Saints 2-2 Ipswich - Match Thread

[saintant]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

did they all stroll around at WBA?

Well I'm sure they didn't run as much as we did not to mention the mental fatigue.

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I think there is a massive difference between playing Man City and WBA. If you think different no problem.

I have no idea of their running metrics at WBA, but they played 2 hours before we did, and you could not tell today.

[Willo of Whiteley]

Shea Charles hasn’t looked great for a while, I think Leicester and Oxford goals cloud tha a little.

Not saying he’s crap, but he’s not been consistent, he always looks way too casual.

[LGTL]

Dream scenario now is to rest quite a few, still beat Preston and hope Boro lose. Finishing 4th would really help. 

[saintant]

Just now, Willo of Whiteley said:

Shea Charles hasn’t looked great for a while, I think Leicester and Oxford goals cloud tha a little.

Not saying he’s crap, but he’s not been consistent, he always looks way too casual.

Yeah, we needed 11 men in the trenches tonight but he went AWOL.

[James G]

We were vulnerable after the weekend, we didn't lose.

Ipswich were tired too, but they haven't played the Pep Man City machine 

We get a chance to rest. There's noone to fear in the playoffs really

I know the Championship is great, but I'd like to see Tonda and Scienza et al plus summer recruits against Premier League opponents. I think we have the start of something great happening 

[RedArmy]

1 minute ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Shea Charles hasn’t looked great for a while, I think Leicester and Oxford goals cloud tha a little.

Not saying he’s crap, but he’s not been consistent, he always looks way too casual.

Yeah gives the ball away far too cheaply recently. 

[Cuddles]

Oh come on you lot, we've still got Flynn Downes and hopefully Captain Jack to come back into the side 😃

[captainchris]

10 minutes ago, Jimmy_D said:

Ipswich offered absolutely nothing, gifted a point by a couple of moments of fatigued defending and an absolutely worthless cheating **** of a ref. Absolutely no fear of that lot of we get them in the play offs.

Ipswich were excellent mate.

[Saint NL]

One good thing about finishing 4th/5th is that the first leg is on the Saturday rather than the Friday night. 

We always seem to play shit on Friday night 

[Challenger]

1 minute ago, LGTL said:

Dream scenario now is to rest quite a few, still beat Preston and hope Boro lose. Finishing 4th would really help. 

Indeed, however I can't see that scenario happening. It's a toss up between resting players against a better play off draw.

[SambaMaverick]

No way was that challenge a red card btw, games fully gone if it is

[Patches O Houlihan]

12 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

why were we shattered and not Ipswich? They also played on Saturday

They didn't play Man City?

[Sheaf Saint]

5 minutes ago, benjii said:

Yellow was correct.

Yeah his trailing leg was tucked under so it wasn't two-footed, and it was barely even ankle height. Never a red.

[saintant]

2 minutes ago, Cuddles said:

Oh come on you lot, we've still got Flynn Downes and hopefully Captain Jack to come back into the side 😃

Think we win that with Downes on the pitch.

[Winnersaint]

Ipswich good, us not quite at it. That they didn’t beat us something to take forward.

[Cumbria Saint]

I hope Ipswich go on and take second now. They would be the hardest play off opponents.

[Harry_SFC]

20 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Really? I thought they were very good tonight - best team I've seen at SMS in a very long time and probably deserved to win it on balance.

They've been crap for weeks but decided to turn up tonight.

A draw was a fair result. If we'd played a bit more like that against Bristol City we would've won comfortably which is annoying. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Just now, Cumbria Saint said:

I hope Ipswich go on and take second now. They would be the hardest play off opponents.

Can't see them slipping up now. Harsh on Millwall though. 

[Toussaint]

We wee knackered 

[ButtikonSaint]

Ipswich deserved their point, they are a really decent team.

As for us, our amazing unbeaten league run continues.
Shows me that this team, irrespective of the opposition or their own performance, has attitude and balls.

Feels like we got this  - even if it's via the playoffs.

UTS!!

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Just now, Toussaint said:

We wee knackered 

Totally. The defence was completely fucked at the end. Wood could hardly stand up. 

[TestValley]

Cov deservedly strolled the league in the end. 11 points clear with a +48 goal difference. 

By far the best team overall. 

[saintant]

Thought Peretz could maybe have done better with their first goal but the save he made from Clarke near the end was just stunning.

[Eire Saint]

Boro have a tough game away to Wrexham, if we beat Preston a draw won't do them. Not worth risking playoff burnout for though. See how a second string side get on, give the majority of our first team an 11 day prep for the Boro game. We've been the best team in the league the past 3 months, in our hands. Hope Ipswich get 2nd, nothing to fear from the rest. COYS.

Edited 16 hours ago by Eire Saint

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Totally. The defence was completely fucked at the end. Wood could hardly stand up. 

Flaccid Wood?

[Micky]

We did well to stay in the game and not lose it at the end.  They completely bossed the last ten minutes, we seemed to lose all control after going in front.  Not sure the subs helped, Larins hold up play was missed when Stewart came on and offered nothing.  Jander was very good again, but I think the others suffered badly from the Wembley hangover.  Thought Leo was average tonight, he needs to be stronger in the physical challenge and really try and stay on his feet, far too many times tonight he went over and got nothing. 

Looking at the big picture though, it ain't the end of the world.  After the horrendous start to the season we'd all of ripped your arm off to get to the playoffs, and that we've done, so let's see where that takes us. 

[saintstowin]

Frustrating not to be in the mix for 2nd but we all know how far we've come. Just run out of season.

I thought we were a little indecisive at the back today, particularly THB wanting too long on the ball. Charles getting 90 was strange based on his effectiveness.

However Ipswich were good and it was a cracking game. 

Some immense efforts out there, Jander stands out. Great save at the end too. Manning is odd at times but his contributions tonight led to two goals. And Larin is looking bang in form. Azaz just kept going and going.

We're tired and Tonda will manage the squad for Preston and then the fun starts!

[badgerx16]

21 minutes ago, Winnersaint said:

We’ll finish 5th play Boro with home leg first. Going to be tough as only 2 points from 18 against our potential play off opponents if Hull get there as opposed to Wrexham. That said, not losing tonight was a big statement.

 

 

 

Since losing to Hull on 17th January we have only played 3 of the current top 7, drawing with Ipswich tonight, and beating Wrexham and Coventry away.

[James G]

I think both teams were tired. Ipswich made more subs which gave them the draw and a possible win

I think Ipswich need to be careful at the weekend because I think tonight's match was defined by tiredness and mistakes, and I think they could be vulnerable. 

I'd imagine we'll be Bristol City for Preston, no pressing, with Azaz playing in the middle, but allegedly on the left 

[Sheaf Saint]

2 minutes ago, saintstowin said:

Charles getting 90 was strange based on his effectiveness.

Yeah in hindsight it might have been a good idea to sub him off for Bragg after we scored the second. Fresh legs in midfield could have prevented the onslaught we faced at the back.

[macca155]

Fair result tonight, they turned up and kept fresh legs on the pitch. Rode their luck a bit (as did Saints), and got a result. Should be enough for them now, and frankly I'd rather avoid them in the play offs.

Saints looked very leggy, which wasn't a surprise. Ref made life difficult for Saints by allowing Ipswich to be physical. A few early cards would have stopped that nonsense.

On to Preston and hope we can get 4th place.

[TestValley]

Hope Ipswich slip up on Saturday and Millwall pip them for the auto spot.

[Miltonaggro]

On way back. Thought we looked leggy tonight first half (unsurprisingly) and battled hard to go in front. Larin took a nasty knock and gave his all again, if only that overhead kick had gone in. When we took Larin and Fellows off for Stewart and Edozie we immediately looked lightweight on the right, losing every 50/50, and Ipswich capitalised. Manning or Larin MoM for me. 

[Tom57]

I've not seen Bree have as difficult a game this season as he did tonight. Philogene and Clarke really tested him all game. I can't remember Clarke doing well in the Premier League last season so he might be like Armstrong in being too good for the Championship but not good enough for the Premier League. It was a very even game but I think Ipswich edged it as we completely ran out of energy. It's pretty obvious that Middlesbrough will be our first opponents in the playoffs, shame they're about as far away as can be to travel to!

[Micky]

Tonda on sky sports talking about Larin  "... I'm sure he'll be a big impact for us in the 4 games coming up"  😁

[James G]

25 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Shea Charles hasn’t looked great for a while, I think Leicester and Oxford goals cloud tha a little.

Not saying he’s crap, but he’s not been consistent, he always looks way too casual.

I agree 

I do think he can be a good player but it's about training the Man City out of him.

Players from above and beyond expect great things to happen without too much effort sometimes 

He's getting there slowly, he just needs to get his head down a bit more and putting in the hard yards

[Cabrone]

Fair enough, decent game against arguably the best 2 teams in the champ. If we weren't so tired I think we could have won that one.

Difficult to know how I feel about that result, on one hand top 2 is out but it basically was anyway. Also we may not get playoff home advantage now, that's a pain.

On the other Ipswich should now be out of the playoffs and depending on what Tonda thinks our chances of overhauling Boro are we may finally be able to rest some key players before the playoffs 

 

[James G]

29 minutes ago, Cuddles said:

Oh come on you lot, we've still got Flynn Downes and hopefully Captain Jack to come back into the side 😃

There was a clip of Flynn Downes in the seats. You could see he was itching to be on the pitch 

Jack looked more thoughtful

[SouthWalesSaints]

Flynn Downes is our best centre midfield player. I’m delighted he’ll be back for the playoffs.  Nobody runs through our midfield quite as easy with him in there with Casper.  
 

Hopefully Stephens and Matsuki both back as well. 

[davefizzy14]

A hard earned draw for us. In my opinion it would have been more if we'd have had a half competent referee. The ref tonight was awful. So many wrong decisions tonight. Allowing the opposition to be overly physical without taking any action. Once again we put so much effort into the game. Well taken goals from Manning and Larin 😊 Peretz made a world class save in the last minute 😊 Jander my motm, he was exceptional again 😊 Azaz was pulling the strings too 😊 Leo was looking to create something special too 😊 hopefully we can get fourth and be at home for the second leg of the play offs. COYR 😊

Edited 16 hours ago by davefizzy14

[bugenhagen]

Hope we can find a little spring in our step for the playoffs. Momentum seems to slowly be winding down. We have gone from comfortable wins, on to going behind and winning at the end, to draws (and a loss if you count City).

A lot of players might need a rest, but I also think it would be important for us to win the last game before the playoffs, to reverse the momentum a little. 

[madge]

43 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

why were we shattered and not Ipswich? They also played on Saturday

They weren’t chasing Man City around for 97 mins 

[Saint In Cornwall]

Far too much emphasis being put on whether we play home or away first.

Our unbeaten run proves we can do it home and away.

We need to spank Boro at home then repeat the medicine in their back yard.

No one will want to face us at Wembley 

[Convict Colony]

this is all setting up very nicely for Tom Fellows to score his first goal of the season with the winner in the playoff final.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, davefizzy14 said:

A hard earned draw for us. In my opinion it would have been more if we'd have had a half competent referee. The ref tonight was awful. So many wrong decisions tonight. Allowing the opposition to be overly physical without taking any action. Once again we put so much effort into the game. Well taken goals from Manning and Larin 😊 Peretz made a world class save in the last minute 😊 Jander my motm, he was exceptional again 😊 hopefully we can get fourth and be at home for the second leg of the play offs. COYR 😊

Nothing wrong with the ref. Find some other excuse.

If Scienza and Manning didn't spend all their efforts flinging themselves to the ground we might have got more out of the game. The more dramatic the fall the less of a foul it is.

[bpsaint]

The saints of old lose that in the last 5 minutes. In fact chances are the saints of old wouldn’t have even go back into the game to make it 1-1 and 2-1. 

I honestly don’t think our fully rested side need to be scared of anyone in the playoffs. Embrace the week break between Preston and the first playoff match and let’s see what happens.

[Jack]

Not saying we deserved to win, Ipswich played well, but that looked more like corruption than incompetence from the referee. I think that game looks very different if he’s been consistent in what’s a foul and what’s not. So many of our promising breaks pulled back for non fouls, and so many of their breaks came from fouls not given. 
 

Them being awarded a corner on 93:30, not taking it til 95:00, then the ref blowing up immediately is an absolute piss take and can’t be anything other than deliberately biased. 
 

Draw probably fair on the balance of play, we lost far too many headers and second balls, but fuck me our game was disrupted by that prick in black 

[Patrick Bateman]

1 minute ago, Saint In Cornwall said:

Far too much emphasis being put on whether we play home or away first.

Our unbeaten run proves we can do it home and away.

We need to spank Boro at home then repeat the medicine in their back yard.

No one will want to face us at Wembley 

We do have a significant advantage over other teams of the players knowing the ground, the dressing room, the walk, the noise and the occasion.

[davefizzy14]

3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Nothing wrong with the ref. Find some other excuse.

If Scienza and Manning didn't spend all their efforts flinging themselves to the ground we might have got more out of the game. The more dramatic the fall the less of a foul it is.

Listen to the reaction at half time towards the ref. It ain't just me, a lot of people on here are saying how inept he was. 

Edited 16 hours ago by davefizzy14