Ipswich Town 1 - West Bromwich Albion 2

Date: Friday 23rd November 2018 Live on Sky Sports
Competition: Sky Bet Championship
Ipswich:
4.2
WBA:
7.1
Johnstone 6.4, Adarabioyo 6.2, Dawson 7.3, Hegazi 7.6, Gibbs 7.4, Phillips 7.4, Livermore 6.7, Morrison 6.5 (Barry, 89 6.3), Robson-Kanu 6.8 (Gayle, 75 6.3), Rodriguez 6.7, Barnes 7.2
Unused subs: Myhill, Mears, Townsend, Hoolahan, Harper
Manager: Darren Moore 7.2
Scorers: Rodriguez (26), Barnes (77)
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire) 4.9
Attendance: 22,995   Home Fans 4.6   Away Fans 7.1

Brendan Clegg:

This was a good sign. Tricky away game, didn’t play that well really but we grafted, created chances, should’ve won more comfortably but came away with the points.

Despite the temptation to get Gayle back in I thought it was fair to keep the same side that started against Leeds.

The most important thing was the 4 at the back remained - I’m fairly sure we’d have collapsed at the back with a 3 under the 2nd half pressure.

Overall we controlled the match well although it was a bitty game - some persistently careless touches from a number of our players (Barnes especially I thought) and poor finishing.

Defensively we were pretty good. Both Leeds and Ipswich employed the the early long switch pass against our 4-3-3 to create 2 v 1 situations against our full backs. It does cause problems but both handled it quite well. Premier League teams would make it count though I think.

Grinding out results like this will get us promoted. If it wasn’t for the financial reality I’m not sure I’d be that bothered. Competitive and entertaining games are a bit of welcome relief.

  • SJ - 6 Did ok. Lacks presence.
  • Tosin - 6 Did well. He’s here to make mistakes like that - that’s part of the deal. Hopefully he learns from it quickly.
  • Daws - 7 Looks a different player and suddenly a cut above this level.
  • Hegazi - 7 Same. They were quite solid.
  • Gibbs - 7 Really good. Defended well and gave us width in attack too.
  • Phillips - 8 A hand in both goals. His power is too much at this level and playing more centrally forces him to get involved. Really good.
  • Livermore- 6 Did his job comfortably.
  • Mozza - 7 Still feeling his way back in and no longer has that burst but his nous and picking the right pass at the right time is what we’ve missed in there.
  • HRK - 7 Did his job well and gave us something to build on.
  • JRod - 6 Scored but hesitancy cost us another goal or two. Worked hard.
  • Barnes - 6 Good goal and his talent means he’s always a threat but he was very slow to get going and sloppy for periods.