Four hours down the road and £23, you wouldn’t think it would be worth it but in a mind boggling game we were treated to 10 bizarre goals with neither team playing that badly. The team that started was the one that was expected by the 500 Alex fans at Ipswich.
Ince
B.Jones - Foster - Wright - Tonkin
Lunt - Sorvel - Higdon - Rix
Ashton - S.Jones
Less than three minutes into the game Ipswish lofted a ball from inside their own half up towards the area. Wright on the edge of the area chest’d the ball down, it looked to be hand ball and as Ipswich appealed and we stood a gawped it was Tommy Miller who hit it first time low from 35 yards past a helpless Ince.
Miller, who turned down a move to the Alex at the last minute in summer 2001, was causing all the problems with no one marking him. After former Alex midfielder Jermaine Wright broke into the right of the area only to fire straight at Ince, it was 2-0. Pablo Counago took the ball out wide, down the right, where he got to the edge of the area and laid it off to Tommy Miller, who was again unmarked, just curled it into the left ‘corner’ of the net at waist height - Ince didn’t even move.
We started to get things together after that, after it looked like Ipswich would be scoring on every attack. Ashton curled a 20 yard shot well wide after going all the work in beating 3 defenders. The impressive Pablo Counago tried to lob Ince from the edge of the area - but failed. On the 21st minute Sorvel hit a screamer from 30 yards, after a lay off from Lunt, but it was soon closed down by the Ipswich defence.
On the 26th minute Ince finally did something useful, after letting in two goals and kicking one goal kick that failed to leave the grass, a corner from Jim Magilton saw John McGreal jump highest on the 26th minute but quick reactions from Ince saw him parry it off the line.
You felt a goal in the first half for the Alex would see us lift our game and make a possible come back. Whilst on top from the 30th minute on we finally got a deserved goal. On the 34th minute Lunt was given all the time in the world from 50 yards out to hit a long cross into the centre of the area. Ashton ran onto it and hit a left foot volley it off the centre of the cross bar. Game on.
Before half time Tommy Miller tested Ince again, but it was saved this time. Neil Sorvel also tested the Ipswich keeper - but his 35 yard shot was also saved.
Second Half
Before you could get comfy in the second half it was 2-2. The first attack of the half left Ashton beating his man down the left to get into the box before firing across the face of the goal, that’s where Ipswich’s John McGreal just ran straight into the ball and forced it to roll over the line sending the Alex fans mad.
The draw wasn’t to last long. After Ashton had his 25 yard shot closed down and Tommy Miller forced Ince to turned the ball out for a corner it was 3-2 to Ipswich. Just 8 minutes after the equaliser a cross from Matt Richards saw Ince come 8 yards off his line to try and go for a ball David Wright and Martijn Ruser were going for. With now a open net Ruser just nodded it home with Ince in no mans land.
Ipswich’s third was just a kick in the teeth but within 10 minutes it was amazingly 3-3. A dull period after Ipswich’s 3rd was ended when Rix’s curling shot was parried by the Ipswich keeper… this time Matt Richards ran aimlessly into the ball and again it dribbled over the line. All was not lost whilst both sets of fans could believe the game they were watching.
Billy Jones and Ant Tonkin were making everything as Crewe went in search of a fourth goal but Rix twice failed in trying to curl a shot from the edge of the area and no crosses were being met by a red shirt. Within 8 minutes of the equaliser it was 5-3 to Ipswich as Alex fans sat in disbelief to see Ince just let two Ipswich strikers score with ease.
Martijn Ruser first went down the wing and from 25 yards to the left of the goal hit a hard shot over Ince’s head… Ince just stood and watched whilst the ball dipped into the net from the right wing. Crewe kicked off but within 2 minutes Counago found space 25 yards out and just smacked it… Ince got to hands to it but just pushed the ball into the bottom right corner. 5-3 and all seemed over.
Dario brought off Billy Jones and Dean Ashton and put on two strikers, Paul Edwards and James Robinson, with the obvious intent of trying to get back into the game.
Tonkin tried a shot as he ran the length of the Ipswich half before firing straight into the arms of the keeper, but a minute later Alex fans saw a spec of light… a ball in long from Tonkin saw substitute James Robinson just stroked the ball past the closing down keeper into the far left bottom corner.
Five - four and there was still 10 minutes left. Billy nearly made it 5-5 when he found acres of spaced in the box and from the right he brought the ball down and fired it at goal but the keeper got in the way. Dammit.
Unfortunately there was still a goal left in Ipswich and Shefki Kuqi curled home from the edge of the area on the 87th minute to make it 6-4. You would think that was it but just before the whistle Lunt could have pulled a goal back when he curled a free kick from 25 yards towards the left top corner, unfortunately the Ipswich keeper managed to parry with a full stretched mid air save.
So it was 6-4. A match which left the Alex faithful bemused. Ipswich couldn’t defend but neither could we, to a certain extent. I will not stay clear of the main culprit though… Clayton Ince. He was dreadful, four of the goals were down to his terrible goalkeeping. The 4th, Reuser goal, was a flash back of George Bankole as he got nowhere near the ball when Reuser went up for a header… leaving an open net. Twice he hit goal kicks straight at the first Ipswich player and if they were so slow to react they could have put us further behind.
It’s time for Ince to be outed of his number one spot. Bankole was the last time we conceded 6 so why shouldn’t Ince?
The defence also needs sharpening up, lets see a return of Moses for the Millwall game. Wright as a right back, as he is certainly never going to be a centre back, and Billy Jones filling in for Cochrane in midfield. Our midfield was pathetic, Higdon and Sorvel are too much of the same defensive players. There was no fight from any of the midfield 4.
The only player who came out of the game with ny credit was Ashton. Huffed and puffed and the only player who saw the Ipswich defenders shitting themselves. CA.com Man Of The Match.
We’ve got two weeks till we play Millwall at home. I want to see a new keeper come in and Ince shown that his place can be under threat if he plays badly. Lets see that defence back to full strength and if Cochrane isn’t fit then someone who can hit tackle after tackle in the midfield.
You may notice lack of ‘chances’ mentioned in the report, but it really was like that - there were about 15 clear cut chances and there were 10 goals, work it out.