By Leggi
December 11 2008
STB message boarder Leggi is back again and is once again giving us an insight into Town's opposition, on Saturday Town face Cardiff City at Portman Road. Cardiff City
On Saturday, We welcome Cardiff City to Portman Road for a Championship encounter with the Welsh outfit in decent form. Dave Jones' side sit in the final play-off spot just 3 points ahead of 11th placed Ipswich, so its a real 6 pointer with Town looking to leapfrog The Bluebirds with a win due to our superior goal difference. But it will be hard work. Last seasons FA Cup Finalists are unbeaten in their last four games and make the trip across England full of confidence on the back of a 2-0 win over Preston last weekend and a well earned point at Turf Moor, Burnley on Tuesday night. Last Saturdays 2-0 win equalled their biggest victory so far, they also beat Charlton at Ninian Park by the same scoreline back in October. Their heaviest defeat to date is by 2 goals to one. Top two, Wolves and Birmingham at home and Plymouth at Home Park, the lucky victors. Their overall record so far this campaign reads: Played 22, Won 8, Drawn 10 and lost 4. They have scored 30 goals and conceded 23. 14 goal leading scorer, Ross McCormack is very much likely to miss Saturdays game after limping out of action last weekend with a hamstring problem, but former Leeds midfielder Stephen McPhail is set to return after serving a two match suspension.
The match referee is: Mr A. Woolmer from Northamptonshire, the forty year-old has been involved in Town games five times since 2005. In 2006 he refereed our 5-1 humiliation by West Brom at Portman Road, and most recently officiated one of our best performances of last season when we beat Wolves 3-0 at Portman Road. His record involving ourselves is: Officiated 5, Town wins 1, draws 0, with 4 defeats. He has booked 12 Ipswich players with no sending off and booked 14 of the opposition with 2 players seeing red.
Ipswich will be in their familiar blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks, whilst Cardiff will play in their change strip of red shirts, red shorts and red socks.
Match fact: Cardiff City won on their opening 2 visits to Portman Road but have not won in Suffolk since. A sequence that has lasted 62 years!!
Form Table
(8th) Cardiff City P6 W2 D3 L1 F11 A9
(13th) Ipswich Town P6 W2 D1 L3 F7 A7
Our League record V Cardiff City at Portman Road:
Played: 15
Won: 7
Drawn: 6
Lost: 2
Goals:
For: 25
Against: 16
Our greatest victory is by 3 goals to one, achieved 3 times over the years 1958, 2004 and on the last day of the season in 2007 when Franny Jeffers and Jon Walters(2) were on target.
Both of our losses to Cardiff have been by a single goal. Both in Division 3(South) games, in 1938 we lost 2-1 and in 1946 we lost 1-0.
The highest attendance watched a Nationwide Division one game in 2004. 28,703 people witnessed a Shefki Kuqi goal enough to earn a point for Town in a 1-1 stalemate. The lowest crowd is 10,010 who also saw a 1-1 draw in a Division 2 game in 1964. Gerard Baker on the scoresheet for The Blues.
Overall, home and away, in all competitions, we have faced each other 33 times. Ipswich have won 14, drawn 10, and lost 9. We have scored 53 goals and let in 37. From those 33 games, our leading scorers are, The Deadly duo, Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips who each scored 4 goals. (Town's greatest ever strike force will be in Planet Blue on Saturday from 11AM, signing copies of Ray Crawford's autobiography 'Curse of the jungle boy'.) Tommy Miller is amongst 3 players who have scored 3 times.
19 players have worn the blue and white of both clubs, they include, Eddie Youds, Goalkeepers, Jon Hallworth and Mark Grew, and our recently departed striker Alan Lee.
Leggi Predicts: We're back on track. 3-1 to Ipswich.
Got a prediction for the game? Leave it below.
