight is down to their manager, love him or hate him”, “Ipswich were effective and we weren’t.”

“Ipswich played very much as expected. They worked tirelessly to close down our space and closed down our midfield superbly throughout the game. By scoring first it made them even more resolute and we didn't have the quality to break them down enough to win the game.”

Most Wolves fans accepted that the result killed off their play-off hopes. While many were happy to offer best to Mick, a few parting criticisms once again reared their head. “Ipswich were awful but had a manager with a plan”, “Thank God we don't have to watch that every week.”

“I can't believe they might end up in the play-offs. Ipswich are an absolutely nothing side as they have been every time I've watched them this season. Hoofing it around and always going for the set-piece and long throws. Give me tactically naive Kenny Jackett trying to play football over Mick’s hoofball rugby every day.”

“Any decent team would crucify Ipswich”, “The worst team I've seen all season, woeful attempt at football”, “Face facts. Can we go somewhere play for a point and get one? Not a chance. Fair play Mick”, “We didn't do enough to take the game to Ipswich”, “They were truly dreadful and we couldn’t beat them.”

From the clutching of Wolves a final dash toward the line would mean getting past the terribly named Tricky Trees. The embargo-bound big spenders had seen themselves long out of contention but no less of a stumbling block for all who came across them, us included.

After the 30th anniversary of the Bradford fire was marked the game kicked off. A remarkably weak bench of the recently returning and recently injured saw Elliott Hewitt, Darren Ambrose and Kevin Bru packing out the matchday 18, Wood of all people had been recalled by his parent club the morning he was due to face Forest.

A day of remembrance saw the dawning of a truly magic moment. As the faithful applauded the tragic passing of 21-year-old Town fan Chris Reynolds, who else but Murphy would cap the tribute? Smashing home a one-two with partner Sears to make it 25 for the season and put his name alongside the likes Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips. Not bad for a big lad.

The first half would ebb and flow and half chances would lack fulfilment as Town kept a lead until eight minutes after the break. Where Murphy had been predictably predatory, the inexplicable manner of Berra attacking the ball in his own six-yard box sank Town's advantage along with heads into hands. It was an own goal in the purest form - hard to take and a little bit hilarious in hindsight.

With yet another penalty shout falling on deaf ears this month, let alone this season, Town pushed for a deserved lead but would leave it late. If Murphy was to grab the headlines, glory and the POTY trophy, who else could push him all the way but Sears?

Yet again it'd be the Irishman's ability to work the other team's backline that would have Suffolk eyes smiling. Nodding on to Freddie, for the second time this month, he'd run clear and not even a heavy deflection could keep his effort out. Town finished their final home game like conquering emperors, victorious and comfortable.

What else could they do now but look forward having amassed a back catalogue of imperious home form since the opening day win all the way back in August. The distance we'd come as we found ourselves back in the same place, remarkable.

“With nothing to play for it was quite enjoyable watching the nervous Ipswich fans as we really gave them a run for their money”, “There was little difference between the sides”, “I don't think I'll slit my wrists just yet, roll on next season”, “The only consolation is that late Ipswich goal puts Derby down a place.”

Forest fans were happy with their side’s performance and many were more preoccupied by the Rams’ problems at Millwall. “Dougie Freedman’s negative tactics invited Ipswich on to attack and win”, “We were too defensive most obviously”, “We give far too much time to the opposition in dangerous positions.”

The consensus was that our manager won the tactical battle against Freedman’s overly cautious approach. “Mick must have done his homework and everything was put down the left side until Ipswich scored. Freedman was outsmarted by Mick. I don't think Ipswich are any better than us, just better organised.”

2014/15 Championship Date Range: 1-AUG-2014 to 30-APR-2015

Photo: Action Images

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