Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Ipswich Town 0-1 Fleetwood Town - Match Report
Tuesday, 3rd Mar 2020 21:55

Sub Ched Evans’s goal five minutes before half-time saw Fleetwood Town to a 1-0 victory over dismal Town on their first ever visit to Portman Road. The Blues were woeful in the first half but improved a little after the break but still rarely looked like equalising on a bleak and fractious night.

Brett McGavin was handed his league debut and Andre Dozzell returned to the side for the first time in two months as Paul Lambert made six changes.

McGavin was in the deeper midfield role behind Dozzell, whose last first-team game was the Leasing.com Trophy tie at Exeter at the start of January, alongside Jon Nolan, with Cole Skuse and Emyr Huws, starters during the 2-1 defeat at Blackpool on Saturday, missing due to a gash on the shin and a toe injury respectively.

Tomas Holy continued in goal with the Blues returning to a back three with - from the right - James Wilson, skipper Luke Chambers and Josh Earl the centre-halves. Janoi Donacien and Luke Garbutt were the wing-backs. Will Keane was up front with Alan Judge set to play off him.

Teddy Bishop and Freddie Sears were among the subs, having made their first starts of the season at Bloomfield Road, as were young duo Tyreece Simpson and Armando Dobra.

Flynn Downes missed the first game of his two-match ban for reaching 10 bookings and Kayden Jackson the second of his three-game suspension.

Fleetwood, at Portman Road for the first time in their history with manager Joey Barton in the stands serving a touchline ban, named an unchanged team from last week’s 1-1 draw at Sunderland.

Neither side threatened in the early stages with Fleetwood seeing most of the ball but without threatening. On 15 Paddy Madden shot well wide from the left of the area.

Moments later former Town loanee Callum Connolly was switched for Evans, back from suspension, the on-loan Everton man having been on the sidelines having a nosebleed attended to for the previous few minutes.

Chances continued to be non-existent at both ends with Fleetwood having most of the possession but without threatening and the Blues struggling to get on the ball. In their rare spells with it there were one or two neat interchanges involving Dozzell, McGavin and Judge but without getting near to creating an opportunity.

On 28 the visitors weren’t too far from opening the scoring in slightly fortunate circumstances when Barrie McKay was found in space on the left and his cross was diverted off the outside of the near post by Chambers from six yards.


Despite their possession, Fleetwood had threatened very little but in the 40th minute they went in front. McKay played in sub Evans who took it on in to the area on the left before hitting a shot beyond Chambers’ dive, across Holy and into the net.

The Fleetwood goal prompted boos from the previously sullen Town crowd, followed by chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ aimed towards manager Lambert and ‘Marcus Evans, get out of our club’.

Fleetwood taking the lead seemed to wake the Blues up, Dozzell playing in Donacien on the right of the box but the right wing-back’s low cross was blocked.

In injury time, McGavin and Dozzell cleverly combined to find Keane in the penalty spot following a corner but the striker was crowded out before he could get in a shot.

The half-time whistle was greeted by more boos after a woeful first period from the much-changed powderpuff Blues.

Town, looking utterly bereft of confidence and dynamism, had struggled to get hold of the ball throughout the half with Fleetwood dominating possession although to little effect until their goal five minutes before the break.

It was little surprise that there was a change at the break after such a lacklustre half with Sears replacing league debutant McGavin with Judge moving back to the right of a midfield four with Garbutt pushing forward on the left.

The former West Ham man quickly got into the action, hitting a shot from the right of the box which was deflected over the bar after a well-worked passage of play down the right following a cleared freekick.

Town were looking a more threatening prospect in the opening minutes of the second half - although that wasn’t difficult given the pedestrian first period - with Sears making runs into channels and drawing one or two freekicks.

At the other end on 55 Lewie Coyle hit a low 30-yard shot in the aftermath of a corner which was straight at Holy.

As the game passed the hour mark Simpson was handed his home debut in place of Keane, who had had a tough evening with Fleetwood’s man mountain centre-half Harry Souttar having won everything in the air, something noted by the Town support in the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

The Blues twice went within a whisker of levelling in the 63rd minute after Simpson had won a freekick on the left. Judge’s ball in from the left flicked off somebody and looked goalbound until it was cleared off the line by Coyle. The loose ball ran to Nolan, whose low shot was saved on the line by Fleetwood keeper Alex Cairns, his first stop of the game.

On 68 Danny Andrew shot through to Holy, then two minutes later Madden was booked for a foul on Earl.

Aside from the double chance, Town hadn’t seriously threatened and on 74 Bishop took over from Nolan.

Simpson, who signed his first pro deal with the Blues yesterday, wasn’t too far away from his first Town goal in the 83rd minute when he shot on the turn from a Sears cross from the right but his effort was too close to Cairns who palmed behind.

Town continued to look for a leveller as the game moved into its final scheduled minutes but with there being little sign that they would get back on terms.

Chants of ‘We want Evans out, we want Evans out’ rang round the Sir Bobby Robson Stand with the owner watching from the East of England Co-op Stand as the game entered five minutes of additional time.

Deep in injury time, Judge shot over after a freekick from the right had reached him at the far post as the chants aimed at owner Evans increased in volume.

The final whistle brought more boos and ended yet another depressing evening for the long-suffering Blues faithful with chants of ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ erupting and the players and staff being roundly booed as they approached and applauded the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

While Fleetwood, followed by 88 delighted fans, fully deserved their victory against a Town side which was simply not good enough to beat them on the night, a 1-0 defeat to a club which has spent most of its history well down the non-league ladder puts Town’s predicament into very sharp focus.

Fans brought up on the teams of Sir Alf Ramsey, Sir Bobby Robson and George Burley can’t ever have expected to see their side to lose and perform so poorly in a League One game against such historically lowly opposition.

Town, who have now lost six of their last eight and have won only four of their last 20 in the league, now look to be outsiders for even a place in the play-offs - they are six points behind tonight’s opponents who are now sixth with two games in hand on the Blues - having been top and looking to be cruising in November and after climbing back to the summit again in January.

Leaders Coventry, impressive as they won at Portman Road in the FA Cup in January, are next in Suffolk on Saturday.

Town: Holy, Donacien, Earl, Chambers (c), Wilson, Nolan (Bishop 74), Judge, Dozzell, Garbutt, McGavin (Sears 46), Keane (Simpson 61). Unused: Norris, Edwards, Woolfenden, Dobra.

Fleetwood: Cairns, Coyle, Andrew, Connolly (Evans 16), Souttar, Burns, Whelan, Coutts (c), Madden, Gibson, McKay (Sowerby 73). Unused: Crellin, Morris, Thervaldsson, Saunders, Holgate. Referee: Neil Hair (Cambridgeshire). Att: 15,678 (Fleetwood: 88).


Photo: TWTD



Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.



afcfee added 23:13 - Mar 3
Comparing to bury laughable
1

blueboy1981 added 23:13 - Mar 3
Team selection tonight defied belief - In selecting that line up for a ‘must win game' must surely be Lambert taking the p#ss out of Evans, and every single one of us.
If he is still in a job tomorrow morning, it is 100% more that he deserves.
Evans - you have no choice but to dismiss Lambert, to reclaim any kind of respect for the Club.
The now costly bullet just has to be bitten, for another of your mistakes.
6

blueboy1981 added 23:16 - Mar 3
afcfee ........ I wouldn't laugh too loudly, if I were you .....
-2

Dissboyitfc added 23:18 - Mar 3
I wonder how sheepshanks feels? he felt Evans was the man to take us forward!

Something has to change, i can see us slipping out of league 1 if we dont arrest this awful slide!
5

cat added 23:20 - Mar 3
Must win game your having a bubble. The atmosphere was flat from the off, Lamberts not only lost the plot but also the fans and even an idiot knows you start the game with your best eleven. For someone so PR savie he must realise he's destroying us. What next??? A new manager and captain for a starter, yes we all know Evans ain't good for us and most wish he'd simply go away, but tonight's toothless, gutless and lettuce like performance weren't down to him.
11

Dissboyitfc added 23:22 - Mar 3
Can really see the crowds dropping off now. I was going to go to the coventry game. dont think i will bother now! Unless of course it is to support the new manager.
5

TractorBeezer added 23:22 - Mar 3
Lambert and coaches should be ashamed. What a farce tonight with passion or leadership.
2

Kickingblock added 23:22 - Mar 3
Bring on Coventry!
They'll be looking forward to Saturday...
Oh what an atmosphere.......
2

TractorBeezer added 23:24 - Mar 3
should be without passion or leadership

0

runaround added 23:24 - Mar 3
First half 8 of our starting line up didn't try. That is disgusting disgraceful and out of order. They were not fit to wear the shirt & I would not lose any sleep if some of them never played for the club again. If they cannot try to perform for this club then they can get lost. If they cannot deal with the pressure of a promotion battle then perhaps they need to work a week in an underfunded A&E department or in police or forces or a zero hour commission only job with mounting bills to pay. That is pressure & stress! They are pampered overpaid wasters who need a massive wake up call. Ultimately the blame for tonight falls on Lambert & I cannot see how he can recover from this & for him to stay at the club now is probably only going to make things worse. Evans is slowly killing this club & I don't think he cares but getting rid of him won't be easy.
4

DoseOfReality added 23:27 - Mar 3
The only reason the club is in debt is due to Evans constant bad decisions.

He needs to go & if we drop to non league & start again we be better off & get back to where we are now in a few seasons & not be in debt to this mug.

It hurts but vote on your feet & lead the ground empty.

Evans is a serial loser who kills others hopes & dreams.. he hasn't saved this club he is gradually killing it .. lge 2 beckons & we probably sunk as low as possible with our hardcore fan base.

Surely there's a way for club to get rid of him.. he's brought nothing but failure & debt
2

Dissboyitfc added 23:28 - Mar 3
i keep refreshing the page in the hope of seeing the headlines, that Lambert has walked!
6

Michael101 added 23:31 - Mar 3
What I find very hard to understand is how come a man has made himself a multi-million pound ticket tout empire.But he hasn't got a clue how to run a football club.
2

blueboy1981 added 23:31 - Mar 3
The scrum of ‘bidders' for the Club being interviewed tomorrow by BBP and Bluearmy 81 - ask them to form an orderly queue please. 🤣😇
-3

blueboy1981 added 23:33 - Mar 3
Good Night All - better days ahead, one would hope.
0

Dissboyitfc added 23:37 - Mar 3
might be a long wait blueboy so wont be holding my breath!
1

BeattiesBackPocket added 23:44 - Mar 3
Blueboy1981 sarcasm your goto when you have been given an answer or facts you cannot find a reply to lmao maybe you should be the manager as it's his fault for the past 13 years even though he's only been here two years according to you and the other couple of cronies 😂😂😭
2

KMANSers added 23:47 - Mar 3
The only way to support this club is to stay away and stop f””kin lining the clueless owners pocket.
I struggle to understand how people think they are supporting this club by turning up watching well below quality football at premier league prices!
Demonstrate outside the ground and then keep your money in your pocket, short term pain- long time gain.
Keep doing the same season after season and it's going to be RIP ITFC!
3

londontractorboy57 added 23:49 - Mar 3
Ah well the Numbskulls calling for another turn of the manager merry go round, the same melts that called for the removal of MM are now after the head of their messiah Public relations Paul its easy to get job as manager at ITFC read the news pages of TWTD tell the numbskulls what they want to hear they will come flocking back.
Little did he know how fickle the numbskulls are.
Well they got what they wished for what next brain boxes.
Bye the way it was a crap game from start to finish.
-7

blueboy1981 added 23:58 - Mar 3
Londontractorboy57....... good to see your vocabulary is improving.......!!!
3

londontractorboy57 added 00:02 - Mar 4
Thought you had gone to bed Bluebore!!!
0

Linkboy13 added 00:09 - Mar 4
This was a must win game why did we select such a weak side. Freddy Sears should have started you can always take him off if he tired. Poor Brett Mcgavin looked way out of his depth Teddy Bishop should have played. I've been his worst critic but i think the only player to come out with any credit was Andre Dozzell he looked the only player capable of creating anything.
3

Henrietta_R_Hippo added 00:10 - Mar 4
"YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP!"

...that is Snake Oil selling, Talk the Talk & Public Relation *stuntman* extraordinaire Paul Lambert's near football managerial INEPTITUDE!!!

The bloke's football On-The-Field, Dressing room and I might as well include pregame Strategy Room ehmmmm"prowess" is as phony as a 2 Dollar bill!!! Period.

I am firmly in the camp that claims and has always claimed that with regard to ITFC then solely Corporate Tax driven Marcus Evans the person & shrewd businessman, is by far the main culprit in this club's fall from grace EVERYTHING on-the-field but of course also simply resultwise since his take over, thus not primarily who occupied the manager's seat fault nor primarily the rather unbelievable by & large unmotivated and incompetent lot / dross who had worn the shirt in say just the 2010s ...

....HOWEVER it has to be mentioned that factually a serious lot of our fans, here on TWTD but of course largely elsewhere bought Lambert's seemingly never ceasing verbal me & my former merry merits at some big clubs broken record sounding BS ....from the very Get-Go of his appointment?! hook, line & sinker?! . .hence his attached & often recited by the Evans friendly local media kudos/medal "He mange to bring a large chunk of the fans back [that first & foremost but not exclusively the ultra obnoxious MM had scared off though the years]".

(Just for the record: Indeed that he and his unique selling sand in Sahara talent certainly did...even seen at the turnstiles & st sales this league one campaign i.e AFTER his imho woefully abject (and thus 100% sacking worthy!) failure in keeping us from being relegated from the 2nd tier with his very own but hilariously poor (even considering the size of his petty allowance) so called January 2019 reinforcements but of course predominantly with his game by game mind-boggling lame tactics including the ultra dysfunctional "Lone Strike" one + playing the same same super calamitous proper blokes from START especially at the back end week after week + very often extremely unsound use of his 3 substitutions.)

Personally this post of mine is however NOT about picking some sort of told-u-so fight or even a sober debate about those here on TWTD who for a better word "fell for it" ... meaning Lambert's incredible pr stunts and either could or simply chose not to see the bloke's already *back then* imho blatantly obvious managerial on-the-field INEPTITUDE -- and thus largely unintentionally made it much much easier for Ebeneezer Evans (who basically always has been stunningly indifferent about his club's on-the-field football fortunes, exclusively financially elated to see fans having returned in size to PR) to draw up that that going down in football history as the worst & most unwarranted contract extraction that said "Sign HERE Paul" this amidst a then one win in 15 sacking worthy drought???!!! .. YOU know who you are ...and you have to live with the consequences of your shall we say "credulousness" (and in some folk's cases now unwanted ST's lol).
Let's leave it at that, and thus I hereby plea for my fellow members to not start in the coming days a true mud throwing hindsight is 20/20 contest with pointed out monikers and name-calling etc. and last but not least indulge in that already VERY old here and thus inherited unbearable "Be careful what you wish for" game! Thank You in advance!

EVANS OUT, LAMBERT OUT & CLUB STALWART CHAMBERS ABRUPTLY RETIRING (NOT INTO THE NEXT ITFC MANGER THOUGH!)
6

blueboy1981 added 00:11 - Mar 4
....... awaken by your improved vocabulary.... to good to miss the opportunity to comment on. I like the respect you show for fellow supporters.
-1

blueboy1981 added 00:20 - Mar 4
Signing off now.
If Lambert doesn't walk, or is relieved of his duties tomorrow by Evans - there just has to be a lower level long term agreement between them, that we know not of.
No where else in Football would he retain his job, beyond tonight's game.
3


You need to login in order to post your comments

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls

About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Cookies Advertising
© TWTD 1995-2024