Is there a fire drill? - The Mighty vs Ipswich

Ipswich are a side I struggle to have an opinion about. I don't hate, fear or resent them. I don't look down upon them sneeringly or look up at them enviously. They are just neutral in my mind. I can tell you about Bobby Robson and Alf Ramsey of course, but they seem distant and disconnected to me, before my time. I feel about Ipswich as I feel about a team like Malmo or Fortuna Dusseldorf. Somehow, not really my business. I don't really know why. I have vague feelings about all sorts of distant sides I don't care about. I quite like Crystal Palace and Greenock Morton and I vaguely dislike Aberdeen and Cardiff for no obvious reasons, no particular grudges or history but it's as if Ipswich have a cloaking device to protect them against the irrational judgement of the football part of my brain.

FISONS!

What can I say? Portman Road is one of those really neat grounds that was neat and tidy when everyone else's seemed ramshackle and mismatched. They play in blue and white trim and are sponsored by FISONS. Except obviously, they aren't but in the way that Arsenal are forever JVC, Utd are forever SHARP and Liverpool Crown Paints, Ipswich are FISONS. I'm slightly surprised that John Wark isn't still in their side every time I come across them.

I wasn't sure what FISONS actually was, I thought it had something to do with fertilizer and my research led me to a slightly more complex picture, of an Ipswich based company that did, indeed, produce chemical products used in agriculture but also asthma drugs and other stuff. Fisons was bought out in the mid 1990s by global giants and last year, the historic Victorian factory where the company was based until then, burned to ground, destroyed beyond repair. 

Still trading. (Harry Feeney Toyota, Vicarage Road)

I muse on whether Hafnia tinned meats are still trading? I wonder if Mr Rumbelow from off of  Rumbelows (RIP) regrets spending all that money on sponsoring the Rumbelows Cup? Is Rebecca still shifting jewellery in Southport or Harry Feeney still flogging cars? Still, whatever the answer (which is yes) his nephew Liam is doing ok at keeping the family name in tangerine and soon we'll be at Bloomfield on a blustery blue day.

The morning would have sent my Grandma into a frenzy of washing, the day cold but the unpredictable breeze enough to set sheets flying. It's that raw feeling you get just as spring is dawning when you are longing for a hint of warmth and the birds are singing but the wind carries the death of winter. When the new shoots and buds are fragile and tender but you know that the frost and ice could destroy them. 

Which, is a nice metaphor for where the Mighty are at. 3 games of football in into a caretaker stint and I'm thinking 'Dunn's Done ok.' It has to be said, there's a voice in my head saying that as well as we've done for patches, the matches we've played have been against sides as devoid of confidence as ourselves and though the players have looked like they know what the plan is, I'll be interested to see whether we can be knocked off that plan by a side like Ipswich that, though shorn of some of their best players and out of form themselves, are clearly possessed of better players than our previous 3 opponents. Bolton in particular looked a broken side and Ipswich still have a lot to play for.

Outside Bloomfield it's warmer than it was when I set off but inside the ground a chill wind is whipping round the top of the stands. Dunn has gone for the same again, which I think pleases me. I look at the side and note how high the squad numbers are. Only Fonz and Feeney wearing proper football numbers and the numbers of Ronan and Moore especially tell the tale of the churn of players through this season. I was on the fence about whether I wanted Nuttall to start. It feels like we've been 'giving Joe Nuttall a chance to show what he can do' for about 8 months and I've still not quite got over how broken he looked last time I saw him start and Madine is player with verified qualities.

They've brought a decent amount and they're belting out 'Allez, allez, allez' - I'm glad we don't sing that. Everyone sings it and I'm glad we don't conform. To be fair to them, they make a good racket all game. They remind me a bit of Portsmouth, without that fucking bell.

From the off, we're on the front foot. Madine does well to force a corner and we turn one into three. None of them come to much but it's good to have pressure. We put together a couple of nice moves, moving the ball well and showing energy in midfield again, driving forward and spreading the play, switching flanks sometimes, something we never seemed to do under Grayson. It's from a raking crossfield ball that Macdonald gets behind them, pulling off a blinding bit of control but the cross comes to nothing.

They announce themselves in the in the game, fizzing a low cross across the box. Soon after, their keeper belts it upfield and it just keeps going, with Maxwell relieved that his decision to let it bounce wide is just about right, the ball clattering into the post that holds the goal net and a moment of calamity avoided.

Fonz and Madine are an odd couple but Fonz slips the goal machine through with a lovely ball and it seems the moment is here, but Madine hesitates and opts instead to turn back and play it out to Macdonald who puts a lovely ball under the cross bar. Fonz has carried on into the box and leaps with a defender who gets just enough to divert it away, before they welly it out of play for another corner.

We're having pressure without really testing the keeper. Turton bursts out from the back (I really like how Dunn has got the back 3 playing football instead of just launching it) and is haring through, but he delays passing and is caught in possession, they break on us, quickly and shoot low, past the post. I'm worried that they're looking quite competent at football.

Turton again, belligerent in the challenge wins a lost cause then slides it forward dangerously, two of player size up a shot that is blocked or hacked away and the chance is gone, until Dewsbury Hall picks it up, scuttles across the box to make an angles and then pinpoint arrows it onto the inside of the post and in.

My first impression of KDH (as all the hipsters are calling him) was 'headless chicken' - but I couldn't have been more wrong. He's a class act, energy, guile and belief in himself. He's got flair, but he knows when to do the simple thing.

They don't take it lying down though and put pressure on us. I feel sure Husband goes into a challenge with his feet dangerously high but luckily for him misses his man, then as they run through he slides from behind and again misses. Luckily for everyone Chris Maxwell makes a great stop and they drive the follow up into the advertising boards. They keep coming, a low shot, just past Maxwell's right hand post, he's then down gratefully gathering a well struck effort that swerves into him, now he's pushing one away and overall he's looking a decent keeper.

It looks for all the world as if Madine has been kicked in the head but mystifyingly the referee punishes their player for doing it by awarding an uncontested drop of the ball to them.

Half time comes and I think we've done well. They're obviously not mugs and we've got ahead and played really well at times. I think Madine looks much more effective than against Bolton and Macdonald too is having more of an impact. They have served warning though and I'm not wholly convinced that our fragile lead will hold, given how fragile our confidence must be.

We struggle to get into the game second half. Matty Virtue is assaulted on the touchline. OFF! OFF! OFF! We chant, more in the hope we can undermine them than actual rage at the handbags that has happened.

Their goal comes from Fonz trying to work his way out of a dead end with fleet footed magic and just getting nowhere. Moore then fluffs a tackle, maybe two and Husband does the same. There's a grim inevitability to their goal, a pull back with a clinical finish into the corner and they make a right old roar and I'm reminded that they're quite a big club and we've been tripe for months and the team we beat last week were terrible and I fear the worse.

It feels justified too as they press high and we struggle to make many chances. Macdonald is nearly through but he's not quite fast enough. We have a couple of moments like that, where suddenly it looks like we aren't quite good enough. We can't seem to make the ball stick up front. We look slower in possession and they look hungry, snapping at our heels. They make subs and the players who come on look better than the ones who went off. Faster. More direct. It seems a matter of time. They almost bundle one in with our keeper smothering it round the post well.

Dunn makes a substitute. He's bringing off Connor Ronan? What is he on!? Joe Nuttall for Connor Ronan? It's like swapping a Jaguar for an old Fort Cortina. This is why Dunn isn't a manager. What is he thinking? Of all the things in the world to do!

We shift shape a bit. Fonz is now moving accross the line behind the front two, finding channels of space. The Nut and the Goal Machine are up top.

It seems to work. Ipswich are still pressing and making chances but now with two physical presences up top, we seem to be able to pressure them. Nuttall harries and wins the ball, Nuttall gets into a foot race with the keeper who has come outside the box and brushes him aside, swinging the ball goalwards and gets a corner for his troubles. C'mon you miserable bastards around me! GET BEHIND HIM!

We make a decent chance. It seems like (from the other end) we head the ball into the goal at least three times but it comes to nothing.

The sky has gradually got grey and the spring blue optimism is now icy rain. Ipswich do a weird chant where one of them shouts something and the rest of the crowd respond, with what seems like a letter at a time. I can't work out what it says. It's quite good. I can't remember us ever having a slow chant.

We have a nearly stunning move where the three forwards ping the ball between them first time and almost release Nuttall. It's one of the best not quite chances on goal I've seen in ages but we don't even get a shot from it.

They are making us look tired. I'm getting frustrated with Dunn not making a sub. We're making little mistakes. Macdonald looks like he's run a marathon. 'Why have Bola on the bench if you're not going to use him?' I think. My inner Larry starts to wonder if Spearing would help.

Macdonald makes a great sliding challenge at the near post. In Dunn we trust.

Then they burst through in the final minutes, the shot is low and heading for the corner. This is it. It's pissing down and they're going to nick it..... But Maxwell somehow gets a palm down to it. This boy is damn good. He's really agile and though he looks like he might have the odd mad moment, he's kept us in this.

For some reason people are leaving. Why, why, why? Ipswich start a waggish chant of 'Is there a fire drill?' and we press forward. Feeney has it. He does his Liam Feeney stepover thing and delivers it. Obviously it sails beyond everyone and we all groan.

Except it doesn't, it's a beautiful ball for the oncoming Joe Nuttall who bullets it in at the near post twisting nicely and planting an unstoppable last minute header in.

Scenes. Again! Nuttall into the crowd who hug him and I hug my boy, then I hug the fella next to me, who hugs me back, then he hugs my boy and we all wonder at the magic of it all. Joe Nuttall, last minute. It's their turn to have a fire drill now.

There's still time for nerves. Just enough time for me to remember that we can cock this up, especially as they win a corner and bring the keeper up, which reminds me how exciting it is when the keeper comes up but we see it out and we win. We beat a proper team and Joe Nuttall scored the goal. I'll take that.

At full time, it's nice to see Madine and a few other make a fuss of big Joe. I thought he did well today. He looked hungrier, he looked more decisive. He looked like he had fun. We did too. We love you Blackpool we do. 

As we file past the club shop and the Ipswich fans walking out into the driving rain, I can't help but feel a bit for them. Only a bit, mind. They seemed to be almost pretty good. They moved it well and at points, seemed to be able to toy with us but there was something missing in their play. Probably their two decent strikers.

On another day, that game could have gone against us, but I'm really warming to this 2019/20 mk2 Blackpool. We gave everything, we kept playing, we kept our heads up and we did it. We look like a team. We aren't the best football team in the world, but for a bunch of lads many of whom came together a matter of weeks ago, and some of whom probably won't be here next year, we played our hearts out and we tried to play the right way. Dunn clearly knows what he wants and who he wants to do it and that feels like a massive step forward. He's made some big calls and so far, he's got them right.

If only we had a proper derby match to look forward to. Still, it's Sunderland and Tranmere soon. They'll be decent. Can't remember who's up next. Some tinpot club probably.

UTMP