Ipswich Vs Stoke City - Blast From the Past

Ian Westlake should have done better when Darren Bent played the ball into his path on the left of the area but Ed de Goey stood strong and saved with an outstretched leg.

It took 36 minutes for the home side to take the lead when Sebastian Svard was brought down by Georges Santos to concede the penalty.

Peter Hoekstra stepped up to the spot and confidently struck the ball home into Kelvin Davis' bottom-right corner leaving him no chance.

Ipswich attempted to shake up the game with the addition of Richard Naylor and Driss Diallo but it remained much the same with Stoke having the better of the play.

The Potters went further ahead in the 68th minute despite calls for offside when Gifton Noel-Williams flicked the ball on to play Ade Akinbiyi clean through and he neatly rounded the oncoming Davis before tapping home from six yards.

A late flurry from the Tractor Boys battered the City goal but a fine save from de Goey and solid defending was enough to claim the points.

Speaking after the match, Ipswich manager Joe Royle said: "It's our goalkeeper's quietest game of the season with nothing to save but he has had to pick two out of the net.

"I am not going to write off automatic promotion until it is mathematically impossible."

Click here for Lineups, Stats and Player Ratings from the game.

Nationwide League Division One 2003/2004		Historical league standings at 2nd Mar 2004
		Pld		Home						Away						Overall						Pts	GD
				W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A
1	Norwich City	33		12	3	2	27	12		6	7	3	23	15		18	10	5	50	27		64	23
2	West Bromwich Albion	34		9	5	3	24	13		8	5	4	22	17		17	10	7	46	30		61	16
3	Wigan Athletic	33		9	6	2	21	10		6	6	4	25	22		15	12	6	46	32		57	14
4	Sheffield United	34		9	4	4	30	19		7	3	7	20	22		16	7	11	50	41		55	9
5	West Ham United	33		7	5	4	25	17		6	9	2	21	15		13	14	6	46	32		53	14
6	Ipswich Town	34		10	2	5	39	26		5	6	6	23	28		15	8	11	62	54		53	8
7	Millwall	34		9	6	2	21	10		5	5	7	20	23		14	11	9	41	33		53	8
8	Reading	34		9	4	4	25	21		6	3	8	17	24		15	7	12	42	45		52	-3
9	Crystal Palace	34		6	6	5	25	22		8	2	7	28	26		14	8	12	53	48		50	5
10	Coventry City	34		5	8	4	18	17		7	5	5	26	19		12	13	9	44	36		49	8
11	Preston North End	33		10	3	4	34	20		4	4	8	15	22		14	7	12	49	42		49	7
12	Sunderland	30		8	5	1	18	7		5	4	7	20	23		13	9	8	38	30		48	8
13	Stoke City	33		8	6	3	27	18		5	2	9	19	27		13	8	12	46	45		47	1
14	Cardiff City	34		7	5	5	31	17		5	5	7	22	26		12	10	12	53	43		46	10
15	Rotherham United	33		6	6	4	22	18		4	5	8	17	27		10	11	12	39	45		41	-6
16	Crewe Alexandra	32		9	2	5	24	16		2	5	9	16	28		11	7	14	40	44		40	-4
17	Watford	33		6	7	4	24	21		4	3	9	15	23		10	10	13	39	44		40	-5
18	Burnley	34		7	5	5	27	21		2	7	8	19	34		9	12	13	46	55		39	-9
19	Nottingham Forest	34		5	6	6	24	20		4	5	8	17	23		9	11	14	41	43		38	-2
20	Walsall	33		6	6	4	22	20		3	4	10	13	24		9	10	14	35	44		37	-9
21	Gillingham	32		7	1	8	17	21		3	6	7	16	24		10	7	15	33	45		37	-12
22	Derby County	33		6	4	6	24	27		2	6	9	11	27		8	10	15	35	54		34	-19
23	Bradford City	34		4	2	11	16	27		3	3	11	11	24		7	5	22	27	51		26	-24
24	Wimbledon	33		2	3	12	14	30		3	0	13	14	36		5	3	25	28	66		18	-38