Kuqi puts finishing touch to mystifying goal spree
Ipswich Town 6 Crewe Alexandra 4
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Your support makes all the difference.When the public address system announced that Norwich had only managed a 4-4 draw at Rotherham, the joyous cheering told you, if you needed any reminding, that this was no ordinary Saturday in East Anglia.
Perhaps it was something in the water because even by Ipswich's standards this was something special, a veritable roller-coaster of football lunacy.
The action was unrelenting and featured goals of the great, and not so great, variety, with the notion of defending consigned to the realms of a comic sideshow.
Certainly both managers were bemused. "I'm not quite sure how we did it," Ipswich's Joe Royle said, while his counterpart, Dario Gradi, admitted: "I don't know how some of those goals went in."
Ipswich were two up after just nine minutes thanks to a Tommy Miller double, the first lashed in from 25 yards, the second stroked home from 20.
Crewe got back in the match with a spectacular volley from Dean Ashton, and just after the break they were level, thanks to a superbly executed own goal by John McGreal, back-heeling slowly past his own goalkeeper from a left-wing cross.
Now the game was really on, the action hurtling furiously from end to end. Ipswich regained the lead when Shefki Kuqi headed home a cross as two Crewe defenders stood meditating in the box.
"Anything you can do," Ipswich seemed to think, so it was no great surprise when Richard Naylor soon passed the ball to Crewe's Brian Rix, who obligingly slammed in a shot. Kelvin Davis saved it, but the defender Matt Richards was on hand to make sure with the rebound, tucking it into his own net with some assurance from close range. Three-all.
The next goal was spectacular, swerved into the far corner from a ridiculous angle near the right touchline by Martin Reuser, to be followed by a 25-yard strike from the impressive Paulo Counago. That was 5-3.
However, Crewe were back in it again when James Robinson slipped through Ipswich's porous defence to slot home, and then immediately almost equalised when Billy Jones was through one on one, only to shoot straight at the keeper.
The final act in an amazing game was a solo effort from Kuqi. "It's been a good day, but not for my health,'' Royle said.
Goals: Miller (3) 1-0; (9) 2-0; Ashton (35) 2-1; McGreal og (48) 2-2; Kuqi (55) 3-2; Richards og (66) 3-3; Reuser (72) 4-3; Counago (74) 5-3; Robinson (82) 5-4; Kuqi (88) 6-4.
Ipswich Town (4-4-2): Davis; Wright, Naylor, McGreal, Richards; Miller, Bart-Williams (Diallo, 56), Magilton (Santos, 84), Westlake (Reuser, 56); Kuqi, Counago. Substitutes not used: Marshall (gk), Bowditch.
Crewe Alexandra (4-4-2): Ince; B Jones (Walker, 87), Wright, Foster, Tonkin; Lunt, Sorvel, Higdon, Rix (Edwards, 79); S Jones, Ashton (Robinson, 79). Substitutes not used: Bankole (gk), Roberts.
Referee: D Crick (Worcester Park).
Man of the match: Kuqi.
Attendance: 22,071.
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