Ipswich Vs Crewe - Blast From the Past

Crewe have always been a bit of a bogey side for Town, many supporters will remember the struggles against sides like Crewe on a wet winters evenings.

But in our look at a previous game between the two sides, we're not going to look at that, instead we'll look back on last season's 6-4 win for Town at Portman Road which was certainly a lesson for both sides on how NOT to defend.

Full Match Report
Ipswich maintained their play-off push, but showed both their good and bad sides in a crazy match at Portman Road.

Town are by far Division One's leading goalscorers but their leaky defence has conceded more goals than anyone else in the top half of the table.

Ipswich made an excellent start, and were two up inside nine minutes, both goals excellently struck long-range efforts from Tommy Miller.

Clayton Ince made a superb point-blank save to deny John McGreal before Crewe got one back on 35 minutes when Dean Ashton volleyed in off the bar from Kenny Lunt's cross.

Ince saved two more Miller drives before Kelvin Davis caught a stinging Neil Sorvel shot just before the break.

Two minutes after the interval, Crewe were level when Dean Ashton's low cross deflected in off McGreal for an own goal.

Town retook the lead when Shefki Kuqi rose above Ince to head in a Matt Richards cross, but Richards then deflected into his own net after Davis could only parry a Ben Rix shot.

McGreal almost headed a Lunt corner into his own goal before substitute Martijn Reuser put Town ahead with a superb dipping shot from way out on the right wing.

Fifteen minutes from time Town looked to be safe when Ince pushed a 20-yard drive from Pablo Counago into his own net.

Still Crewe were not beaten, and on 83 minutes two of their substitutes combined to make it 5-4 - Paul Edwards flicking on for James Robinson to score.

Billy Jones was denied an equaliser a minute later by a good Davis save, before Town finally sowed up the points two minutes from time when Kuqi broke clear and coolly curled an angled shot passed the hapless Ince.

Click here for Match Stats and lineups from the game

Table After Game

Nationwide League Division One 2003/2004		Historical league standings at 17th Jan 2004
		Pld		Home						Away						Overall						Pts	GD
				W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A
1	Norwich City	28		11	1	2	25	11		4	7	3	20	15		15	8	5	45	26		53	19
2	West Bromwich Albion	28		7	5	2	19	10		7	4	3	20	13		14	9	5	39	23		51	16
3	Sheffield United	27		8	4	2	27	13		6	3	4	18	17		14	7	6	45	30		49	15
4	Sunderland	28		8	5	1	18	7		5	3	6	18	17		13	8	7	36	24		47	12
5	Ipswich Town	28		8	2	4	33	22		5	5	4	20	21		13	7	8	53	43		46	10
6	Wigan Athletic	28		7	5	2	18	10		5	5	4	21	20		12	10	6	39	30		46	9
7	Preston North End	28		8	3	3	28	17		4	4	6	15	18		12	7	9	43	35		43	8
8	West Ham United	28		5	5	4	22	16		5	7	2	17	12		10	12	6	39	28		42	11
9	Reading	28		7	3	4	18	17		5	3	6	14	17		12	6	10	32	34		42	-2
10	Cardiff City	28		6	4	4	27	16		5	4	5	19	21		11	8	9	46	37		41	9
11	Millwall	28		7	5	2	16	8		3	5	6	15	19		10	10	8	31	27		40	4
12	Stoke City	28		6	5	3	21	15		5	1	8	15	20		11	6	11	36	35		39	1
13	Crewe Alexandra	28		9	2	3	23	13		2	4	8	14	25		11	6	11	37	38		39	-1
14	Coventry City	28		4	7	3	15	14		4	5	5	21	19		8	12	8	36	33		36	3
15	Crystal Palace	28		3	6	5	15	18		6	2	6	22	23		9	8	11	37	41		35	-4
16	Walsall	28		6	5	3	21	18		3	3	8	8	17		9	8	11	29	35		35	-6
17	Rotherham United	28		5	5	4	16	16		3	5	6	14	23		8	10	10	30	39		34	-9
18	Gillingham	27		6	1	7	16	20		3	5	5	16	22		9	6	12	32	42		33	-10
19	Burnley	28		5	4	5	21	18		2	5	7	17	30		7	9	12	38	48		30	-10
20	Watford	28		4	6	4	16	19		3	3	8	13	20		7	9	12	29	39		30	-10
21	Nottingham Forest	27		4	4	5	19	15		3	3	8	15	22		7	7	13	34	37		28	-3
22	Derby County	27		4	3	6	18	24		2	6	6	10	20		6	9	12	28	44		27	-16
23	Bradford City	28		3	2	9	12	22		3	3	8	9	18		6	5	17	21	40		23	-19
24	Wimbledon	28		2	3	9	14	25		3	0	11	13	29		5	3	20	27	54		18	-27