Fleetwood Town 0-0 Ipswich Town - Half-Time Saturday, 5th Mar 2022 15:59 The Blues’ game at Fleetwood remains 0-0 at half-time, Joe Pigott having hit the post moments before the break. Town boss Kieran McKenna made four changes with Bersant Celina, Conor Chaplin, Kayden Jackson and Joe Pigott coming into the team. Pigott started as the central striker with Jackson and Chaplin behind him to the left and right respectively and Celina alongside skipper Sam Morsy. James Norwood, Macauley Bonne, Tyreeq Bakinson and Sone Aluko all dropped to the bench. For Fleetwood, former Blues Toto Nsiala and Ellis Harrison both started, while Joe Garner was suspended having been sent off in midweek. After a minute’s applause in support of the people of Ukraine and the players taking a knee, the Blues, with manager Kieran McKenna’s former Manchester United colleague Michael Carrick watching from the stand, began strongly on a patchy and boggy pitch, although less bumpy than the surface at Morecambe last week. In the sixth minute, George Edmundson rose highest at a corner played to the near post but headed wide. Three minutes later, Pigott sent Chaplin away on the right following a swift interchange of passes and the former Barnsley man cut in and shot low to home keeper Alex Cairns. On 14 Celina played a clever pass through to Jackson on the edge of the box but the ball skidded off the pitch away from the striker. Three minutes later, Morsy chipped a ball to the far post but Wes Burns, facing his old club, was just unable to get anything on it and in any case the linesman flagged that the Welshman was offside. Soon after, Burns hit a low effort out of the mud from the edge of the area which Cairns grabbed at the second attempt. Keeper Cairns made an injudicious rush off his line to clear a long ball forward in the 28th minute, his headed clearance finding Pigott midway inside the Fleetwood half. The former AFC Wimbledon man’s chip towards the empty goal under pressure floated over the bar. In the 34th minute Pigott curled a shot wide off a defender after the Blues had worked their way to the edge of the area. From the resultant corner, Janoi Donacien was just unable to get a touch as the ball flashed across the edge of the six-yard box. Four minutes later, Luke Woolfenden brought the ball to the edge of the area before it was taken away from him to Jackson, who was again thwarted as he sought to get in a shot and Cairns pounced on the loose ball. As the fourth official raised his board, Pigott seized on some hesitant defending on the right of the box and hit a shot across Cairns which hit the outside of the post and bounced away for a throw. There was a feeling of déjà vu for Town fans as their team made their way off at the break. As at Morecambe a week ago and at home to Cheltenham a few days earlier, the Blues had dominated but without being able to find a goal. Pigott’s late effort off the post was the best opportunity, while Cairns probably hadn’t been tested enough from earlier efforts. Fleetwood had rarely threatened with their most dangerous moments having come in the wake of Town players being caught out by the deteriorating pitch. Fleetwood: Cairns, Andrew (c), Jules, Clarke, Harrison, Camps, Pilkington, Johnson, Lane, Nsiala, Johnston. Subs: O’Hara, Butterworth, G Garner, Morris, Biggins, Boyle, Hayes. Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Thompson, Morsy (c), Celina, Burns, Chaplin, Jackson, Pigott. Subs: Hladky, Penney, Norwood, Bakinson, Bonne, Aluko, Burgess. Referee: Andrew Kitchen (Durham).
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