John Smith's PNE fans' panel view: Three more points at 'Fortress Deepdale'
After a second successive home win over a side which plied its trade in the Premier League last season, I left Deepdale on Saturday very satisfied – and also sporting a grin as wide as one of a Cheshire cat.
The game was played in a great atmosphere, which was an illustration of the feelgood factor I feel has recently returned to the stadium along with its ‘Fortress Deepdale’ status.
The longest-serving US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, once said: “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement in the thrill of creative effort.”
This statement rings true for me, as there is no doubt that this really was an exceptional all-round professional team performance from our new-look side that the manager has built on a shoestring budget.
Like Roosevelt said, it was the creative effort of our team which brought so much joy and happiness to the Deepdale faithful by achieving such a thrilling result against an Ipswich side filled with multi-million pound players.
Roosevelt’s early years in office were spent trying to combat the effects of the Great Depression.
In a similar fashion, when manager Paul Heckingbottom took control of the club a little more than a year ago, it was in a decline which later turned into a slump towards the end of the season.
Roosevelt’s America emerged from the Great Depression after he implemented a ‘New Deal’ programme, which boosted industrial production and put millions of Americans back to work.
Likewise, with six of our starting line-up on Saturday not being here a year ago, Heckingbottom – by building this new team – has also put forward a ‘New Deal’ to lift the spirit of our fans.
Seven points from a possible nine in our opening three games of the season have given rise to the feeling that, maybe, brighter times might lie ahead for the North End faithful.
I personally hope Deepdale can continue to be surrounded with the air of positivity, as opposed to one of negativity, which will hopefully also see our attendances swelled by the return of some of our missing fans.
It was hard for me to pick a man of the match as all of our players, including the substitutes, played their part in this huge win.
Ipswich had the bulk of the possession but every one of our back four defended like Trojans to keep them at bay, with the sponsors choosing Jordan Storey who had a tremendous 90 minutes.
There were strong performances in midfield from captain Ben Whiteman and Ali McCann, while Michael Smith was instrumental in our goal.
He made a nuisance of himself in the area before Milutin Osmajic was fouled for the decisive penalty, which he smashed home in the manner of ‘Hot Shot Hamish’ from the old ‘Scorcher’ comic.
To sum up by using the titles of two songs of the Tractor Boys’ famous fan, Ed Sheeran, although their late pressing in the game’s final moments made me ‘Shiver’, the eventual outcome was just ‘Perfect’.