Sub Milan Djuric netted the only goal in the 64th minute as the Blues fell to their first away defeat in six matches at a snowy and windy Ashton Gate. Djuric headed home Lloyd Kelly’s left-wing cross shortly after coming off the bench.

Martyn Waghorn, Cole Skuse, Callum Connolly and Adam Webster returned to the Town side with the Blues returning to their three-man backline.

Webster was on the left of skipper Luke Chambers and Cameron Carter-Vickers, while Jordan Spence and Jonas Knudsen were the wing-backs.

Skuse, facing his hometown club where he started his career, and Connolly were joined in central midfield by Grant Ward ahead of them behind strike pair Freddie Sears and Waghorn.

Bristol City made one change with central defender Nathan Baker missing out with a groin injury and Hordur Magnusson coming into the team.

As a flurry of pre-match snow died down, Bobby Reid hit the game’s first shot in the fourth minute but his low effort from 20 yards gave Bartosz Bialkowski no trouble.

Two minutes later, Knudsen won a corner on the Blues’ left and, after Waghorn’s flag-kick was cleared back out wide, Connolly curled a cross which the blustery wind took beyond his team-mates and wide.

On 12 Sears almost made of some hesitant wind-influenced defending by the Robins when Hordur Magnusson failed to deal with a Carter-Vickers ball over the top, however, Frank Fielding was off his line quickly to punch clear ahead of the Town striker.

Four minutes later, Jamie Paterson caught Waghorn with a high boot 20 yards. The Blues’ top scorer took the freekick himself but hit the wall. The loose ball fell to Knudsen 30 yards out but the Danish international’s strike flew well back into the stand behind the goal.

While the home side had had a lot of the ball early on, Town had looked more threatening, albeit without either keeper having made a serious save and with the windy conditions hampering both teams at times.

Sears and Knudsen looped over wind-assisted crosses from either flank on 15, but Town were unable to profit, the ball failing to fall to Connolly on the edge of the box after the Dane’s ball was half-cleared.

Bialkowski came out of his goal to head clear as Paterson chased a ball over the top on 34, before the snow began to fall much more heavily.

Neither side had particularly threatened after the quarter-hour mark but on 43 Sears and Waghorn carved out a crossing opportunity for Knudsen. His ball found his opposite wing-back Spence in the area but the former Robins’ loanee’s header looped over.

A minute later, with the snow thankfully subsiding a little, the Blues threatened again but Fielding claimed Connolly’s header across the six-yard box from Spence’s cross ahead of Sears who otherwise would have gratefully tapped home his first goal in 35 games.

Moments later the whistle went ending a half in which Town had had the better of the chances in very trying conditions, more due to the wind than the snow.

The home side had had plenty of the ball but without being able to make any headway against the Blues’ backline, while Town had created the better opportunities on the break - the wind perhaps having assisted them more than the opposition kicking the other way during the half - with Spence’s header the best chance created in open play.

A yellow ball was introduced for the second half although with the snow having ceased, if not the wind.

Ward’s 48th minute cross failed to find Waghorn with the Blues beginning the half on the front foot.

But the home side began to see most of the new ball, however, still without being able breakthrough the resolute Blues backline. On 56 the quiet Famara Diédhiou was replaced by Djuric.

A minute later, Kelly hit low effort from distance from out on the left which Bialkowski stopped confidently.

The Robins should have taken the lead right on the hour mark. Marlon Pack hit a shot from 25 yards which Bialkowski could only parry due to the wind. Sub Djuric was quickly on to the loose ball but somehow wafted over the bar as well as the Town keeper.

But the Bosnian quickly atoned for failing to take that chance. In the 64th minute Kelly was allowed time and space to cross from the left and Djuric got ahead of Webster to head to Bialkowski’s right and into the corner of the net from 10 yards.

The Robins were forced into a sub in the 71st minute, Magnusson having suffered a knock. Jens Hegeler replaced the Icelander.

Town might have equalised in the 76th minute. Waghorn fed Spence on the right and the ex-West Ham man sent over a deep cross which found Connolly unmarked at the far post. However, the on-loan Everton midfielder powered a header wide of goal which was cleared ahead of Sears at the far post.

Ward curled a freekick well over after Connolly had been fouled on 79 with the Blues beginning to make more of an impact going forward. On 82 Fielding only just managed to paw an inswinging Waghorn corner from the right away from his line.

Town swapped Ward for Bersant Celina a minute later, while the Robins switched Paterson for Gary O’Neil.

Soon after, Korey Smith was shown the game’s first yellow card for pulling back Sears, then on 87 Knudsen joined him after a clash of heads with Eros Pisano, who made an awful lot of the collision.

Early in six minutes of injury time Waghorn headed well wide and the Blues, with Celina having made an impact from the bench, continued to send crosses into the box but without the ball falling kindly.

Morris took over from Sears for the final couple of minutes and more balls were sent into the Bristol City box in the final moments but without Town testing Fielding, who had had a quiet second half, and eventually the referee’s whistle confirmed the Blues’ first away defeat in six.

On balance, Town would have deserved a point but as in so many similarly evenly-balanced games this season the one really clear-cut chance was created and taken by the opposition, although Kelly was given far too much time to send in the cross and Webster will feel he ought to have done better.

At the other end, the Blues, who are now without a goal in their last three matches, failed to carve out a real chance other than Connolly’s header across the face.

The defeat sees Town stay 12th going into the international break with a visit to Birmingham following the two-week hiatus, while the Robins move up to seventh, nine points ahead of the Blues, only a point off the play-offs.

Bristol City: Fielding, Pisano, Wright (c), Magnusson (Hegeler 71), Kelly, Brownhill, Pack, Smith, Paterson (O’Neil 83), Diédhiou (Djuric 56), Reid. Unused: Wollacott, Kent, Walsh, Diony.

Town: Bialkowski, Carter-Vickers, Chambers (c), Webster, Spence, Skuse, Connolly, Ward (Celina 83), Knudsen, Sears (Morris 90), Waghorn. Unused: M Crowe, Hyam, Gleeson, Drinan, Kenlock. Referee: Darren England (South Yorkshire). Att: 21,509 (Town: 1,066).

Photo: Pagepix

runaround added 19:19 - Mar 17 Played for a nil nil draw & we are quite good at stopping teams but cannot do anything to try and win the game apart from hoping for a lucky break. Obvious that Mick had no plan B as waited nearly 20 minutes to make substitutions which then were like for like. It is this safety first lack of attacking ambition that is turning fans off. Results are of little importance now all eyes are on Evans now. Massive decisions ahead for him over the next few weeks as to the future of the club.......if he can be bothered

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Swn98 added 19:20 - Mar 17 irreparable irreparable 1. not reparable; incapable of being rectified, remedied, or made good: an irreparable mistake.
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onemarcusstewart added 19:22 - Mar 17 Swn98 pathetic
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Swn98 added 19:22 - Mar 17 Ah well see it's going to be fun on here tonight off to the club for a game of Scrabble.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 19:30 - Mar 17 Kudos to the away fans who made the trip in the bad weather.
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onemarcusstewart added 19:31 - Mar 17 Or is it medication time
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warktheline added 19:41 - Mar 17 Are 'we' finally safe to say no more mention of 'play off contenders'! I'm only highlighting this 'hot' debate because SWN and GCON have sunk to new depths of total self 'embarrassment' to justify the 'ever downward trend' McCarthy's 'proper bloke clique' are 'handsomely' drawing more and more 'dissatisfied and rightly' concerned 'Suffolk Sleepers'! ATTEND NO MORE say I, and let's show that 'capitalist club eroding owner' we've been unfortunately 'attached' too, how ruddy 'sleepy' Suffolk dwellers can be!!!!

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grumpyoldman added 19:42 - Mar 17 Swn98. Here's a word for you floccinaucinihilipilification, I believe it means what most people on here do in regard your comments; the action or habit of estimating something as worthless
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Gatehouse added 19:49 - Mar 17 I thought our solid back 4 dominated their strikers our ball carrying CB linked brilliantly with our creative midfield the fluent quick inter passing was delightful on the eye our quick tricky wingers ran riot down the flanks and of course our 20 goal leading goal scorer took his hat trick brilliantly. As with all our games this season we took the attack to the opposition free flowing attacking football played on the ground as it should be looking forward to a table topping game next week at A packed Portman road great times to be a town fan ..................... anyone got a time machine as I've told my son many times but once upon a time that was how we played home away and even in Europe I fear my son will never get close to how we felt once upon a time the trouble with this fairy tale under super mick is there is no happy ending and none of us live happily ever after

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MicksZzzTactics added 20:26 - Mar 17 Personally I didn't physically attend this arctic showdown ...so according so some of the "true fans" I am thus grossly disqualified for commenting on it ANY way or form LMAO!!! I partly get their high plane "drift" so to speak but eventually I still beg to differ! as not only did I listen in, but also as always when not attending I find it mildly amusing :-) :-) to compare the supposedly perfectly neutral mainstream media various game reviews plus various sources with full dissected stats to the ehmmm slightly more sugarcoated ones, or bluetinted if you will, predominantly being printed here on TWTD or even EADT. Hence I hereby present just a selected few notable 'observations' from elsewhere around the football scene...which MIGHT be of interest to some lol: 1) Quote: "Djuric benefited from poor marking by an Ipswich side who had otherwise defended well [albeit with 7-8 players!] to that point. But the visitors created precious little going forward and could have FEW COMPLAINTS at the end of a game." 2) Lots of commentators/spectators being puzzled, to put it mildly, about the very late use of Celina and Morris ... and just the once again conspicuous lack of youth, in a team which has nothing more to play for this campaign, in the team at the start of either half really! 3) The much locally outspoken & "political correct" sounding El Capitano, didn't exactly "Lead by example" today as he pretty clear-cur got the lowest overall rating of any starting participant, this according to more than one neutral source but MOST specifically the very thorough soccer site www.whoscored.com. (They have City & their players as the VISIBLE better rated side with Lloyd Kelly as the outstanding M.O.T.M. at 8.2 and Connolly & Spence sharing the honors for best ITFC performance with a 7.0). 4) Well regarding them often super saaaaad & sorrrrry, from an ITFC pov, dissected game stats.... well today it was a 9-9 tie in 'Total Shots'. They however had 5 shots 'on target' while we -- as innumerous times before under 'Safety First Mick The Nick' only mustered a meager 2 -- (combined with 4 'off target' + 3 'blocked') and perhaps of real special note is it that once again only a minority (4) of these total shots came from non set pieces i.e. from 'open play'! However unlike fairly many games this season (and particularly early on in the schedule) we were thus in no way completely out-bombarded! & also today only *SLIGHTLY* 'dispossessed', outpossessed', 'outpassed' and 'outdribled' ....and uhuu! we did manage to nip the 'Aerials Won' contest' and somehow held them to just 2 corners versus our "lofty" 4. :-) :-)

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wayway added 20:27 - Mar 17 Now come on, we only lost 1 -0, that prisoner 1 point only just escaped, think I will try a flat back 10 at Birmingham next time out, be careful what you wish for
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NoelTheDub added 20:28 - Mar 17 dukey44 Im Irish and very proud, McCarthys english from barnsley and you can keep him.
3

SanDiego added 20:55 - Mar 17 Meh, not much to comment on at all. Some passing on the deck but no penetration, no urgency after going a goal down and 5 out of 10 performances from mostly everyone. Would rather see Iorfa and Kenlock if we're playing with wing backs because they both have more attacking intent and ability than Spence and Jonas. Midfield needs someone to take charge of the forward movement. Mick was saying yesterday that he hasn't changed his style since coming in, steering us clear of relegation, the play off year etc so can't understand why the fans have changed. Problem is Mick, your team has changed since then, you no longer have a target man up front to supply knock downs/hold it up and allow others to catch up to the play after a long ball forward. You found an answer to it with Garner's ability to win free kicks but without that we can't make the ball stick up front and as soon as we get to the final third we run out of ideas and the ball ends up back at our 'keeper, which I saw happen frequently today. So you may not have changed your ethos but you don't have the players to play it anymore Just do one already!

10

wayway added 20:57 - Mar 17 I think I would rather watch Swn play scrabble than watch the dross McCarthy turns out. Now , where is my spellchecker
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dirtydingusmagee added 21:16 - Mar 17 as always Swn98 excelling at being a complete T#at. We lost ,he hasn't been able to defend his idol, so thinks he will be clever , ..........really Swn98, that isn't one of your strong points .
6

Dissboyitfc added 21:18 - Mar 17 At the other end, the Blues, who are now without a goal in their last three matches, failed to carve out a real chance other than Connolly's header across the face. WHO CAN DEFEND THIS? MM out!
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dirtydingusmagee added 21:43 - Mar 17 played 38 failed to score in 17 .
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ricardo55555 added 22:28 - Mar 17 The result and the performance isn't dreadful to be fair as Bristol away is a hard fixture But the tactical decision to leave Celina on the bench until the 83rd minute after having conceded on the 64th is why Mick needs to leave the club.
4

Minneapolis_ITFC added 22:55 - Mar 17 Perhaps there were certain positives to take from today i.e. the team showed that little extra belief and determination than before, but I see comments about how it was essentially something of a scrappy game and Bristol deserved the victory. I've taken an interest in the club since the tenure of Bob Robson and the halcyon years that we witnessed, but in truth in recent memory it has been far below standard. McCarthy in interview appeared perhaps ill or requiring a mandatory break from the game but remains in position - bringing a run of sub-standard scores and performances along with it. People mention they want the season over, and it's hard to dispute. All that remains is a handful of largely irrelevant games - and another largely irrelevant season has all but passed us by. Some of the younger generation may never realize - or even accept - that this was once one of the most entertaining club teams of European soccer, that came so near to two successive league championships. Not to mention an array of exciting and high profile international names. The club seems so far-detached from that era, it's hard to even put distance on it.

4

Swn97 added 23:08 - Mar 17 I am a knob.
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alfromcol added 23:11 - Mar 17 For all those on here who were not at the game today, you missed a quite enjoyable game , which with just a little bit of luck we could have won the game. With a more positive manager we have the nucleus of a good side. Great support from over a 1000 fans who made it to Bristol. PS I am one of those that want MM gone.
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Northstandveteran added 04:27 - Mar 18 We lose and only 71 posts! (Sarcasm) I suppose you can only give the same criticism so many times? A very boring read this evening, especially with little said my the Mick supporters. In fact the only time I have been amused reading through the forum tonight is swn98 casting his line and easily reeling in the bites. The 'off to play scrabble' quip I found very amusing. Surely, surely McCarthy can't be here next season?! Even the most tolerant, fair, traditionally manager supporting club such as Ipswich can no longer watch this downward spiral continue? I do understand that Mick is only a part of the chain in the continued demise of this great club but he has to go and the new man given at least some financial backing. I often recall John Llyall's words when he took over. When asked what his ambitions were for the club he said, "I want a full stadium with fans enjoying their football" Wouldn't that be great? Admittedly the full stadium would only be achievable by success but can't imagine a single person has left Portman road over the last few weeks thinking, "I really enjoyed that" If McCarthy is here for another two years, I really do fear for the future of this club.

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Northstandveteran added 04:30 - Mar 18 Swn #by the Mick supporters 😂
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brittaniaman added 10:10 - Mar 18 I see Dino is now going to hide behind his Beard ????? But our Chairman still hides behind his Door ??
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Pants3 added 11:04 - Mar 18 I think everyone has now made it abundantly clear that they do not want Mick Mcarthy to remain at the club. The atmosphere at home games must change now otherwise so much more damage will be done. Regardless of team selection and tactics for the rest of the home games the players must be supported. When in possession there is hardly any movement off the ball with players making themselves available, when they are given it they have no options and will revert to hoofing it to take the pressure off. Cannot people see that the players are totally bereft of confidence as they are only greeted with derision when a mistake is made. This will undoubtedly have an affect on Bart signing a new contract, on other good players wishing to remain at the club and also the possibility of a loan player making a deal permanent. It could also affect a new manager appointment. So please support the players give them encouragement and don't do what you are accusing MM of and damage the club even further.

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