Andy Munro watches Blues open the season with a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town.
This was a game the Blues deserved to win, with more shots and possession than the newly-relegated visitors. Unfortunately some dire refereeing culminating in what looked like a harsh penalty cost us an opening Championship victory.
Ipswich had three players booked and that tally should have been doubled but they were allowed to get away with a succession of fouls without more cards being shown.
Overall there was plenty to like about the Blues, with everybody putting in a decent shift. However, there were some standout performers, starting with the usual all-action display from Jay Stansfield, topped with a well-taken goal.
Meanwhile, the diminutive Kyoto Furuhashi was a real livewire and it was a mystery that his fantastic lobbed strike was disallowed.
Man of the match, however, was probably Keshi Anderson, who was an excellent outlet going forward but also worked like a Trojan defensively. Just behind him Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata were generally well in control in midfield, with the former superb.
The back four, whilst caught cold a couple of times, were generally dominant. There were no real complaints about the subs, except when Lyndon Dykes came on to influence the game it was in a negative way despite the handball being highly debatable.
Ultimately, it was disappointing to drop a couple of late points but the overall performance was still very encouraging, backed by a vociferous, sell-out crowd.
