Ipswich Town "100% right" to reject Blackburn Rovers "ridiculous" goal gesture during replay - "It's all their fault" | OneFootball

FLW's Ipswich Town Fan Pundit doesn't hold back when discussing the decision

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

There is Ipswich Town delight after Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett revealed that the Tractor Boys will "not entertain" giving Blackburn Rovers a goal head-start when they play their rearranged fixture.

This update, of course, followed the abandonment of their Championship clash at Ewood Park in the 79th minute with Rovers leading 1-0 against the Suffolk outfit who were down to ten-men.

Decision for Ipswich Town to not give Blackburn Rovers a goal claimed to be "100% right"

FLW's Ipswich Town Fan Pundit, Adam Wilkin, believes the club has made the right call by rejecting any suggestion of sporting gesture.

"100% the right decision. I don’t really understand the narrative that’s coming from Blackburn, that giving a goal back at the start or substituting a man at a certain amount of time is fair," Wilkin explained.

The Tractor Boys supporter was particularly critical of suggestions that Town should do the opposite, arguing that the circumstances leading to the abandonment were beyond their control.

"The pitch was unplayable from half-time, all of the notable events happened in the second-half, and yeah I don’t really understand some of the outrage that I’ve seen on social media about the outcome," he added.

Blackburn had taken the lead through Todd Cantwell's penalty just before the hour mark, after Jacob Greaves was sent off for Ipswich, putting the visitors at an obvious disadvantage before torrential rain made the pitch unplayable.

Blackburn Rovers told "it's all their fault" Ipswich Town match has to be replayed

Wilkin drew on the offcial rules to justify Ipswich's position, stating emphatically that "ball games that finish this way have always been replayed in full, that’s just the way it is."

EFL regulation 34.2 states that matches falling short of 90 minutes in duration may be "ordered to count as a completed fixture, or be replayed in full or in part on whatever terms and conditions the Board shall, in their absolute discretion, determine."

"It was a weather circumstance, Blackburn should’ve protected their pitch better to keep the game going, it’s all their fault that it’s been postponed. Even the suggestion that we would give them a goal is ridiculous," Wilkin told FLW.

He also revealed that Ipswich's stance might have been influenced by their own previous experience with similar conditions.

"I mean McKenna said so in his press conference, so, yeah we definitely got lucky with it but it is what it is, we were on the end of the fog in Oxford which also should probably have been called off a couple of seasons ago and we got the bad luck on that side and got the good luck on this side," Wilkin concluded.

During that game in January 2023, heavy fog descended during the match but play continued despite severely limited visibility. It's worth noting that Oxford won 2-1 through a Cameron Brannagan long-range effort - and both managers agreed afterwards that the match should've been abandoned.

Yes, it's the same for both sides, but it shows how the Suffolk outfit have previously been disadvantaged by a referee's decision to allow play to continue in unsuitable conditions.

Ultimately, regardless of whether you agree with Wilkin's verdict or not, you can't argue with facts, and the club's refusal to entertain symbolic gestures is legally sound.