EASTER WEEKEND REVIEW: He’s magic you know…
It’s 4:30pm on Easter Monday. I’m currently in a food coma, full to the brim of chocolate eggs. It was a good haul this year, with 6 eggs being received in total. Yes, I am a 29 year old man, yes I still love getting Easter eggs…
I’m powering through though, chopping vegetables in preparation for a sausage casserole for dinner later. A 5:30pm kick off time for Ipswich vs Southampton meant that a later eating time was on the cards, but little did I know at the time what would happen while those Cumberland’s were roasting away in the oven.
Earlier in the weekend, I had attended a rather feisty game between League Two playoff chasers AFC Wimbledon and Harrogate. At 1-1, game was heading for an exciting second half before an incredibility harsh red card was awarded to Wimbledon goal scorer Ronan Curtis. An angry long bearded spectator sitting next to me, made his thoughts towards the referee heard for the rest of the game. Even with 10 men, The Dons looked the more likely to grab a winner, which unfortunately never came.
After the game, we shared soft beverages in The Phoenix pub which is attached to the Stadium. The club is just a short 15-minute walk for me and there is so much to like about the club, over 8,000 fans packed into the stadium to watch a sun kissed League Two game. Local food stands, beer from the brewery down the road, it’s a team I think everyone hopes are in the league above. The draw took them within 1 point of 6th place. (albeit a defeat on Monday revised that target to 3).
The Phoenix is littered with big screens, which was a result for me. Blackburn vs Ipswich was up next. No commentary in the pub meant it was extremely tough to realise that Conor Chaplin had scored early on. I celebrated on my own- seemingly AFC Wimbledon don’t have many cross over Ipswich Town fans. That was the only real piece of quality the boys in orange mustered over the 90 minutes, and you could argue they were ‘lucky’ to escape with all three points.
Monday rolled around, with time in-between spent with families. I had managed to catch the last 20 minutes of a drab top of the Premier League clash at the Etihad. Just over 24 hours later The Championship was going to show them how to do it.
A packed-out Portman Road looked stunning in the evening sun. It was an incredible, chaotic match against two teams going for the win.
From the kick off, Southampton showed their Premier League quality. For the first time in 2024 a team arguably outplayed Ipswich in their own backyard. Time and again they beat the Town press to glide up the pitch with ease. Ipswich though for their lack of time on the ball, always looked dangerous in the final third. Shown by Leif Davis’ thunderous strike early on. The lead would barely last a moment, when Che Adams bundled the ball in to level the scores. Five minutes later and The Saints would turn the game on its head. Stuart Armstrong charged through the centre of the pitch and played a perfect ball for his name sharing teammate Adam Armstrong to score. Going into halftime was a deserved lead for Southampton, McKenna needed to come up with something to turn the tide.
During the break, I checked on the casserole. It was coming along nicely, I topped it up with some stock and went back to the game. In all honesty I felt that Ipswich would do well to get something out of the game, Southampton just seemed like a different proposition that we had seen before. However, they couldn’t put the game to bed and McKenna played his substitutes trump card.
Broadhead first combined with Ali Hamidi, who struck the post. It immediately lifted the crowd and just a few minutes later Broadhead would raise the noise levels further, at both Portman Road and in Southwest London. As in full slow motion he slowly curled in the equaliser.
The game after that point could have gone either way, but I think in truth we knew that this could be Ipswich’s moment, especially when Southampton got reduced to 10 in the last few minutes. In true Ipswich style they left it late, very late. With 90+6 on the clock, The Saints criminally left the Assist King Leif Davis unmarked. He perfectly found Jeremy Sarmiento on the penalty spot. The Columbian swung, missed, slipped, got up, toe poked… scored. Carnage ensued, limbs a plenty, my girlfriend rushed into the room thinking I was having some kind of crisis. “I have never seen you this way before”, were the words that came out of her mouth, which I think goes to show what a special moment this was. Ipswich haven’t graced the Premier League for 22 years, for my supporting life, times have been mostly drab with 4 miserable years in League One.
After all of those years, this just feels different, that this team has got what it takes to drag Ipswich back to the top.
I celebrated the only way I know how, but devouring a sausage casserole. Victory tasted so sweet.