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Mullet added 19:13 - Oct 15

There were probably 10,000 empty seats in Blackburn Lancashire. Maybe more. Maybe less. In front of a sparsely populated hangar that is Ewood Park Town lined up a solid 4-4-2. In front of Bart returned Webster and Berra with the captain displacing Emmanuel at right back whilst Knudsen remained on the left. Skuse and Douglas made their usual portmanteau and their usual bows in the centre. Ward and Lawrence the width to Sears and Best at the sharp end.

Town started under a surprising amount of pressure considering the commendable away following behind them sat in atmosphereless stillness. A counterpoint to the laborious volleyed clearances that flicked from Berra, to Webster and back again.

In recent weeks Town have barely had a shot on target in 90 mins. We slashed that to a tenth or so as Ward drifted in from the right and lashed one off of Steele. It didn’t open the floodgates, but prompted the start of a leak in the Blackburn rearguard who bulged under the suffocating effect of Mick’s side. In lieu of the rare moments of free flowing football.

Webster seemed the driving force in a team many might assumed were parking the proverbial bus. A looping cross-field ball, two or three mazy forays forward, the best of which set up Lawrence on the switch. Again when our wingers drifted inside and not out of the game we looked likely to do something. The Welshman saw the window of opportunity close on him as his run parted centrebacks and the dribbled poke ended up past the post.

In between this it was Webster who saw Steele bend at the waist to tip his header off the man on the line and somehow over the bar. From so far away the close range melee was defying physics and real-time analysis. Best in a marked moment of aerial presence seemed to be redirecting the ball with his head onto the young centreback’s for a moment that deserved more.

Many will be lamenting the inclusion of Chambers, and they nearly had the smell of humble pie in their nostrils as the armband swung back in the Rovers box and a neat drive was deflected behind for a corner when Steele stood stationary. The resultant corner again saw Chambo miss the target as his header was more of a quiffer and bounced wayward from close range.

When the home side did come calling we had no shortage of men putting themselves in the way to answer their questions of us. For all of Webster’s brilliance it was the senior men either side of him that stepped in and swept the ball away when the arrogance not to hoof didn’t always work.

The half ended with Town on the backfoot much like they had started it. Guthrie whistling a threatening warning shot over the Pole and the bar. It looked better than it probably was, and much could be said of Town in their better moments. The hosts’ had their build ups with the once-touted Hammer Samuelsen all 7 stone of stepovers, superfluous touches and no real solidity to his all round game. He caught the eye but not the imagination. Despite Coyle swapping him and Conway midway through the half, he got little from either full back as Emnes looked a better winger and Gallagher a giant playing a small role in heaping pressure on the blues’ defence.

Makeshift right-back Marsall rampaged forward in the moment of one-touch pinball off of the likes of Emnes in the only moment that really pulled Town’s backline apart. The one time midfielder was never a striker as he scuffed his shot under the slightest of pressure.

It was a half where Town could have led. But for decent keeping from a fragile and functional side. Bart largely a spectator despite Town’s moments of mild peril being partly down to their own tendency to stay deep when there was a clear route up and away from their opposition.
The second half started with Rovers changing their centreback. Greer made way for Lenihan who looked like one of many professional footballers out there just doing a job. It was difficult to see how despite the sub anything was going to change. Both teams worked and shunted but failed to break each other down. Town’s glacial football carved out notable chance but stalled and chilled the blood as much as the usual Lancashire climate.

Pick a man and you can pick a moment he made the right choice and a moment he made the wrong one. Chambers would find the ball just outside the box and dally until being charged down. The next attack he cut inside intuitively and let Best in to fire off a great shot. Despite deflections from the defender and the gloves to win a corner, the angle was all too narrow to expect much more.

Booed throughout the game by the home side, the former Rover and perennial journeyman seemed as likely to find his own nutsack with the matchball as the net. Unable to deal with the physical treatment from either defender, but not savvy enough to go to ground the striker struggled too often and the ball pinged off his body like he was six foot of Johnny Douglas’ 50p head.

The other ex-Blackburn player who could find a colleague if he was 5 yards away but not the killer touch if a cross was 5mm from him. Better movement, or at least some movement today but again as central midfield duo, Skuse and Douglas are a second tier and second rate Gerrard and Fat Frank. But worse.

Samuelsen finally went off after disappearing long before. Bennett replaced him to a half-hearted round of boos and berating from a dozen people or so. Town changed little.

Ward who had fallen away in the game where he’d started so brightly reignited a spark with a neat reversal. Turning the full back off the scent he hung a ball into the box that was begging for a picture perfect finish. There are no words where there should be a thousand.

Soon young Ward went off for young Bishop in a like for like swap and the same old thing. Sometimes Teddy would run at his man and do something really well. Sometimes he’d shank it out for a throw under pressure from a 50-50 scrap on the line.

You can tell Best and Sears are a new partnership. Despite good intentions and eager communication, their movements were misjudged and unintentionally selfish too often. On their own they had limited success, but in connecting all too often they had unintended consequences for those around them. Passes went astray, runs wasted and recriminations wasted energy when making up both ground and possession was needed.

If Town couldn’t fabricate a lead then Conway seemed generous enough to gift us a go. Sears who ran Webster close for MOTM had an equally hot-footed split decision as he raced onto looping backpass. He and it drifted a bit too long, a bit too wide, a bit too much. It meant nothing.

A great piece of work from Knudsen saw the Dane find Lawrence with the cut back. For a second time from close range the Blues were denied on the line when a goal looked certain. A fine save, an instantaneous decision to poke it when placing it, it might have been. But again where tempers and points seemed lost for Town, hope sprung eternal.

Johnny Johnny Johnny Johnny Johnny Williams comes and goes apparently. When finally the whites of his hairline dazzled in the sun as he emerged from his nylon cocoon for yet another Ipswich debut, he had ten minutes to make it count. I keep telling my Mrs it’s a long enough time. I’m starting to think she might be right.

One or two strokes past oncoming defenders and those little legs were away and a few hundred Town hearts were too. He couldn’t could he? No he couldn’t. But it was pleasing to think it might do eventually.

Then it was Berra’s turn to maraud forward and reverse roles as Gallagher sent him sprawling to pick up a cynical booking rather than the Scotsman he had just sent flying. The game’s final chance fell to Best and then somewhere in Darwen. The striker sent the ball into orbit on the volley when really we all expect more. It’s not just the ghost of Daryl that haunts his every move. With the Irishman long moved on, it’s hard for Town to it seems. Without him we’ve lost our spine and our backbone.

This feels like a new team, but the same old problems. This was better than Leeds, but as with anything, what damning praise is that? Town might have won today, Town probably deserved to the fact we didn’t and it doesn’t feel like there’s little justice in the world; problematic.
It’s hard to know if this is the beginning of a new era under Mick. The emergence of Webster, and the time we start to wax lyrical about Bishop, Williams as we see the wain of Berra et al.

If this is rather the beginning of the end some crave, the ending might not be little more than a horror show. From the rubble, dust and hubbub of recent collapse at McCarthy’s control those that have emerged this side of the international come limping, bloodied and blinking into the dying light of winter.
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Glossopippies added 09:46 - Oct 16

Ipswich were the better side, and played well, creating opportunities, but they lack a sharpshooter.Teddy Bishop made a difference when he came on, prepared to take players on and Leon Best impressed me, but the stand out player on the pitch for both sides was Adam Webster, who was decisive, brave, commanding and creative. I will be surprised if he isn't snapped up by a Premier League side within 2 seasons.
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