Pre-match preamble
Hurrah – a game at home at Portman Road after five away fixtures for Town. Seems like forever.
Our opponents today are Swansea City FC, who were founded in 1912 as Swansea Town but changed their name in 1970 to reflect Swansea's new status as a city. I wonder: will Ipswich do the same if city status is granted in 2029?
Their nickname is unsurprisingly the Swans, but also the Jacks – a name given to all Swansea folk for their maritime heritage.
Their footballing journey has been chequered, like most clubs in the English leagues, but they now have American owners and things seem more settled. Their main rivals – their derby match – is with Cardiff City. The latest excitement has been a change in ownership, with Levien and Kaplan selling their majority shareholding in November 2024. In the months that followed, Real Madrid footballer Luka Modrić and American rapper Snoop Dogg have both joined the club's new ownership group.
On the train
Found old friends Dave, Matt and Rob on Colchester station. We all thought the team sheet looked promising (I bet Kieran was pleased), and Matt thought a narrow win for Town, as Swansea have been playing well. In my head I optimistically thought 3–0 would be nice.
First half
In the perfect start for Town, from a Davis cross, Mehmeti latched on to a weak clearance from Cabango and smashed it into the top right corner of the net. Three minutes gone, Town one–nil up.
Only eight minutes later, Swansea found the back of the net, but the flag was up for offside by Nunes. Phew.
Town continued to dominate and were looking lively from set plays. A long throw from Furlong led to a shot from Neil, which went straight to the Swans' goalkeeper. Azon's good header from a Davis corner met with a similar fate. One might say Vigouroux put up a "vigorous defence" – groan.
The Swans had a couple of chances towards the end of the half: a free kick just outside the area when Eom found Galbraith in a good position, but his shot sailed over the bar; Widell shot across the face of the goal, well wide, as the half moved towards a conclusion.
Town's second goal came just before half-time, with Davis beating defenders down the wing to push the ball through to Azon. He neatly spun to face the goal and turned a brilliant shot from a difficult angle into the bottom right-hand corner.
Walton parried away a shot by Yalcouye in the final moments of the half.
Town were very dominant throughout the first half and went in two goals to the good. It could easily have been more.
HT: Ipswich 2 – 0 Swansea
Second half
The Swans came out fighting and saw more of the ball in this half, but were not managing to convert shots into goals.
Cullen struck the second half's first effort for the Swans, but Walton parried it away from distance with ease. Early on, Yalcouye brought the ball in freely from the right, but his shot went well wide.
Swansea claimed a penalty in the 59th minute when a clash between Kipre and Widell sent the latter to ground, but the referee indicated straight away that there was nothing in it. His decision wasn't contested by anyone.
In the 74th minute, Mehmeti sent over a low cross which Hirst drove across the goal and keeper to score at the far post. He came close to getting a second in the 80th minute when Mehmeti again sent a cross from the right and he headed it back across the goal – but Vigouroux made an excellent save to deny him.
A couple of minutes later Vipotnik, Stamenic, Walton and O’Shea ended up in a heap in the goal mouth and the ball came loose, but fortunately Taylor was close by to kick it clear.
In the dying moments, Vipotnik slammed a 25 yard free kick onto the crossbar. Swansea had shown up a little stronger in the second half, but it was not enough. The whistle brought the game to an end seconds later.
FT: Ipswich 3 – 0 Swansea
Men of the match
Walton: steady as ever. Furlong, Kipre and Matusiwa: always solid. Neil, Davis, Burns, Nunez – all played well. Azon is getting better with every game, in my opinion.
MotM: I totally agree with the sponsors' decision to go with Anis Mehmeti. He never stopped running; he was great up front but also tracked back when needed; he scored a stunning goal and his passing play led to the other two goals on the day. What's not to like? So pleased he decided to come to us.
Post-match ponderings
At this match we saw what I call "pretty" football – it looked effortless, though the work rate was high, and with pinpoint passing, good attempts on goal, well-worked set plays and easy flow, Town looked very much like a team, not a bunch of individuals thrown together, as has sometimes been the case. We can play so well when given the freedom.
Credit to Swansea, who came to play rather than just block and foul, and to the referee (Anthony Backhouse), who was so easily in control you hardly knew he was there. Five stars for Vítor Matos too – Swansea's coach – who when asked for his assessment of the game simply said: "Ipswich were the better team." A real sporting gentleman.
I'm delighted with Saturday's match – the way the team played and the result, of course. But seriously, it was a great game to watch. Cheered me up no end. More please.
This week I had been silly enough to let social media upset me, with its derogatory comments, its negativity and its seeming desire to hurt people.
Personally, I get upset when other people are attacked with vile comments – I'm not sure how I would cope if I were the constant target. The fact that somebody can post a complete lie and then several other "somebodies" can pile in and say "there's no smoke without fire!" – passing it on to ever more somebodies ad infinitum – is so scary. It appears to have become rife in football, and I have seen it more and more recently on the fans' forums, hence the upset. I use the forums to keep up to date with club news and fellow supporters' thoughts, but recently, bizarrely, it has sometimes been an unedifying and unpleasant experience.
Because of the speed with which you can post a comment, I think some people don't think it through and just post the first thing that comes into their heads – usually misspelt, including the names of their favourite players, which are constantly on display. Clickbait, total lies, rumours and spam all circulate like evil spirits.
Sure, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but there are ways and ways of expressing it – I wish everyone would be kinder. Can we try that? It's much more fun.
A few, I'm sure, would find something nasty to say even if we scored ten goals and fielded Kylian Mbappé. We must learn to ignore them – without attention or reaction, they will hopefully cease to thrive.
My favourite ironic quote of the day, in response to the naysayers, came from 'thechangingman' on a TWTD blog after the win at Watford: "It's almost as if KMC knows what he's doing...!" Perfectly put, sir.
On the train
So captivated by chatting with Jack and Dave (father and son – nice guys) on the way home, I went past my stop and discovered I was pulling into Marks Tey (the train said Colchester Town on the front when I got on – honest). I went on to Chelmsford, knowing there would be few trains stopping at Kelvedon, Witham et al. Ten minutes later I was on my way back, direct, no stops to Colchester. Still glowing in my good-mood bubble – this little diversion scarcely bothered me at all.
Castle on the Hill was an earworm on the way home, which brought Ed to mind. Then came the thought: "We beat Elton John and Snoop Dogg in one week" – whoop whoop!
