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Twice in the previous three years I'd seen us come within a whisker of a win only for it to be dashed with stoppage time equalisers for the home side, both times leaving us cursing our look as we left the ground. This time it really was very different.
Owen Coyle made three changes to the side that had lost to Preston. Two of them were forced on him as Chris McCann (suspension) and Alan Mahon (injury) were ruled out with James O'Connor and John Spicer coming into the midfield. At the back captain Steven Caldwell, who had missed the previous ten games through injury, returned at the expense of Stephen Jordan who had to settle for a place on the bench.
Both managers had promised us a good game of football and with both sides able to score goals and concede them I joked just a few minutes into the game that it would be ironic if it ended in a 0-0 draw. By then both sides had created chances and a goal fest looked on the cards.
Almost from kick off a mistake from Jon Harley, probably the only one he made in the entire match, led to a cross from their right which was met by Alan Lee. The former Claret has made it a hobby scoring against the Clarets but this time Gabor Kiraly was equal to his header to make a superb one handed save.
We were having a lot of joy down our right hand side with Wade Elliott giving Sito a torrid time. From one cross we almost got the lead ourselves but Andy Gray just couldn't get on the end of Kyle Lafferty's headed knock back.
It was end to end stuff and the Tractor Boys were inches from going in front when a tremendous Tommy Miller strike from distance smashed against the bar. It was a massive escape for the Clarets but with the way this game was going it was only a matter of time before someone scored.
Gray got an opportunity down the right wing and he too got in a good low cross which once again we just couldn't get on the end of. We'd got Ipswich in some trouble down that side but when Jim Magilton was forced to take off left back Castro Sito, moving David Wright to left back with Fabian Wilnis coming on at right back, it did seem to improve them.
For half an hour it had been one side then the other but then Ipswich began to get on top and we had a torrid fifteen minutes to deal with up to half time. They were getting at us down both flanks and at times we were struggling to contain them. During this period of domination they did only really manage to create one clear cut chance that fell to Counago but again Gabor was equal to it with another save out of the top drawer.
We were getting anxious. There was an incident involving Robbie Blake and Bruce, another involving David Unsworth whilst even manager Coyle was spoken to by referee Dowd. And then Graham Alexander might well have got himself sent off. He conceded a free kick but decided to have something to say about it which did nothing other than earn him a yellow card.
He's an experienced player and this card had guaranteed him a one match ban against Bristol City next Saturday. You would have thought he might have accepted his punishment and walked away. Not on your life, he had another go and only stopped as Dowd reached for his red card. He got away with that and then risked it even further by sarcastically applauding the referee.
Yes, he was very luck to stay on, but Dowd's red card wasn't in his pocket for too much longer. The board had gone up for two extra minutes, we needed to see them out and get back in at 0-0, but a challenge from Spicer on Walters was deemed reckless by Dowd and he was sent off.
I happen to think Dowd got this one right. I'm not sure why he took so long to show the card or why he took Spice on a sponsored walk to do it. Maybe he was once again consulting with his fourth official. What Dowd did get wrong though was allowing the overreaction from the Ipswich players to go unpunished.
Eventually we did get to half time at 0-0 but knowing we would have to play the second half with ten men. Half time discussions suggested changes with Ade Akinbiyi the favourite to come on, but it was the same eleven who kicked off the second half with Robbie going onto the right hand side and Wade in the centre in a 4-4-1 formation.
Ipswich sensed another home win was on the way and came forward at every opportunity but we stood firm. Steve Jones came on for Robbie, then Ade replaced Gray, but the play was almost exclusively one way.
No matter what they tried Ipswich couldn't find the net, and to be honest they hardly troubled Gabor in terms of saves. He didn't have a quite second half, far from it, and his handling was immaculate throughout, and my word his time wasting was so good it had Alan Stevenson Time Wasting School stamped all over it.
He wasn't the saviour though, and didn't have to be because of the players in front of him. The two central defenders were simply magnificent whilst Jon Harley at left back had his best ever performance in a Burnley shirt. We won tackles, we got in headers, and you could sense the frustration from the home team.
They got more frantic with every attack, even the Ipswich fans got nervous and actually made some noise of their own as they failed to grab the lead. That won't go down too well with yet another club who have decided organised, choreographed atmosphere is the way to go.
Meanwhile the Burnley fans were getting to their feet constantly in the second half to get behind the side, and it continued to work. I'm sure Ipswich slowed the clock down on the scoreboard, it just didn't want to reach ninety. When it did we got an extra four minutes, but anything other than a point then would have been very unjust and cruel.
When Dowd finally blew, bang on four minutes, you'd have thought we had finally clinched a first win at Portman Road in 38 years. We'd defended so well they'd hardly had a chance. It was real backs to the wall stuff but if you ever want your side to give it absolutely everything then this was it.
Ipswich's second half performance didn't deserve a win, ours most definitely deserved something. I don't think we'd had a shot at goal in the second half but none of the Burnley fans cared about that. It might well have brought our run of wins away from home to an end but this was definitely a win to celebrate.
We've got suspensions and injuries piling up, next Saturday we'll have four players out of the reckoning as they serve suspensions. But what we have to do now is ensure we don't go and waste another good away performance and another good away result. And make no mistakes this was a good performance and result.
Without a doubt the man of the match has to come from the defence although there has to be a special mention for James O'Connor who returned to the side to play a vital part in the performance.
Caldwell, what a return for him, Gabor faultless, Harley outstanding - take your pick, they are all worthy of the accolade. But alongside them was David Unsworth who was simply magnificent. I can still hear my words when I learned of his signing, I wasn't too sure about it, but he just keeps on proving me wrong. This is as well as I've seen him play. He's strong, determined with Premiership class stamped through him.
Another great away day, the last of the year, now let's get some home points ahead of the trip to the half a ground on the Fylde Coast.
The teams were;
Ipswich: Neil Alexander, David Wright, Alex Bruce, Jason De Vos, Castro Sito (Fabian Wilnis 20), Danny Haynes (Gavin Williams 74), Owen Garvan, Tommy Miller, Jonathan Walters, Pablo Counago, Alan Lee (Jordan Rhodes 85). Subs not used: Shane Supple, Billy Clarke.
Burnley: Gabor Kiraly, Graham Alexander, Steven Caldwell, David Unsworth, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, John Spicer, James O'Connor, Kyle Lafferty, Robbie Blake (Steve Jones 60), Andy Gray (Ade Akinbiyi 70). Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Stephen Jordan, Garreth O'Connor.
Referee: Phil Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent).
Attendance: 20,077.