In a season which had previously been bereft of memorable goals, Ipswich Town have recorded two goal of the season contenders in successive matches.
After Jimmy Bullards wonder strike at Derby on Tuesday, Connor Wickham matched it with a goal which will further increase the value of Ipswichs prodigious young talent.
With Town in the driving seat and the game seemingly won, Wickham took centre-stage as he ran the length of the pitch to slide past the helpless Simonsen, giving the biggest indication yet of the ability which has had the leading clubs circling Portman Road.
Manager Paul Jewell likened it to a goal from a more illustrious Premier League forward. Speaking to the BBC after the match, Jewell said “It was just a brilliant goal. It was like Thierry Henry’s against Tottenham all those years ago in a North London derby, where he picked it up and went past everyone! If anyone else had come onto the pitch, he would have gone past them aswell. It was a great goal and it should do bundles for his confidence.... and his price!”.
Town fans are quickly learning that Paul Jewell is not a man for change. Having become the first Ipswich manager in six years to complete a match without making a substitution, he repeated the feat against Derby. So it was true to form that Jewell named the same starting eleven, with even the same seven players being asked to fill the substitutes bench.
The first half proved to be a parlous affair, with both teams struggling to show anything of real quality. The blustery conditions added little to the entertainment, with the sides unable to put together a meaningful spell of possession. Punctuating the general mundanity, came an Ipswich goal which owed much to Jimmy Bullard. The midfielder swept a tremendous long range pass out to David Norris which led to a Town free kick. Bullard then swung the ball across goal for the unmarked Damien Delaney to gleefully head home.
The second half appeared to be continuing where the first left off, until the 53rd minute when Delaney turned provider, looping in a cross which David Norris eventually managed to add a finishing touch to. The goal further extended the midfielders position at the top of Towns goal charts.
From then onwards, the Blues looked comfortable as confidence spread throughout the side. Tamas Priskin was unfortunate to see his lob come back off the post, with Simonsen finding himself well beaten.
The penalty spot looked to have provided Town with the opportunity to put the match beyond reach, but Grant Leadbitter blotted his copybook with his first miss from the spot in a Town shirt, Simonsen making a good save low to his left.
Finally, with a further goal appearing elusive for Ipswich, Wickham stepped forward to leave his mark on the match and perhaps the first significant mark on his career.
The last few minutes ended with the curiosity of two Sheffield United players leaving the field just yards apart, as both Kozluk and Williamson were sent from the pitch for involvement in the same incident.
A third successive victory, the first for the club since Roy Keane arrived in April 2008, gives the club an enormous shot in the arm. Even in a performance where Town only managed to show any real rhythm in the final half hour, the confidence is evidently returning to a side who, only a month earlier, had reached the low point of a seven goal defeat at Chelsea.
The player who most embodies this change of fortune is Lee Martin. Seemingly ensconced in League One with Charlton, the winger has played in all three league games since his recall, being the victor on each occasion and putting in a man of the match display against The Blades. The pace and energy that Martin has added to the team seem alien in comparison to the player who slipped quietly out of the first team picture last season.
Elsewhere, the “unsigned three” continue to put in the kind of displays which will surely force the hand of the management into offering the contract extensions they search for. After both Gareth McAuley and Damien Delaney suffered disrupted seasons up to the turn of the year, since that point they have quickly re-established a strong pairing which finally obtained the first League clean-sheet since mid-December. Meanwhile, skipper Norris’ goal-return continues to speak volumes.
Paul Jewell spoke earlier in the week about the club securing their safety, thus allowing them to speak more openly about contract renewals. Within weeks of his arrival, the focus is firmly set looking upwards again, with a visit to struggling Barnsley next weekend giving a further opportunity to stretch Jewells recent run. Those players may be able to ensure that those negotiations begin a lot earlier than anyone might have imagined a month ago.
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