Pocket rocket Enciso rescues a point for Town

Nottingham Forest are our opposition tonight. They are also known as the Reds, the Garibaldies or the Tricky Trees, but I shall just stick with Forest as the easiest option. The last time we played them at home was in the 2022–23 FA Cup fourth round, where the two sides played both home and away legs due to a replay. At Portman Road we held them to a goalless draw. I remember it well; a hard-fought, exciting game. Sadly, we lost the second leg at Turf Moor on penalties.

Like Town, they have had a chequered run over the last few years, and even at the start of this season, but tonight we hope to steal all three points. It will be a tough match, as they appear to have strengthened since their starting games.

I met Arthur on the train, seven years old and bright as a button. I enjoyed the journey, talking favourite players and score predictions with him and his dad; I don't think any of us got it right, but Arthur was the closest, with one-nil to Town.

The game

At the very beginning, Forest seemed to be edging around us, weighing us up, so to speak…just playing “passing keep ball”.

But when Enciso pounced on a ball minutes later and, with a couple of touches, fired just over the bar, it galvanised them into life.

Almost straight away, a free kick from midfield was headed back across goal by Milenkovic to Cunha, whose shot was denied by a good save from Walton. Delap fired wide.

Then Fatawu lofted a shot, and it seemed to set the pattern for the game at both ends.

But then, shock horror: a looping cross by Munoz from the right found Williams at the back post, who slammed it in. An undeniably excellent goal.

Then the pattern was back. Ouattara crossed the ball just achingly out of reach of Emersonn’s toe. Gibbs-White shot wide, and Philogene’s close-range effort went straight into the arms of Sels.

Town battled back immediately and appeared to have a better hold on the game as Enciso shimmied through two defenders, but his left-footed shot was ultimately saved comfortably by the keeper.

And so it went on, with Davis's speed and acumen miraculously stopping a ball on the line.

Happily, just before the half-time whistle was blown, a mistake by Milenkovic saw a pass back towards Sels fall short: a gift for Enciso with his turn of speed. He took off like a pocket rocket, weathered Murillo’s attention and kept calm enough to put a perfectly placed ball through the only free channel on the left-hand side of the net, past Sels. Joy unconfined from the stands!

Delap and O’Shea had been tussling for most of the first half, Dara obviously determined to stifle a threat from that quarter. He was successful enough to goad the striker into retaliation, which surprisingly culminated in him quite literally ripping the shirt from Dara’s back. This appeared to go totally unnoticed by the referee, and play continued with the new Ipswich “off the shoulder” shirt look on display and trending for the few minutes left.

Half-time: Ipswich Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Just after the restart, a confusing incident saw Diop bring down McAtee just outside the box. The confusion stemmed from the referee's lack of response, who simply allowed play to continue. It was definitely a foul, but Forest were calling for a red card. We all held our collective breath while VAR did its thing, and let out a collective sigh when the decision was a yellow card and a free kick. The assessment was based on the fact that “McAtee took a touch to take the ball away from goal, so was not denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity”. Leif Davis was on his way in too and, having proved his speed throughout the match, would have been there to defend in time, therefore negating Diop as the “last man standing”. One reason is good enough for me, perhaps not so much for the Forest faithful.

The free kick duly despatched safely, the game kicked on. Another miraculous block on the line from Davis kept the scores level just after the hour, from an attempted shot by Ndoye.

The rest of the game was a bit scrappy – both teams really trying for the win.

With the game heading into the final minute, Hudson-Odoi could only shoot wide after a good opening. In stoppage time, Jack Clarke did one of his tricky runs to pick up the ball and move towards goal, but his attempt to curl it into the top corner went wide by a whisper, skimming just the wrong side of the post. Two minutes later, the game was over.

Full-time: Ipswich Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest

The players

For Town, despite the conditions, I would name Walton, Palacios, Davis and Enciso as outstanding.

Walton made some brilliant saves: catching, punching and even grabbing the ball from an attacker’s feet.

Palacios is just first class. Full stop. His passing and game acuity are the best we have.

Enciso runs and runs – and runs some more, and he is not shy of taking a shot. Some said last night that he was perhaps not passing enough – but I have to be honest, I think he was simply not relying on Jaden, who looked rather jaded again last night. No one can understand where all the tricky in-swinging balls to the corner of the net have gone. He often drew several defenders, so I suppose he is pulling them away from the centre? Gary O’Neil said this week that he liked him as a winger playing wide, so maybe that is the strategy. I can only make an unprofessional guess…

O’Shea managed to handle Delap for most of the game, and obviously frustrated our ex-player enough to retaliate in his own inimitably bullish way. Perhaps he wanted that shirt for a souvenir?

Davis has been incredible this season; I think we are all just so happy he chose to stay at Town. He has amazing speed and plays so well from back to wing and as a striker too. A striking wing-back, in fact – hah. My preference would be for him to take all our free kicks too – just saying. (Jack for penalties.)

I am proud of the whole team for the performance; it was a game that, in so many ways, could have gone either way – and often very nearly did!

Man of the match

A difficult one – I cannot choose between Davis and Enciso. Without either of them, we would have lost the match. But then it would have been a different match – humph!

Forest’s man of the match was Morgan Gibbs White.

Delap’s several missed shots drew ironic cheers, but there was little animosity behind it. It is the price ex-players pay – except for the much-loved, like Morsy, Burns, Broadhead and Burgess.

NB: I am sure we all hope Neco Williams is not badly injured from the tumble he had on the backline.

Post-match pondering

It may not have been pretty, but hats off to all of them – they showed no signs of giving up. I overheard someone on the way out moaning that the passing had been off: did they expect precision passing in gusting winds of up to 50mph (80km/h)? Storm Austen had the flags flapping as well as the players’ shorts and tops. And, of course, the ball; it literally kept the ball rolling, as the saying goes, when Enciso tried to take a free kick…

To be honest, on the way to the stadium, when a gust of wind nearly knocked me off my feet, and it started to rain, I did wonder if it would be called off.

The result was a good one for me in one way, as my son Matt, now living in France, has supported Forest since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. He was totally in thrall to Nigel Clough. But after yesterday’s match, I think we can both retain our dignity.

It was also a good one for Town, I believe, as playing in those conditions can produce all sorts of slip-ups and banana skins. We knew it would be a tough game and did not need any further hurdles added to a match against an improving Forest side, who have had more recent experience ultimately at this level. I and many others are content with a hard-fought draw.

On the way home

Home time. More drama – no trains. Storm Austen had been having fun, felling trees onto the railway tracks.

Luckily, Jon, a friend from Colchester, found me shivering outside the station, surveying the colossal queue for taxis and listening to the talk about instant Uber price hikes (£54 to Manningtree!). He soon had the situation under control, ordering a taxi for us from Colchester at a fixed rate, which we shared.

Thank you, Jon – my knight in a shining blue anorak.

Town are the best, both the fans and the team. Are you ready, Hull?

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