Portman Pleasures
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 9:42 am
Well I was there on Saturday, Jerome, and I thought it was a bloody good day out! Like many others in the away end, that was my first trip to Portman Road, and I was very impressed by the stadium. It felt like a proper old ground whilst at the same time boasting all mod cons and being in the middle of the town.
As for the game, it was tough for both teams in such strong swirling winds, and in the first half particularly it looked like neither side could control a bag of spuds. Errors all over the pitch, and I said to my pals that whoever scored first would win as it felt like one of those days. God knows we rode our luck at times, but some heroics from Eastwood and Dickie as well as home hapless Town shooting meant we kept our necks above the water.
But that should take nothing away from a fine goal and some excellent game management. I think we all thought we'd overplayed the chance from which we scored - Brannagan chose not to shoot, Henry chose not to shoot, Taylor took a touch when he might have hit it first time... but yet it still ended up in the net. That's the mark of a team who are playing with confidence and who trust each other, I think. And Taylor is hitting form at the perfect time (as are the team as a whole - but having a "fox in the box" who can be relied upon for a regular stream of goals is critical).
My favourite part of the game was watching how well we managed the game in the second half to close things out. Having Jamie Mackie to come on in those scenarios is a thing of rare beauty, and let's also give yet more praise to Rob Dickie who was immense.
I may be over-reading it, but I think that result could be a season-defining one, like Bradford last year. Coming off the back of our thumping of Wimbledon in midweek and with three very winnable games coming up, could this be the moment where we take this league by the scruff of the neck? Certainly it feels like a year where none of the favoured sides have performed consistently.
As for the game, it was tough for both teams in such strong swirling winds, and in the first half particularly it looked like neither side could control a bag of spuds. Errors all over the pitch, and I said to my pals that whoever scored first would win as it felt like one of those days. God knows we rode our luck at times, but some heroics from Eastwood and Dickie as well as home hapless Town shooting meant we kept our necks above the water.
But that should take nothing away from a fine goal and some excellent game management. I think we all thought we'd overplayed the chance from which we scored - Brannagan chose not to shoot, Henry chose not to shoot, Taylor took a touch when he might have hit it first time... but yet it still ended up in the net. That's the mark of a team who are playing with confidence and who trust each other, I think. And Taylor is hitting form at the perfect time (as are the team as a whole - but having a "fox in the box" who can be relied upon for a regular stream of goals is critical).
My favourite part of the game was watching how well we managed the game in the second half to close things out. Having Jamie Mackie to come on in those scenarios is a thing of rare beauty, and let's also give yet more praise to Rob Dickie who was immense.
I may be over-reading it, but I think that result could be a season-defining one, like Bradford last year. Coming off the back of our thumping of Wimbledon in midweek and with three very winnable games coming up, could this be the moment where we take this league by the scruff of the neck? Certainly it feels like a year where none of the favoured sides have performed consistently.