Ipswich Town will almost certainly play worse than this and win before the season ends in May.

In fact, quite how they slipped to defeat against such confidence-sapped opposition remains a mystery.

Town never hit top form themselves but at half-time the ball was firmly entrenched in their court.

One-nil up against hosts roundly booed off the pitch, the points looked there for the taking.

That assessment, however, failed to take into account the threat posed by Julian Joachim.

The striker, without doubt Villa's best player, turned the match on its head with a two-goal salvo after the break.

And, ironically, his match-winning second was a carbon copy of the strike which cancelled out Alun Armstrong's fortuitous opener.

Ipswich fans received a shock when they arrived at Villa Park with the news Mark Burchill had been relegated to the bench.

Guessing a side picked by George Burley has become an increasingly impossible task.

Who, after all, would have dared to predict Hermann Hreidarsson would be dropped for the trip to Old Trafford?

Burchill's absence from the starting line-up paved the way for Armstrong to return.

Jamie Clapham was also recalled on the left of midfield while Chris Makin made his debut at left-back.

That meant Fabian Wilnis retained his place at right-back while Hreidarsson teamed up in central defence with John McGreal.

Jim Magilton was dropped from midfield so Jermaine Wright lined up alongside Matt Holland.

Martijn Reuser - the two-goal hero of last week's triumph against Bradford City - played on the left of midfield.

And, until early in the second half, it seemed the choice of system and personnel was paying handsome dividends.

Richard Wright's goal was rarely threatened, apart from deflected shots by Joachim and Lee Hendrie which flew wide of the left-hand post.

The keeper also dived to smother a low shot by the eventual two-goal hero while Makin had to be alert to hack a header by Ian Taylor off the line.

Armstrong's goal was their first serious attack and that owed a fair amount to good fortune.

Hreidarsson's pass forward was flicked on by Scowcroft. Armstrong, under pressure from Steve Stone, gave chase but was tackled by Gareth Southgate.

However, instead of rolling to safety, the ball rebounded off Armstrong's shin and beyond David James.

After the break, Burley opted to introduce Magilton at Clapham's expense and Ipswich began to lose their shape.

A minute later, Joachim utilised his pace to somehow waltz past Magilton, cut inside Hreidarsson and then knock the ball beyond McGreal.

The goal opened up in front of him and the Midlanders' top scorer showed the composure to guide the ball past Wright into the net, via the right-hand post.

Then came the winner. Paul Merson, who, along with fellow veterans Dion Dublin and David Ginola, had failed to catch the eye, picked up a loose ball and surged forward, slipping it forward for Joachim.

Despite being under pressure from Hreidarsson, the striker showed the composure to flick the ball past Wright and into the net, again off the right-hand post.

That sealed Ipswich's fate.

Despite holding all the aces at half-time, Burley and his troops knew this would be remembered as the one that got away.

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