Matt Godden’s 16th minute goal saw leaders Coventry City to a 1-0 victory over the Blues at Portman Road. Town were an improvement on Tuesday’s defeat to Fleetwood by the same scoreline but were unable to find an equaliser.

Will Norris, Teddy Bishop, Luke Woolfenden, Cole Skuse, Gwion Edwards and Freddie Sears all returned to the starting line-up as manager Paul Lambert made six changes for the teams’ fourth meeting this season.

Norris replaced Tomas Holy in goal behind a back four of Edwards, Woolfenden, skipper Luke Chambers and Luke Garbutt.

In midfield, Skuse and Andre Dozzell were behind Jon Nolan with Bishop and Alan Judge either side of Sears up front.

Striker Will Keane missed out with a groin injury, while leaders Coventry named an unchanged team.

The Blues might have won a penalty in the sixth minute when Nolan appeared to be caught as he went inside a defender on the right of the box. However, referee Trevor Kettle wasn’t interested and the Town protests were relatively muted.

But Coventry, in their Two-tone tribute away kit, began to see more of the ball and in the 16th minute they went ahead via their first shot of the game.

After Nolan had been dispossessed a few yards inside the Blues half, Liam Walsh played a slide-rule pass into the path of Godden on the right of the box from where the Sky Blues’ top scorer hit a shot across Norris and into the corner of the net.

Having got their lead, Coventry began to dominate as they looked for a second. On 24 Kyle McFadzean looped a header over following a short corner.

The Blues were struggling to regain a foothold but in the 29th minute they carved themselves a golden opportunity with a well-constructed move from their own area down the right involving Woolfenden Edwards, Judge and Sears.

Eventually, Judge played a bouncing ball forward into the path of Nolan, who was through on goal and in acres of space on the edge of the box. The former Shrewsbury man had time to take it down and pick his spot but instead opted to head towards goal but only succeeded in finding Coventry keeper Marko Marosi’s hands. Moments later, Walsh was booked for a foul on Bishop.

The Blues started to see more of the ball as the game passed the half-hour mark and in the 40th minute Dozzell found Nolan midway inside the visitors’ half from where he played it on to Sears, who hit a low which failed to trouble Marosi.

Four minutes later, Skuse played a ball forward to Nolan on the left of the box, who again avoided a linesman’s flag but this time shot over.

In injury time, Bishop looked to be sent flying just outside the area but referee Kettle somehow saw no infringement.

As the players made their way off at the end of the half, Norris took his protests too far and was booked, frustratedly throwing a water bottle after being shown the card.

As a result, referee Kettle was roundly booed by the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand as he made his way off the field.

Aside from the goal, there hadn’t been too much between the sides with penalty area action a rarity at both ends.

Once again, the Blues were the architects of their own downfall, losing possession in a dangerous area of the field, but Coventry did well to make the most of it.

Town, who had had their fair share of the ball and were much better than in the first half against Fleetwood, will feel they should have been on terms with Nolan’s chances one which really should have been taken, the midfielder presumably not having realised quite how much time he had or how far from goal he was. His later chance was tougher.

However, those opportunities, showed that the Sky Blues’ backline was far from impenetrable, and would have given Town hope ahead of the second half.

The Blues began the second period on the front foot and in the 49th minute Skuse played in Sears on the right of the box but the striker took the ball out of play as he tried round Marosi.

Seconds later, it could well have been 2-0. Fankaty Dabo whipped over a low ball from the right for Godden but the striker slid in and sent the ball over Norris’s crossbar.

On 52, Sears turned away from his man midway inside the Sky Blues’ half and played a ball into the path of the breaking Bishop but too close to Marosi.

Coventry began to look more threatening and in the 58th minute Godden was found by a ball over the top - having strayed offside according to the Town backline - and with Norris temporarily out of his goal Chambers blocked the striker’s shot.

As Town looked to break Kyle McFadzean was yellow-carded for a foul on Sears, who in turn was booked for a foul on Jamie Allen on 62.

Two minutes later, Josh Earl took over from Garbutt, who had been struggling for the previous little while with what appeared to be a groin problem.

On 66, following a corner, Dozzell floated a cross over from the left which Chambers looked set to nod home at the far post until Sam McCallum’s toe diverted it behind.

A minute later, Town swapped Sears for Simpson and Coventry replaced Allen with Jordan Shipley. On 74 Bishop made way for Armando Dobra, then two minutes later Dozzell was yellow-carded for a foul on Callum O’Hare. Three minutes later, goalscorer Godden was switched for Amadou Bakayoko.

The game appeared to be drifting as it moved towards its final 10 minutes with the Blues not looking particularly threatening and Coventry happy enough with their one-goal lead.

On 85 the visitors replaced O’Hare with Zain Westbrooke,, then a minute later Edwards won a corner on the right but as so often in recent weeks the set play came to nothing.

As the game moved into four minutes of injury time, McCallum was booked for a foul on Edwards on the right. The freekick was cleared but was played back out to Earl on the right but his low cross-shot was blocked.

A late Earl cross from the left hit Dobra and was seen out of play by the Coventry defenders and soon afterwards the whistle was blown to cheers from the visitors and brief boos from the home fans.

In contrast to Tuesday, the Town players were applauded by most in the ground, while referee Kettle, who had frustrated the home support throughout having made a number of surprising decisions, was booed as he left the field.

At no stage were the Blues as abject as they were during the first half against Fleetwood on Tuesday but once Coventry had got the lead - and Town had missed their big chance to level through Nolan - the Sky Blues rarely looked too uncomfortable and you got the impression that the game could have gone on for much longer without the Blues troubling the scorers, even if their overall performance probably warranted a point.

However, equally Coventry, now unbeaten in 14 in the league back to December 14th, may well have been able to step their display up a gear had it been required.

A third home defeat in a row and a seventh loss in the last nine sees the Blues drop to 10th, now seven points off the play-offs and 15 behind the Sky Blues, who are now five points clear at the top and look promotion certainties, with eight games left to play.

Town: Norris, Edwards, Woolfenden, Chambers (c), Garbutt (Earl 64), Skuse, Dozzell, Nolan, Bishop (Dobra 74), Judge, Sears (Simpson 68). Unused: Holy, Wilson, Morris, Huws.

Coventry: Marosi, Rose, McFadzean, Kelly (c), Allen (Shipley 68), Hyam, O’Hare (Westbrooke 85), Walsh, Dabo, Godden (Bakayoko 77), McCallum. Unused: Wilson, Biamou, Pask, Giles. Referee: Trevor Kettle (Rutland). Att: 18,825 (Coventry: 1,740).

Photo: TWTD

midastouch added 08:51 - Mar 8 @ Tractoboy1985. I've heard good things about Adam Marriott. One of the granddad's from my boy's team sometimes watches Kings Lynn and told me he's highly rated.
0

Dolphinblue added 08:57 - Mar 8 Well played boys great effort! Edwards brilliant! SAME OLD 30 ODD SO CALLED FANS on here hating which does not reflect the crowd at Portman. The EVANS OUT chants soon became mute and faded quick as did some boos from 5% of crowd. DECENT fans have abandoned this site leaving only THENEGCREW to wallow in their own negativity. COYB COYB COYB 🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬
-6

Dolphinblue added 09:07 - Mar 8 THENEGCREW GET OUT OF OUR CLUB...YR THE ONES WHO ARE KILLING IT!
-7

dirtydingusmagee added 09:49 - Mar 8 ha ha ha ''flipper'' has surfaced . happy days .
4

shortmarine1969 added 10:03 - Mar 8 'BLUEBOY1981 - I will answer as quite frankly you argument is absurd and all you bang on about, It has quite clearly been stated by this and previous MD that ME does not expect to get the money back, and any assertion otherwise is pure rumour as the club very recently said it was not for sale, so, therefore, no price has been attached to it. If ME does not expect the money back he could in all intense purposes sell the club for a nominal fee to a buyer , the fact you are asking posters to name a buyer is simply juvenile also , how many buyers of football club could you name before they bought a club ???..Did you have a clue who Ambramovich was ?? The gents at Leicester even the owner of Bury there was even buyers lined up for this club but they pulled out at due diligence i very much doubt you could? ME moves in a rarified group where people actually do buy clubs we do not as fans. So no buyers lined up as the club is not for sale as stated very recently by the club. And as for the near 100m that is simply garbage as well, he bought the debt of over 30m for a few mil, he charged interest on the full amount straight away for a number of years, he has brought in over 50m in players sales since Keans was here, and spent what ???...not 50 mil that's for sure, he, without doubt, has reduced his losses across his group with ITFC losses (no issue with that ) but it saves him money elsewhere, he has had corporate advertising for years, is he paying the full amount ?? ME is a terrible owner and his ownership has been an unmitigated fail by any metric, he needs to man up or sell and take the loss his MD insists he is prepared to take or is it a case he is not ???, as he clearly has/had no interest in Ipswich beyond financial gain which has failed.

2

chalky added 10:06 - Mar 8 The usual garbage from Lambert afterwards - eg: 'The Lads couldn't have given me more' A goal or two perhaps, Paul ??
1

budgieplucker added 10:23 - Mar 8 Had this been the first match we had lost for a long time and given that we didn't have 3 of our better strikers available, I think a lot of people would have accepted that performance as a one off against the top team and not been overly critical. Edwards clearly man of the match and stuck to his disciplines well of being a full back first and then exploited the space in front of him second half. Well done Gwion, none of the lapses and uneccessary bookings and could from you that have been frustrating to watch in recent weeks. Yesterday's performance from Gwion is what we would have come to expect from KVY. The other talking point for me fuelled by listening to the radio Suffolk comments coming away from the ground. Mick Mills who I agree with on lots of things was being negative about Andre Dozzell, especially a question put to Lambert which suggested that Andre needed to find his best position. I was rather disappointed in the comments, I have been one of Andre's critics this season and have been happy to see him not selected, feeling he is far too lightweight at this level but fair do's when I observe something that may change my opinion I am happy to say maybe I am wrong. In disagreeing with many others on the Fleetwood match I thought Andre had a very good second half on Tuesday night. Yesterday I thought he was the catalyst to a much improved performance, always wanting the ball, helping the team play out in tight situations, put the best cross of the match into the far post. And always threatened to find a defence splitting pass should any town player be on the same wave length. Kept play moving and allowed us to retain a high level of possession. On performances like that I would find it very difficult to leave him out of the team and want to give real credit where I think credit is due especially as I have been a real critic of his recently. To answer the question of what is his best position, I have two answers, 1) in a very good footballing team - he will be an outstanding player, 2) in the Ipswich team he can continue to play the role he played yesterday for me with those types of performances. This lad is an enormously talented footballer and given his contract expires this year it needs to be renewed now or the option taken up. Finally, a word on the Tedster a player who I normally enjoy watching and a big fan of. Teddy needs to start turning up for the big games. Not that he didn't put in a bad performance yesterday but for somebody with his talent we need to see far more of an end product and I can't hold my frustrations in. Goals from midfield is a weakness for us and unless we crack that going forward we are not going to develop a real threat to get out of this league.

0

blueboy1981 added 10:30 - Mar 8 shortmarine1969 - I suggest you research the facts before spouting, and also read my posts CORRECTLY before commenting on what is NOT written. 1. The Club has been for sale for the past 3 years plus. 2. I have asked no one to name a buyer - who could possibly do that ? I have merely asked for alternatives to Evans ownership in view of fact that there are NO currently potential buyers . The question aimed at the people who currently, and foolishly, call for Evans to go. At this moment if he goes - simply we have no Club. No brain cell required to understand that, surely ? You would all be the first to winge if we saw the Club go to the wall - but right now that is indirectly what the course of your campaigning would result in. Din't under estimate that real possibily. It couldn't happen to ITFC ? - don't you believe it for a single second ..... !!!

-1

heathen66 added 11:05 - Mar 8 Beaten by a team with a game plan. Coventry were organised and showed how to play a 3 at the back formation. The 3 CBs were well led by the central player who talked to and organised the whole team. The wingers stayed wide and were ALWAYS available and provided a one pass outlet. We on the otherhand take 10 passes to get back to almost where we started and end up lumping it forward aimlessly. Yet again Edwards was MOTM If we can get Edwards and KVY down the right and Dobra on the left we may be onto something

2

Marinersnose added 11:09 - Mar 8 A definite improvement on Tuesday evenings performance with Dozzell and Bishop playing some decent football on the grass. Not so many hoofballs from the keeper so he was a big improvement on distribution. Chambers effing at Garbutt every few minutes demonstrates so much that is wrong in this squad. Clearly players are not getting on, Chambers should set an example by the way he plays but unfortunately he is the root of so many issues. Man for man the team was okay but we haven't got a goal threat. Norwood for me is not good enough for league one and neither is Jackson but Jackson works his socks off and is a handful for defenders without being a goal threat. This will be controversial I know but compare Waghorn to any of our strikers and I'm sure most would prefer him. Our strikers lack quality excluding Sears who is still finding his fitness. Let's have a massive clear out and play the young talent. My fear is that Dobra Dozzell Woolfenden Downes Garbutt will all leave in the summer for sure. Sad times

2

Bluearmy_81 added 11:43 - Mar 8 Short marine, don't worry about some on here, too many town fans have no balls. I'm actually embarassing to be associated with them. You wonder when they would feel it appropriate to stand up for their club, league 2 or non league perhaps?! It beggars belief. Only at Ipswich... These so called fans are truly pathetic
2

blueboy1981 added 12:44 - Mar 8 .... call yourself a fan Bluearmy_81 ? - you certainly aren't a realistic one, or one to face ‘current' facts. No one that I know of has said it's wrong to criticise Evans, but in the absence of alternative ownership, we have what we have. And that has to be better than no Club - REAL ITFC Supporters would agree with that. There's no denial that under Evans ownership we've lost massive credibility - but this Club has been massively let down by overrated and overpaid Managers who have proved to be abject failures. Evans appointments -YES - but appointments that at the time, widely condoned and agreed by Supporters. But not all though, I hasten to add - myself included.

-1

blueboy1981 added 12:56 - Mar 8 ..... beaten again by a game plan' - absolutely right Heathen66, and why ? I'll tell you, because we have a Manager who barely has a Plan A, least of all a Plan B. He should have proved to everyone by now that he doesn't have a clue - that's if you've been involved in the game, and know what you're watching. Anyone who hasn't or don't - will no doubt have a different view. What more evidence should anyone want - we see it week after week, game after game. If it doesn't work from the start with Lambert - that's it - we fail to adjust / change, because he can't. Under Lambert it will not change, so don't continue to expect it to.

0

ITFCsince73 added 13:15 - Mar 8 The 3 promoted teams from L1 last year, all sitting in the bottom 3 of the Championship. If nothing else this proves we are currently at best a L1 club. Clearly any promoted team from L1 has to invest heavily to compete. That rules us out. Not that we'll be in a promotion position anytime soon.
4

ITFCsince73 added 13:17 - Mar 8 Even the best managers in the world would struggle with the dross squad we have.
3

BeattiesBackPocket added 13:50 - Mar 8 Shortmarine1969 👏🏻 Finally! Please done bamboozle blueboy with a good argument. Blueboy1981 you have constantly asked anyone who opposes Evans leadership with ‘name an alternative who's going to buy the club' so you're even going back on that it's all you ever say! You're what's wrong with the club how you'll settle for an owner who has taken us to our lowest position! Yes lamberts not the right man either but he's been here two years not 13 our decline was back when magilton was fired and Clegg was hired letting assets like leadbitter, Norris etc leave for nothing losing money in the process. If he's really happy losing supposedly so many millions a year why not cut his losses unless there IS something in it still for him. He takes the debt with him he could sell for a fee and stop losing money. there comes a time when you spend so much money on something and get nothing back where you have to stop and sell up. He won't do that then why? Where has roughly 110 million gone? Not on players and not on an ageing ground so where? You've never answered those things but always come back with a ‘name and alternative' ‘why don't you buy the club' immature response. Get a grip! I know you're a fan and we're ALL hurting and the fact fans are being divided by the owner annoys me even more!

2

BeattiesBackPocket added 13:57 - Mar 8 Regarding lambert yes he's made a lot of mistakes, cancelling games when on a great run, constant changes, etc etc but he is the only calibre of manager we will ever get, those managers out of a job already who no one else wants, because no manager on his way up and looking to get better will come here and tarnish their cv's. This is the only year we've had a competitive wage budget but maybe if we hadn't had one of the lowest ones past few years we'd still be in the championship or even challenging like we was before Evans took over.

1

warktheline added 14:20 - Mar 8 Have to agree with so many, blueboy is a total embarrassment ! No balls, no fight! Standing by as Evans dismantles our club bit by bit! Totally behind you bluearmy 81.....pacifism is criminal! ....and will be eternally remembered!
1

ITFCsince73 added 14:22 - Mar 8 With luck on our side. Here's to 15 years in L1.
0

Henrietta_R_Hippo added 14:25 - Mar 8 In light of ITFC's season being virtually over , as of yesterday!!!, here a special edition of Sunday's *Million Pound Question*: (Ohh on second thought, since the question evolves around Scrooge Evans and particularly the Scrooge Evans' owned moribund football club known as ITFC... better make that a distinctively dirt cheap! *Romantic Dinner for 2* with Marvelous Marcus's Sister-in-Law ...and thus not that normal one million price for the correct answer! Winner, if any, to be announced tomorrow at dusk. Uhhu) Q: How many managerially CLUELESS Paul Lamberts does it take to change a lightbulb at Portman Road's boardroom???

2

blueboy1981 added 15:13 - Mar 8 warktheline - no balls ? - a HUGE, I repeat HUGE, mistake in your assumption. Believe me .... !!! NEVER under estimate.
0

londontractorboy57 added 16:40 - Mar 8 Grammar and spelling as usual terrible in Bluebores rants.
-1

londontractorboy57 added 16:46 - Mar 8 On and on on on goes bluebores rantings capital letters ........!!!!!!!! zzzzzzzz
-1

coolcat added 16:57 - Mar 8 Report is spot on. I was sitting in Sth lower and saw Nolan's missed opportunity. Seen that before with Nolan. Frustrating to watch. Doesn't seem to have an awareness of who is around him & how much time he has. He has more time than he thinks. We kept losing the fight in mf. Tough at the moment with so many injured/suspended. I thought the boos at the end were mainly directed towards the officials especially when they got near the South stand. Off to Bristol on Saturday.

0

KillarneyBlue added 17:24 - Mar 8 Mick in !!!!!!!
2

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls