and now for an indepth sensible report.
Jason Scotland has his had up the keepers bum for Smiths goal!
big assist.

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hand!

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Was much like the first game of a pre-season tour. No one looked fit and the lack of structure is worrying. JET needs to understand that a goal doesn't have to be 100mph from 25 yards out and Edwards needs to put the back into right-back. If anyone was scouting last night they would come away with the same: "exploit their right-hand side." If we stay up this season I will consider it a success.

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Went to the game last night and enjoyed the experience of another game where Town seemed to gather more confidence and in the end their quality over a League Two side shone through. There was a good buzz about Portman Road even with only a small attendance. I suppose this represented the new season optimism which wasn't disfigured by this game.

Their goal was an odd one and I haven't been able to see it on the box again yet. It was a shot which sort of lobbed Loach even though he wasn't that far out. In the grand scheme of things though I suppose that doesn't really matter that much in the end. Jason Scotland was superb tonight and worked really well. His goal was meticulously accurate but I reckon a better keeper could have saved it. In the second half we used the ball far better and got into far more goal scoring positions. Tommy Smith really is such a powerful player in set-pieces and with him and Chambers in the mixer I think we could prove to be quite a threat from corners and free kicks this term. JET worked hard to get a goal but his shot ultimately led to Cresswell getting on the end of it and by then it was game over. The first half was a bit of a non-event really but the second half livened things up a bit and this kept the intially jubilant Rovers fans (made a good amount of noise for their numbers) quieten down a bit.

In terms of player performances I thought that Scotland was very strong and I'm confident that again he can supplement Chopra this season. Chopra was a bit off key tonight for me, his touch wasn't really there and it was a pretty poor penalty for me akin to Daniel Sturridge in the Olympics. Although a goal did come from it eventually from the corner I'd like to see Martin take them again or Jason Scotland for sure if he's on the pitch. Martin and JET were quite strong out wide and as the Rovers players tired they became too much for them and they started to impact the game more and they got into some dangerous positions. Luongo and Hyam looked fairly comfortable and Luongo is always willing to go and help the wingers and forwards giving them a give and go or another option. Defensively we were good, Bristol did about nothing apart from a brilliant goal which you can forgive. Overall a strong performance and I think that the fact Edwards and Cresswell were acting more like secondary wingers always in the Rovers half tells how dominant we were.

The Blackburn game this weekend should be a more lively affair with hopefully a big crowd and a good away support to drum up an early season atmosphere and hopefully us Town fans can spur us on to go out and get a good result against a fairly strong side. Things are looking positive ahead of the new season. COYB!!!

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a win is a win , is a win .Well done lads. COYB

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Good win and some promising football by Town. Liked the look and balance with good movement especially in midfield in contrast to last years pedestrian performances. However, for me the clearest take home message was the need to bring in 3 or 4 additional players to the squad as the bench last night was very young and inexperienced and I think we will be found wanting in the coming weeks with many fixtures ahead if we don't stregthen fast

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Apologies for the number of words that follow-for a change an feeling positive.
Took my kids to a game for the first time in a while and they were buzzing before, during and were still so afterwards. itfc dominated, plenty of action, some goals and we won......not what we were used to before we gave up to watch rugby whenever we could (but supporting the town from afar.)
Luongo was excellent, more in the dos Santos class than Townsend and Livermore.
Loach was okay, not much to do, a good kick, but his control of the thru balls and backpasses when he used his feet were a bit worrying.
Chambers was solid enough when facing opposition. But wasn't impressed when facing his own goal.
JET and CHOPS and Scotland were impressive, as was Carlos and cressie too.
Martin didn't quite look match fit but worked hard for most of his game time.
Tommy S and Hyam were more than okay too.
Overall, we are hopeful for the new season. Passed it around well, but some fairly aimless crosses at times. On another day we could have scored more so quite encouraged........and the kids have marked off some other games in the programmes fixture list.
Could be like the old days and back to Portman road a dozen games a season rather than just the once since Keane the destroyer turned up.

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