JUST when a die hard Ipswich fan thought his 10,500 mile trek to Portman Road was in vain, the Evening Star has got him tickets to the hottest show in town.

JUST when a die hard Ipswich fan thought his 10,500 mile trek to Portman Road was in vain, the Evening Star has got him tickets to the hottest show in town.

Now ex-Chantry resident Eddie Pascall, who emigrated to Sydney in 1983, will be able to watch his beloved team take on the Canaries on Sunday.

So too will his Australian wife, Yvonne, and their 13-year-old daughter Michelle, a fan of the Tractor Boys even though her classmates down under have hardly heard of footie.

Mr Pascall, 47, had all but given up on getting tickets for the grudge match against Norwich after travelling half way across the world to see it.

He said: "I tried to get tickets on the internet before we set off and then on the telephone."

When the family got to Ipswich, as part of a round Europe tour, the first port of call was Portman Road, already sold out of the must-have tickets.

But when Town sponsors TXU read about the Pascall's plight in the Star, the company stepped forward with tickets.

And the energy company was not alone. Dozens of fans called the Star with offers to donate tickets to the luckless family – which is now over the moon.

Mr Pascall, who runs the 20-member Ipswich Supporters' Club in Australia and Sydney, said: "I simply cannot believe it. I want to say a huge thanks to TXU and the Evening Star."

Geoff Newman, from TXU, said: "This was an extraordinary story to have come all this way and then to have missed the game. We were just glad to be able to help."

And Mr Pascall's predictions for the score this weekend? "Three one to Ipswich," he said.