Daily Mail - 12.08.2019

18

THE VERDICT

On The Road

LAMBERT’S

LADS IN THIRD

TIER FOR FIRST

TIME SINCE 1957

EFL LEAGUE ONE

NATHAN

SALT

at Portman Road

CLEAN SLATE BUT

NO CLEAN SHEET

FOR IPSWICH

L

IFE in the third tier is

alien to the majority

of Ipswich Town sup-

porters. Those who

do remember it are in

a rather exclusive club.

Even Geoff, or as he refers to

himself, ‘Ferret’ — ‘that’s how

fans know me,’ he tells Sports-

mail — has no reference point in

the hours before their first home

game back in the third tier.

It was 1957 the last time Ipswich

fans saw this level, the year Geoff

was born. Alf Ramsey was in

charge then, and the club won

the division.

There was almost a novelty

aspect to it on Saturday following

the opening day win away at

Burton. The town was awash with

families clad head to toe in blue

and white. The club shop had its

best takings for a single day for

the last 20 years. Manager Paul

Lambert even dipped into his

own pocket to buy 125 pints for

supporters in the fan zone.

But amid the optimism and

over-exuberance came Geoff ’s

dose of realism. It sliced like a

knife through the cordial conver-

sation in the city-centre pub.

Having watched games at

Portman Road for 51 years and

been there in Amsterdam when

Sir Bobby Robson’s side lifted

the UEFA Cup in 1981, there is

little that ‘Ferret’ has missed.

With Ipswich’s glory days now no

more than fond memories, it’s

realism that remains.

‘As long as we avoid defeat,

that’s the main thing,’ he said as

a cheer broke out at the far end of

the pub following Manchester

City’s opening goal at West Ham.

‘We wouldn’t change this to

have Mick McCarthy back, but

we can’t lose today. A win or a

draw. We just can’t lose.’

The town is busier than usual,

he says, with the crowd ready to

topple last season’s turnouts. In

the end there were 24,051 watch-

ing on. Only the derby against

Norwich brought more through

the gates last season.

Smiles have been hard to come

by at Portman Road, not least

because they could only muster

three wins on their own pitch on

the way to finishing bottom of the

Championship.

But as players emerged from

the tunnel and the supporters’

version of Hey Jude was bellowed

out, relegation was temporarily

forgotten. This was a new dawn

for the club, a clean slate, even if

Geoff had doubts.

It felt rather inconsequential

heading to the town’s railway sta-

tion but one fan set the tone well

in advance, playing aloud Oasis’

Don’t Look Back In Anger to the

rest of the fans in the train

carriage. And those in blue and

white echoed that sentiment for

more than an hour.

Luke Garbutt, on loan from

Everton, sent a raucous home

support into raptures 15 minutes

in after firing low into the corner

having done brilliantly to collect

Danny Rowe’s flick. Two in two

for Garbutt now. This was the

‘rock and roll’ football promised

in the build-up.

But Sunderland rallied for a

manager who seems to be under

mounting pressure. Jack Ross’s

side equalised on 64 minutes after

a mistake at the back allowed

Lynden Gooch to tap into an

empty net.

Geoff has been there, seen it

and done it more often than many

sat around him. His realism was

ultimately well-placed.

But Ipswich will win more times

than they lose this season,

particularly if they can attract a

crowd that, on Saturday, was

bigger than that of seven

Championship games.

The crowd and change in

atmosphere appeared the main

take-away from the draw — only

Lambert took issue with Sports-

mail’s question about whether his

side had done enough to

keep those new faces coming back.

‘How many games did you do

here last year? How many?’ came

the borderline snappy reply.

‘Your assumption is wrong

there. The fans have been here,

the stadium has been rocking a

lot of times.’

If the Scot’s young squad hit

the right notes regularly, the

ground will be buzzing like this

plenty of times this season.

Hits and misses in their rock ’n’ roll football

TIVIDALE SET OFF ON JOURNEY TO WEMBLEY

SATURDAY’S match

programme cover told the story

of Tividale’s brief and solitary

brush with FA Cup history.

It was dominated by an image of

the legendary book Journey to

Wembley, in which former Daily

Mail chief football writer Brian

James followed a team through

the rounds of the 1976/77

tournament until they lost, then

picked up the journey with their

conquerors. James began with

Tividale, who made it through

three stages until they lost in the

second qualifying round to

Telford United, managed at the

time by Geoff Hurst.

The West Midlands team are still

standing, 43 years on, and still

good enough to take a place in

the opening round of the

tournament — the extra

preliminary round as it’s called

these days. Yet it’s the same

modest existence as ever.

Manager Dave King sends one of

his assistants back to the

dressing room area to collect a

shovel, during a break in play.

The assistant heads straight

back out to the opposition

penalty area with it, removed

what a dog had left behind on

the sloping, bumpy pitch. The

Hawthorns is 15 minutes from

here, Walsall’s Banks’s Stadium

only fractionally further. They’ve

tarted up the bar and created a

boxing facility in an upstairs

room to make ends meet in a

crowded football marketplace. A

crowd of 74 trickles into the

ground, set in the middle of an

unprepossessing Black Country

housing estate, to see the Cup

campaign begin against

Wednesfield, a club they left

behind when winning promotion

to the Midland League Premier

— in football’s ninth tier —

last season.

The visitors have troubles of

their own. Their previous

manager left for Shifnal this

summer, taking most of the team

with him, and there is talk of

substantial FA disciplinary fines

still owing.

Yet Tividale find themselves on

the back foot, struggling to cope

with No 9 Ellis Blakemore until

they take a fortunate lead via

their own centre forward, Dan

Smith, 15 minutes in.

Wednesfield equalise just before

the half hour when home captain

Dan Bryson is correctly judged

to have fouled dangerous No 7

James Kelly in the box.

There’s a huge amount at stake

here: £2,500 for the winning side,

who will earn at least £960 more

at the next stage — the

preliminary round proper — even

if they lose it.

Tividale take a huge stride

towards those earnings when

Jake Webb arcs a free-kick into

the corner of the net late on but

Wednesfield contribute to a finale

which resembles the Alamo.

Goalkeeper Ryan Cheshire dives

left, then right, to make saves of

the highest order as Tividale seal

their progress and there’s a ruck

between opposing players.

In the warm-down, Tividale’s

Bryson tells his team-mates it’s

not been one of his better days

but no one’s complaining.

The closest thing to luxury at

Tividale is the free coach they lay

on for the players, on away trips

of more than 80 miles. The

preliminary round proper is the

promised land.

TIVIDALE 2

WEDNESFIELD 1

IAN HERBERT

at The Beeches

Winner: Tividale’s Jake Webb bends home a free-kick IAN HERBERT

FA CUP EXTRA

PRELIMINARY ROUND

On a roll:

Garbutt

gives

Ipswich

their lead

GETTY IMAGES

IPSWICH 1

SUNDERLAND 1