Ipswich Town 1 Northampton Town 2
On a disappointing night which promised so much more, Paul Jewell's men were knocked out in their home first round Carling Cup tie against a team they eliminated last season on the way to an unexpected semi-final appearance against Arsenal.
Whilst a number of first-teamers were rested, including Michael Chopra, there was enough experience in the side to provide the 9,000 home supporters with reason to hope, and things started well, with Ipswich pressurising the Cobblers early on, before Jay Emmanuel-Thomas scored a great goal from the edge of the box, leaving the Northampton goalkeeper clawing at thin air to put Town one-up after fifteen minutes.
However, a good opening was missed later in the half after good work by Andy Drury, and Northampton took advantage of their generosity to score before half-time.
In the second half, the away team, cheered on by 400 noisy followers, were made to look rather better than they were by an increasingly insipid home team, and it came as no great surprise when Northampton scored again to take the lead. This drew little response from Ipswich, although they did rouse themselves in the last ten minutes, causing some nervous moments for the Northampton defence but rarely looking like grabbing an equaliser.
And so an opportunity for cup glory has been tossed away far earlier in the season than Paul Jewell and his squad would have hoped for. On this showing however, the squad needs reinforcing if Marcus Evans is to feel that he's getting value for money. Season ticketholders may not have his patience...
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