Ipswich Town Home Drew 2 – 2
It may have been just days after a cup semi final but Tonda still had to field his best available side against Ipswich in the eighth game of the month. It couldn’t include Downes because of suspension, nor Matsuki who joined Stephens on the injured list. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that these are the best two sides from the second half of the Championship season and they lived up to that billing in a first half that included no flying saves, shots against the woodwork or goalmouth scrambles but plenty of good efforts flying just wide or over and some attractive approach play. This may be because both camps would have second-guessed their rivals’ likely results on the last day and concluded that a draw in this fixture wasn’t going to make a great deal of difference to the table. The ante in a cracking match was upped very soon after the restart with Larin attempting an acrobatic bicycle kick before hesitancy by Wood allowed Burns to fire the visitors ahead. Whether it’s the spirit within the camp or simply a result of a long unbeaten run against their immediate peers, but this Saints team shows plenty of resilience and they were to draw level on 58 minutes thanks to a free kick on the edge of the box. Rather oddly, there’s plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest that goalkeeper Peretz had a lot to do with it, advancing upfield to give Manning and Scienza some tactical advice and then going over to the touchline to position disruptor Larin in the Ipswich wall. Quite how the ball went in isn’t entirely clear, a deflection off a defender seemingly defeating Walton who wasn’t expecting a low shot. Fellows seemed to have been nursing a knock for some time before being replaced by Edozie but we continued with Larin, and he was to give Saints the lead after 80 minutes. It took some scoring, too, thanks to great strength in the box, a bit of luck and a clever finish. That was Larin’s job done for the night but sadly, for the second time in four days, Saints couldn’t see it through to a win. We found it difficult to deny Ipswich possession and eventually the defence cracked in the face of a 20 yard shot by Clarke. With Clarke also hitting the post a few minutes later and denied by a fine Peretz save, a draw was at least better than losing a superb match up, even if it wasn’t the result either side wanted.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates to choose from:
3. Ryan Manning. In the frame thanks to a goal and an assist.
9. Cyle Larin, again demonstrating the value of a big, strong centre forward in the Championship.
20. Casper Jander, continuing his good form from Wembley.
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