Bent Sets Up Derby (Or Bent Upsets Derby)

We finally arrived in Blackburn at 6pm on Friday evening, seven and a half hours after leaving home. It wasn't quite the day-off that I had planned, hoping to get there mid afternoon to explore the delights of the Lancashire town!

Instead we went straight to our accommodation at the Millstone in nearby Mellor - a village inn/pub, following a brief detour to nearby Darwen and after stopping at Ewood Park as we passed by it on the A666.

Paul drove over from Harrogate and met us for breakfast at The Millstone on Saturday morning before heading to the final match of the Championship season, which like the rest of the league was kicking off at 12.15pm.

We parked outside the ground in one of the official car parks and payed £10 for the privilege, what a rip off! The intention was to meet up with Max, who had travelled up with Darren and some mates the night before, but they had already taken a taxi into the town centre, so we just went to the nearby Fernhurst Lodge - ironically where they had all stayed the previous night.

Going into the match our fate was in our own hands, all we had to do was get a draw and a place in the play-offs was guaranteed. Within two minutes of the kick-off Daryl Murphy volleyed a Jay Tabb corner into the Blackburn net, sending the two thousand plus travelling Blue Army fans, plus those watching live on Sky Sports into delirium. It was very one sided with Town on top and seemingly in for a comfortable afternoon. Freddie Sears almost doubled the lead in the fifteenth minute, only to see his fierce angled shot shave the bar.

Elsewhere things were also going our way, Reading had taken an early lead at sixth placed Derby and Brentford, who could overtake us on goal difference were drawing 0-0 at home to already relegated Wigan. Wolves, who realistically, would need a landslide to overtake us were also drawing 0-0, at home to also relegated Millwall.

Then it all changed! Blackburn somehow got themselves into the game and equalised when former Town academy player Jordan Rhodes headed in from a corner. It got even worse, Rovers took the lead through Craig Conway and we're suddenly all over us. Brentford and Wolves were now both winning their matches, half-time couldn't come quickly enough!

The Derby v Reading game, which was also being shown live on Sky Sports, was on the TVs underneath the stand and as I walked by during the interval they were showing replays of Darren Bent missing a first-half penalty in injury time -  how significant would that prove to be later on?

Within a minute of the restart Brentford went two-nil up, meaning that if Derby drew their game we would drop down to seventh spot and out of the play-off positions.

Back at Ewood Park we looked a lot more positive as we searched for an equaliser, but in the fifty-eighth minute Rudy Gestede added a third Blackburn goal to make things even more precarious for us . Shell shocked, were we about to throw our season away?

As much as we battered the Rover's defence the goals just weren't coming, Freddie Sears missed an open goal and second half substitute Stephen Hunt was having a bit of nightmare.

The tension was eased a bit when the unbelievable news filtered through that Reading had added a second goal at Derby, in the seventy-second minute.

With eight minutes remaining Daryl Murphy scored from the penalty spot after Teddy Bishop was tripped in the box, surely we would now go on to get a draw?

With three minutes remaining and with us continuing to lay seize to the Blackburn goal the away end went crazy, Reading had just scored a third goal at Derby - surely now we were in the play-offs?

With time running out Town continued to find a leveller without success and when the final whistle blew it felt like we had just won!

Cheers Darren!

After the game we got a coffee while we waited for the car park to empty, an excited Max (you never stop being a kid) got a few photos with the Town players as they boarded the team bus.

Our trip home was a lot quicker than the one up to Lancashire, we were back home in about four and a half hours.

So after a dramatic final day of the season and for the first time in ten years we are in the play-offs, home and away games v Norwich await us.

'It's where you finish on May the 2nd that counts' - Mick McCarthy

UnBERRAble

There were beers, tears and a winner from Freddie Sears in the final home league game of the season, in what will be our best campaign for ten years.

The afternoon started as so many have this season, with a pre-match beer at Degeros, which was as busy as I've seen it all season.

Nottingham Forest were our opponents in a game that we really needed to win to maintain our push for a play-off place. The results had gone our way last weekend and we were sitting in sixth spot three points clear of Brentford and Wolves (whom we had drawn with last weekend).

A healthy crowd of 25,199, helped by a big push in the media and on social websites to #PackOutPortmanRoad turned up to witness the match.

A minutes silence was observed before kick-off to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Bradford City Fire in 1985, where fifty six fans lost their lives. The photos of the fire show how quickly it spread through the old, tinder dry wooden stand.

Luke Chambers facing his former club Nottingham Forest

A minutes silence before kick-off

There was a good atmosphere when the game started and Town started very lively, not letting Forest have anytime to settle on the ball. The confidence was there among the crowd that we could secure the three points.

When twenty-one minutes of the match had been played, the whole ground (even the away fans) joined in with a minutes applause, in tribute to Chris Reynolds, a Town supporter who had died the previous weekend, at the age of just twenty one years old. With a just a few seconds of the applause remaining something quite magical happened, Daryl Murphy lashed a shot past the Forest keeper Karl Darlow to give Ipswich a well deserved lead. What a perfect tribute, you just couldn't have written it, even I felt quite emotional and I can only imagine how his family and friends felt. Sometimes football is just brilliant - more than just a game.

Injury worry for Luke Chambers in the first half

Following Murphy's goal Town were in control and looked like they would go on and extend their lead, that was until Christophe Berra turned a cross into his own net eight minutes into the second-half! The normally reliable centre-half had slipped while trying to clear the ball. All of a sudden the match was turned on it's head, with Forest looking the most likely to score again.

Fortunately Freddie Sears came to the rescue with six minutes remaining, his shot took a wicked deflection and went in off the post to send Portman Road delirious. He almost added another just before full time but his shot hit defender Michael Mancienne, denying Sharon a perfect score and probably her chance of winning the TWTD's prediction league.

Another fist pump, how many more will we get this season?

We stayed for the traditional players lap of the pitch before going back to Degeros and then to The Waterfront.

Our destiny is still in our own hands, a point away at Blackburn will do the trick and then we'll be in the play-offs!

Down at The Waterfront

The table with one game to go

Cole Of The Season?

Pre-match meal

It doesn't get much better than this, a must win game under the Portman Road Floodlights, after a beautiful, sunny, spring day.

Cardiff, who have found life tough back in the Championship following their relegation after just one season in the Premier League were the visitors.

Freddie Sears opened the scoring for the Tractor Boys after just eight minutes with his eighth goal since arriving in the January transfer window, in front of a disappointing crowd (considering that we're still in play-off contention) of  just 17,772.

The Bluebirds were awarded a free-kick four minutes later deep into Town territory, when Cole Skuse was booked for shirt pulling. They took full advantage and levelled things up, Eion Doyle heading in Scott Malone's cross after some interchanged passes by the touch-line.

It was then down to Skuse to calm the nerves of the home supporters, he opened his Town account, in his eighty-second appearance for the Blues, with a thunderbolt half-volley from thirty yards out, giving former Budgie, David Marshall in the Cardiff goal no chance. At that point, (after thirty minutes) I had maximum points in the TWTD's Prediction League, should I have visited the bookies

The rest of the match was a pretty edgy affair, Marshall made a couple of telling saves from Tommy Smith and Daryl Murphy, there was a flashpoint between Tyrone Mings and Fabio Da Silva, the former Man Utd player - a bit of a mismatch given their respective heights! 'Your the twin they didn't want' sang the North Stand as he escaped with just a yellow card.

The visitors had a good chance to level things up once more with time running out, but fortunately Aron Gunnarsson, who looked odds on to score  put his effort wide of the mark.

Deep into injury time Murphy, following a neat pass from man of the match Skuse, nutmegged Marshall to put the result beyond doubt, sending Portman Road delirious - especially Sharon who had correctly predicted a 3-1 victory, to send her up to second place in the afore mentioned TWTD's Prediction League!

Once again results elsewhere went our way, Wolves and Brentford both lost giving us a three point cushion above them, with just three matches remaining. 

Sharon up to second place!

The Big One

Our season is now turning into something resembling a rollercoaster ride and ironically enough it was rock bottom Blackpool, (whose own Championship ride was terminated last weekend) who were the latest visitors to Portman Road.

We were lying in eighth position, three points off the play-offs, following our dismal 2-1 loss at Huddersfield on Easter Monday, in what Mick McCarthy described as our worse performance since he became manager.

Derby scraped a 1-1 draw with an injury time goal from Darren Bent, in the lunchtime game at home to Brentford, the perfect result from our point of view.

Blackpool, with nothing to play for took a shock lead in the fourth minute, courtesy of some poor defending, giving Portman Road a real nervy feel. Freddie Sears eased the tension with two goals in the space of four minutes mid-way through the half and from there on it seemed that there would only be one outcome, with Town well on top.

Things became edgy again in the second half when Blackpool managed to equalise - all too easily, with less twenty five minutes left to play.

I felt confident that we would find a winner and my faith was repaid when Christophe Berra headed in Daryl Murphy's deft cross from close range. We managed to hold on to the lead for the remaining seven minutes plus added on time to secure a vital, if not expected three points.

With Wolves losing at Birmingham, it meant that we had crept back in to the top six again!

What a waste of money!

The Long Good Friday

Another live game on SKY, meaning another unorthodox kick-off time - 5.15pm on a Good Friday. Paul had rung me on Thursday to say that he was in town, so Tracey took my season ticket and I ended up with him behind the goal in row A of the North Stand, they were just about the only tickets available when I brought them online. It made a change to be right next to the pitch and have a different perspective of the game, it’s certainly more frantic close up.

Town started the game brightly against the current league leaders and went ahead after six minutes through Freddie Sears.

Bournemouth grew into the game and in all honesty played some really attractive football creating more chances than Town. Ipswich's keeper Bartosz Bialkowski had to be at his best and pulled off a string of fine saves throughout the game. He was beaten in the eighty-second minute by a looping header from Cherries substitute Kenwyne Jones (who only recently joined the visitors on-loan from Cardiff). An inspired substitution? He scored with his first touch on his debut! So it finished honours even for the fourth successive league game between Ipswich & AFC (“Always F****n Cheating, that’s what that stands for.” I heard somebody shout that out, in response to their   numerous attempts to win free-kicks) Bournemouth.

The league is so tight at the top this season with eight teams fighting it out for promotion. If you compare it to two seasons ago Leicester finished sixth with sixty-eight points (the same total that us, Derby and Wolves have at the moment, after forty matches). Last season at the same stage (with six matches remaining) Leicester were already promoted!

After the game we met up in Degeros before going next door to Zizzi for food. We then made the mistake of going to K Bar, where Max and his mates were assembled, we then made another mistake (apart from Paul, who had decided to walk home) in having "kitchen drinks" when we got home! Suffice to say that Saturday was a quiet affair.