I managed for once to get away from work on time and this meant that I missed the rush hour traffic on the M25 and found myself at Baginton to meet up with Little Jack and Chris at just after 5 pm. Following Jack’s return from football training we set off for St Andrews and were in time for a quick pint in the Royal George before kick-off. It was clear by the ease with which we got to the bar that the crowd wasn’t going to be a sell-out.

The game started brightly enough with a much changed Blues team taking the lead from a long throw in of all things after only 9 minutes. Nikola Zigic got in front of Sonko and flicked on David Murphy’s throw and the ball apologetically almost, bounced off the far post and in for once. Ipswich for their part looked absolutely dreadful defensively and I sat back in the expectation of more goals and a comfortable win. Within a few minutes the visitors were level with the best goal of the night. A farcical headed back pass by Carlos Edwards past his keeper was just prevented from going for a corner by debutant goalkeeper, McCarthy who cleared fortuitously to Lee Martin deep in his own half on the right wing. He shrugged off Gomis’ attempt at a tackle and was then allowed to run unimpeded for 70 yards all the way to our D to unleash a cracking shot past Myhill who received a bang on the head from the stationary post coming in the opposite direction in his attempts to save. This injury forced a change of keeper at half time with the introduction of Doyle presumably because of concussion. This was a fine strike but why did no one put pressure on the man with the ball? Why did the defence continue to back off despite the clear and impending danger? Why was Martin allowed a clear shot from right in front of goal? Shocking defending from Blues as a unit but a fine goal from Ipswich nevertheless.

The equaliser served to buoy up the visiting team and render their band of hardy souls that bothered to make the long trip from East Anglia noisier than they should have been. Blues went close to a second with a near post header from Zigic from a corner into the side netting. McCarthy saved well from another effort from the big Serb low down. Ipswich had one or two half chances when Myhill punched clear Grant Leadbetter’s in-swinging free kick from the inside left position and Jason Scotland had an effort blocked by Caldwell for a corner. Apart from these efforts the game became rather bogged down with both teams guilty of giving away possession in midfield. Nevertheless, Blues had the better of it in the first half and on balance should not have been ‘losing’ this game 1-1 at half time!

The quality of the play, what little was on show, deteriorated in the second half as Ipswich realised that Blues, lacking any pace, were not going to be able to run in behind them. They pushed up and compressed midfield which in turn made life difficult for Blues and placed the visitors more on the front foot. They certainly had the better of the second half in my opinion and threatened on occasions but without seriously endangering Doyle’s goal. I found it baffling that it took until about 17 minutes from the end for Chris Hughton to bring on Nathan Redmond who was the one player who could exploit the wide open prairie behind the Ipswich back four at this stage of proceedings.

Blues despite everything still created the better chances and a glorious opportunity went begging when Spector got in down the right. Burrowing into the penalty area with a clear chance to shoot he chose to square the ball behind everybody! Zigic squandered a great chance at the far post from a pinpoint cross from Keith Fahey but headed straight at the keeper despite all the time in the world to pick his spot.

It looked as if it was going to be another of those nights when Chris Burke got to the by-line, delivered a perfect square ball for King who connected brilliantly only to see his shot crash off the far post with McCarthy helpless. The game entered the eighties and looked to be petering out for a draw. Ipswich had a more than fair shout for a penalty when Caldwell clipped Martin who to his credit did not hit the deck like he had been shot. Carlos Edwards followed up and fortunately for Blues fired wide. Mr Lewis the referee gave nothing as I suspect he was unsighted but Paul Jewell, the Ipswich manager looks as if he will be in trouble with the authorities for his comments regarding Miss Fearn, the lineswoman on the family paddock side of the ground. His anger does look to be well founded as having seen the replay it looks a clear penalty to me. A goal to Ipswich at this point (81 minutes) would probably have resulted in defeat for Blues.

In the first minute of time added on however, another long throw was flicked on by Curtis Davies found its way to Zigic who somehow managed to squeeze the ball past the despairing McCarthy from close range for a win that Blues didn’t altogether deserve. However, Reading and Cardiff didn’t deserve to beat us recently but they did so I have no qualms in accepting the points. This was a poor quality game between two poor quality teams on the night. In total contrast to the excellent performance last time out against Blackpool this game was about as bad as it gets in terms of performance which was Blues’ poorest at home all season by some distance.

Ipswich contributed to the poor display and I am afraid to say that they find themselves where they are because defensively at least they are dire which makes it all the more frustrating that Blues could not enjoy a comprehensive, confortable night. Ipswich have good and talented players in their squad but as a team they are very poor and unless they start playing as a cohesive unit they will find themselves in the smelly stuff at the season’s end. They are the worst side to have visited St Andrews this term but Blues were very lucky to win make no mistake. A better showing will be required at the weekend at the New Den.

Finally I was surprised by the selection of Chris Burke as man of the match; I felt this was one of his most subdued performances in a Blues shirt and he certainly wasn’t my choice. No one really played well although Curtis Davies in defence, Keith Fahey in midfield and the goal scorer, Nikola Zigic did put a decent shift in and merit individual mention. After the game, Chris spoke to one of the Ipswich coaching staff who were very near to where he and little Jack were sitting. Chris suggested that Ipswich had been mugged and that the Ipswich staff must therefore be very disappointed. The reply was quite philosophical and the coach said that they had lost because they had never controlled the big man (Zigic) effectively and that he had caused chaos and mayhem in their defence and so they didn’t deal with him properly. Chris then said that it must make for a very depressing journey back to which the Ipswich representative said, “we’re used to it!”

The Good: The fact that Blues played so poorly and yet still won. Nikola Zigic’s performance should be singled out I feel as he won nearly everything in the air, held it up and distributed the ball well when he had to. Others need to take a look at themselves for not reacting when he did win it and flick it on. He missed the best chance of the night but bagged a brace including the winner so all that has to be viewed positively.

The Bad: The quality of the play for significant sections of this game especially the defending which was shocking for all three goals.

The Ugly: The manner of the win but who cares?

Birmingham City (4-4-2): Myhill 6 (Doyle 46, 6), Spector 5, Murphy 6, Davies 7, Caldwell 5, Burke 6, Fahey 7, Gomis 6 (Mutch 82, N/A), King 6, Zigic 7, Beausejour 6 (Redmond 73, 5). Not used: Ridgewell, Rooney.

Ipswich Town (4-4-2): McCarthy 6, Edwards 6, Cresswell 5, Smith 5, Sonko 5, Drury 6, Leabitter 6, Martin 7, Scotland 6 (Chopra 79, N/A), Emmanuel-Thomas 6 (Ellington75, 6), Murphy 6. Not used: Lee-Barrett, Carson, Ainsley.

Referee: R Lewis 6: Fine for the most part although it is fortunate that he did not view the penalty incident as harshly as most observers did.

Bookings: Leadbitter (dissent 83).

Attendance: 16,528 (569 away fans)

Bazza
KRO SOTV