Jase the ace

Jason Koumas? last minute goal secured victory from the jaws of disappointment, sending Cardiff City back into the play-off zone.

On a cold winter?s night, it seems that Ninian Park is not the place to be when the TV cameras are about. After the Brighton game, knowing that our next game would be televised, I was more than tempted to soak up the warmth of a pub rather than the atmosphere of Ninian Park. However, temptation didn?t get the better of me and I boosted the attendance figure to a massive 8,724 (that?s not a typing error – our crowds really are that poor).

Before kick-off the crowd paid tribute to George Best with a minute?s applause, during which there were chants of ?There?s only one George Best?. It was a fitting tribute to a true footballing legend.

With Glenn Loovens in doubt leading up to the match, it was a weight off everybody’s mind to see him in the starting line-up. Loovens patterned Neil Cox in defence, who skippered the team in place of the suspended Darren Purse.

The game got off to a scrappy start with neither side taking control. Thirteen minutes in, Fabian Wilnis was deemed to have fouled Cameron Jerome inside the box, resulting in a spot kick for Cardiff and an early bath for Wilnis. With Cardiff?s first choice penalty taker suspended, there was a debate between Michael Ricketts and Jason Koumas as to who should take the kick. The obvious choice would?ve been Koumas – he?s been very dangerous from dead ball situations this season. With the crowd actually singing for Koumas, Ricketts wasn?t shy of taking control. Heck, he?d given his first interview in four years before the game – the man was on a mission! Fair play to the guy, he stepped up to the spot and proved himself…to be a really poor penalty taker. Maybe if we?d taken the lead at that stage in the game, we would?ve had another Crewe Alexandra on our hands.

With Ipswich down to 10 men, now was the time for Cardiff to pile on the pressure. Ricketts unleashed a nasty shot from 20 yards which brushed past Price?s post. Another opportunity fell to Ricketts, this time in the air, but his header was straight at Price.

Despite Cardiff having the extra man, Ipswich dealt with the situation well. The Tractor Boys could?ve found themselves in front if Foster?s angled shot hadn?t been tipped over by Alexander.

Cardiff finally found the back of the net on the half hour mark, Joe Ledley playing a great ball through to Ricketts who found himself clear on goal. Ricketts fired the ball home inside the near post. I first thought that the ball hit the side netting, so my celebrations were delayed by 2 seconds.

Such is the mentality of the Cardiff players, when they?re in control against 10 men, they decide to relax. Ipswich passed the ball about well and gained some composure before attacking the Cardiff goal. A great save from Alexander just before half time meant that Cardiff held onto the lead going into the break.

Cardiff absolutely dominated the second half, but chance after chance went begging. Lewis Price was unbeatable in the Ipswich goal, so much so that both Cardiff City and Ipswich Town fans were singing the praises of ?Wales? Number 1.? A few fans have since mentioned how his kicking was poor, but the ?keeper did seem to be limping as he took to the field for the second half.

So, with Cardiff being absolutely amazing at throwing away leads, why waste such a talent by winning comfortably? With five minutes left on the referee?s watch, Jeff Whitely gave away a free kick on the edge of the box. Alexander chose to leave a big gap to his right – Jimmy Juan had no problem in finding the back of the net.

With both teams level and only 120 seconds left to play, Jones? plan was to replace Ricketts with Lee who would give some of his Irish luck to Koumas – Koumas eventually scoring a last minute winner. That was the plan Jonsey had in mind?and it worked! Koumas found himself in the box, beating two defenders, falling over, beating another defender and scoring.

Looking back on the game, the only thing it lacked was a big crowd.

Dave Jones, Cardiff Manager ‘If we would have taken our chances we would have made it a lot easier for ourselves – while it was 1-0 a free-kick or set play was going to cause us problems. We should have killed the game off, but a win is a win and sometimes it doesn’t matter how they come. It was a good victory.’

Joe Royle, Ipswich Manager ‘We were terrific with 10 men in the first half. We controlled the game and created some chances. I’m disappointed with the sending off. Fabian is adamant there was barely any contact – certainly not enough to put 16 stone on the floor. Referees have got to get to know the players who take a dive.’

Player Ratings

Neil Alexander 8
It was a good performance from Alexander. Other than the free kick, he dealt with everything superbly.

Weston 6
Weston had a super mare! He needs to find some consistency or put his boots on the right feet.

Neil Cox 7
Neil did surprisingly well. He has to show the manager he?s got what it takes to play week-in, week-out, something which he may find difficult being an old veteran.

Loovens 8
He coped well playing alongside Cox. I thought he had a very good game, glad to see him start.

Chris Barker 7
Barker played well. He was willing to run from defence, didn?t make any costly errors.

Jason Koumas 8
Ipswich found it very hard to get the ball off him. He saved us with a last minute winner.

Jeff Whitey 7
Played well, but gave away the free-kick which Ipswich scored from.

Joe Ledley 7
Joe set up the first goal and played well overall.

Paul Parry 7
A good game from Parry – can?t fault his work rate.

Cameron Jerome 6
Apart from winning the penalty, he didn’t do much. His first touch let him down on a few occasions. He just seemed lazy.

Michael Ricketts 7
He messed up the penalty and missed a lot of chances on the evening, but he was always a threat.

Alan Lee
Swapped places with Ricketts in the 88th minute.