Bore draw

Tuesday 29th March 2011, Ipswich Town Reserves 0 Watford Reserves 0, Portman Road, Football Combination

The score says it all - Bore draw!

Watching from the Long Jump end!

Saturday 26th March 2011 - Ilford FC 2 Brentwood 0, Ryman League Division One North - Cricklefield Stadium



Much talk recently about watching football from an Athletics stadium, well if West Ham fans want to get an idea how it will feel when they move to the Olympic Stadium they should get along to another club in East London - Ilford FC.

Ilford FC play at the Ilford Sports Club - Cricklefield Stadium, and Yes it is an athletics ground, but only 6 lanes, so not as far from the action as you are at places like Brighton.

With no Ipswich game this weekend, I went along to watch them play local rivals Brentwood, and they got a much needed win against a team far higher up the league.

I was met at the turnstile by a man in shorts 9it was nor warm) only to find out later that he was the bloke who did everything- not just the turnstile and the programmes. a crowd of about 50 watched from distance, not so bad from the side but from behind the long jump pit, it did seem like you were miles from the play. But for all that it was a god afternoon out, with both teams trying to pass the ball on a very poor pitch.

So you Hammers fans, get along to Ilford - they need your support, oh and the bloke in the shorts - the only bloke in the world with an Ilford FC tattoo on his leg?



The view from the long jump pit



A stand for one?



Would the player in Lane 6!

Mid table mediocrity

Tuesday 15th March 2011 - Ipswich Town 0 Watford 3
Saturday 18th March 2011 - Ipswich town 2 Scunthorpe United 0, Portman Road, Championship

One bad defeat, one average win (but with two great goals)
But forget the goals, the season is sinking fast into mid table mediocrity - just a derby match left to get us excited!

That's more like real football!

Saturday 12th March 2011 - Leeds United 0 Ipswich Town o, Elland Road - Championship




May not have been a great game, but it was a great point plus a great battling display.

Elland Rd, is a traditional ground and every game there has a big match feel. from the hot dog vans, badge sellers, bars, old pubs and maybe some of the more unsavory things, poor stewarding and a slight tension in the ground at time - but a far more welcoming place than it was in the v1970's.





For many soldiers, Elland Rd will remind them of Afghanistan, and it is not Elland Rd is intimidating (but it can be at times) but it is because all round the ground, you see adverts for Hesco Bastion, a Yorkshire firm that has done well out of the war, all the camps are made out of Hesco. So a name that will always be linked with Helmand and Sangin.

Why do we bother?

Tuesday 8th March 2011 - Ipswich Town 1 Reading 3, Portman Road, Championship

For all those great wins against Arsenal, WBA, Cardiff - you then get games like Tuesday- just want to forget it - at least I never left early and saw Connor score