Ipswich 1 West Bromwich Albion 0

Have Ipswich Town fans ever experienced such opposite ends of the emotional scale as in the last week?
From the despair of the heaviest derby day defeat in history, to the euphoria of reaching the clubs first cup semi-final in ten years, it was the culmination of a rollercoaster few days for the club on a night full of role reversals.
Grant Leadbitters 2nd half penalty gave Town just-reward as they deservedly put premiership West Bromwich Albion to the sword. Albion had arrived at Portman Road fresh from a resounding 4-1 victory at Everton on Saturday, only to find themselves as very much the side on the receiving end at a raucous Portman Road.
Portman Road itself represented a reversal of atmosphere. In stark contrast to the much-publicised reaction to the sides previous home performance against Barnsley where, at one point, fans cheered the opposition side, the home crowd buzzed with positivity as the prospect of an upset quickly unfolded.
Boss Roy Keane was delighted for the supporters who had braved the elements. Speaking to the BBC, he said “it’s all about the players and the supporters. They are the most important things, it’s not about my feelings because a managers career will be up and down anyway.
“I’m pleased for everyone, particularly our supporters. I’ve said before- it’s been a frustrating time for them, but it’s something to smile about.”
With four of Towns six loanees unavailable, changes were inevitable, although after the abject disappointment at Carrow Road, it was perhaps unavoidable. Town lined up with one of the youngest centre-back pairings in memory, as Troy Brown replaced the suspended Damien Delaney to partner Tommy Smith.
By employing Jaime Peters at right back, along with Townsend and Lambe in the wide positions, Keane signalled his intention to push on against the Albion defence. “We started the game well. We didn’t want to get sucked into a game where we dropped back too much, we know the qualities West Brom have got, we saw them on Saturday. We wanted to play at a high tempo, our wide men putting pressure on their full-backs.
“Tamas and Jason started well, Reggie did well, Andros. I thought all our players did well.”
The Town side showed their intent from the kick-off, with David Norris arriving at the near post to divert Andros Townsends low cross just wide. It was a theme which continued for the duration of the first half, as Town continued to open up a West Brom side clearly showing the effects of the nine changes in their own starting line up.
With The Blues failing to find the goal their play merited, the home crowd erupted with derision as Tamas Priskin was denied a penalty, something which later replays proved to be a poor decision by the referee.
Carlos Edwards replaced the quiet Reggie Lambe for the second half and immediately set about troubling the West Brom backline, driving at the defence and unsettling repeatedly. It was on one of these frequent runs that he was finally upended by Graeme Dorrans, resulting in the penalty which the outstanding Leadbitter calmly tucked away.
Rather than the expected onslaught from the visitors, Town continued to look the more likely scorers, Priskin in particular finding himself on the end of some good opportunities. In one of his brightest performances to date in a Town shirt, his strike partner Jason Scotland revelled in the space he was afforded just behind Priskin, laying on opportunities for the Hungarian and feeding the wide players.
Priskin went through and drove just wide of the far post, with Leadbitter unable to divert the cross goalwards, but it proved the last act of a highly successful nights work for a rejuvenated Town side.
It was a match which should have been wrapped up long before the final whistle, with Town once again failing to convert their chances, but the volume of opportunities created was in stark contrast to recent performances.
Allied to this, a much-changed defence competed successfully against a poor West Brom attack. On the rare occasions that they were breached, Brian Murphy proved dominant, making one outstanding stop from Ibanez late in the game. The clean sheet gave the side a platform to build on which has been unavailable in recent weeks.
Keane paid tribute to his young defence: “There was a clean sheet, we kept 11 players on the pitch and we didn’t really make any basic errors tonight. When they had to clear it, they cleared it. We did the basics well and that gives you a chance”.
After the despair of recent weeks, a match up with Arsenal in a two-legged cup semi-final has breathed new life into both the football club and the career of its manager.
With high-flying Swansea to follow on Saturday lunchtime, Keane will be hoping his side are able to build on this sudden injection of optimism and avoid the performances which have blighted more recent TV appearances.