Ipswich Town 2 Portsmouth 3 (AET): Jordan Cross' verdict - Criticism bites as Blues ponder latest Cup conundrum

A few yards from their prostrate bodies, a raging Haji Mnoga battled with the team-mates of those floored by the final whistle after being on the receiving end of an alleged punch.

As tempers frayed and jostling bodies converged following 120 to-and-fro FA Cup minutes, it was clear there was no crowd needed for the mood to reach fever pitch in this corner of Suffolk.

For a game Ipswich didn’t care about and Pompey could do without winning it, it felt a lot like everyone cared and wanted to win.

And so the great contradiction which is omnipresent every time Kenny Jackett’s go into knockout competition is with us again.

The Blues need the FA Cup - but they really could do without the FA Cup.

On a landmark afternoon which underlined why this team are once again a force to be reckoned with on the road, but also highlighted the inconsistency which afflicts and holds them back from being a real League One force, you could sense the conflicted greeting of victory off the pitch.

This was a result which ensured a sixth successive win on the road - a run unsurpassed since Newcastle and Aston Villa were being buried on their own patch in the club's Premier League heyday 13 years ago.

Such success breeds the confidence which now courses through the ranks of this streamlined but eminently capable group, and has been heartily welcomed after their early-season travails.

And in these unprecedented times, the remuneration cup success brings in TV and prize revenue is welcomed like a drop of life-saving financial refreshment in the endlessly barren Covid landscape.

The incredible stat is Sean Raggett’s unpunished extra-time offside touch brought up Kenny Jackett’s 30th knockout win in three-and-a-bit seasons. THIRTY!

It’s a mind-blowing, barely conceivable number which is testament to both the respect afforded fixtures away from league duties and the value the Pompey boss affords continuity.

But could that huge number also offer an insight into how Jackett’s tenure has been marked by league ambitions being left unfulfilled? And by narrow margins.

Of course, it’s those obligations which have offered some of the most memorable moments of his Fratton stewardship.

Record-breaking Wembley glory with a return visit on the boil, four Championship scalps in Norwich, Barnsley, Birmingham and QPR along with the opportunity to lock horns with three Premier League foes.

Then there’s the financial reward which comes with such success which now runs into many millions in prize and TV money, without factoring in the additional gate receipts.

It’s the absence of that critical revenue stream in the current climate which makes the relatively modest £29,472 received a welcome first-round fillip. Crucially, there’s the promise of further reward.

Similarly, as Jackett would say, victory over a promotion foe keeps Pompey’s burgeoning belief brimming, with a testing trip to an old League Two enemy in Plymouth on the horizon.

The counter-argument is just what those exertions have taken out the legs and minds of players in seasons which have reached as many as 62 games.

Anyone questioning the legitimacy of those concerns, should’ve heard the member of the Blues camp only half joke about trying to get knocked out of the EFL Trophy a few years back.

Likewise, the impact of recent miles clocked up from Jackett’s side with more on the horizon and the now mounting injury list, were both central talking points in the Portman Road post-match debrief.

That followed 120 keenly-contested minutes in which Paul Lambert saw fit to make nine changes which underscored where the famous, old trophy stands in his priorities, as Ipswich sit second in the formative League One table.

Those wholesale switches didn’t stop his much-changed outfit severely stretching Pompey’s resolve, after a first 45 minutes in which the relentless pressing of Jackett’s side had threatened to make it embarrassing for the Tractor Boys.

The two goals in as many first-half minutes was scant return for the Blues’ dominance

First Ronan Curtis curled a 25-yard free-kick past David Cornell with the aid of the post and a ricochet off the former Blues keeper.

Then came dead-eye Tom Naylor’s clinical finish (okay, it took a significant deflection off defender Mark McGuinness...) after a delightful set from Andy Cannon before his injury withdrawl.

Curtis and Marcus Harness then had further chances to put the game to bed before the break, and give the scoreline a sheen for Pompey which wouldn’t have been unwarranted.

Instead, though, they left the barn door ajar and the Tractor Boys wrenched it open two minutes before the break.

It was Raggett who was forced to take evasive action to deny Freddie Sears a clear sight of goal, but could only divert his clearance to Jon Nolan who was accepting of the opportunity.

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Cue the latest online pile-on from those who have made their mind up about the defender.

Such onslaughts are clearly resonating with the man Jackett rates as being in outstanding form, since making his Fratton stay permanent this summer.

The criticism was addressed in calm-yet-forceful manner by Raggett, in the final analysis of an afternoon in which the Blues were forced firmly on to the back foot after the restart.

It was James Norwood who levelled it, as he was summoned from a powerful Ipswich bench and profited on Sears’ ball dropped in behind Raggett. That after Rasmum Nicolaisen’s clearance was seized upon by the home side.

After Ben Close’s late, late gilt-edged miss, it paved the way for a landmark extra 30 minutes with the introduction of first-round ties being decided without replays for the first time.

It was a spell characterised by the visitors reassuming control and hitting the post through Harness, before Raggett’s decisive 111th minute intervention.

Whether it was required for the defender to add a final touch to Nicolaisen’s header, after Naylor's glance extended Cornell from a Harness free-kick which caused Ipswich panic, is debateable. What isn’t was it came from an illegal position.

The former Norwich man confessed as much after the game, before talk turned to the continuing criticism being heard from social-media circles.

The barbs are clearly resonating within the Pompey camp, as Raggett took aim without prompting at those who continue to denounce Jackett and his squad.

Much of that is personal towards the 26-year-old, and, although he largely preferred to address the flak from a team point of view, he’ll be firmly aware that’s so.

Meanwhile, Ipswich are acutely conscious of a dreadful FA Cup record which means their latest reverse makes it a single success from 19 in the most famous of club competitions.

Will they care for a moment if their failure affords them freedom to concentrate on the more significant issue of snaring one of the Championship passports Pompey crave?

At the moment we can only use history as our guide - and then speculate how much magic will turn the FA Cup elixir into a promotion poisoned chalice.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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