AND then there was just one team still standing - Ipswich Town.

Carl Marston

By Carl Marston

AND then there was just one team still standing - Ipswich Town.

If this season was the equivalent to a crude game of musical chairs, then Roy Keane's men would not have survived the first round.

In this version of the party game, teams would sit down when they had won a game, rather than when the music stopped.

And with 92 Football League clubs, and just 91 chairs, it's a forlorn-looking Town side who are still left standing at the end. It's the ultimate embarrassment.

Even dreadful Darlington, rock bottom of the Football League, managed to beat Town to the 91st and final unoccupied chair on Saturday.

The Quakers celebrated their first win of the season, courtesy of a 2-1 home win over Shrewsbury Town.

Town, meanwhile, were trying, and failing, to break their duck at the 12th attempt against mid-table Swansea City.

Pablo Counago's 14th minute equaliser, which cancelled out Craig Beattie's seventh minute opener, was not enough to inspire Town to that elusive first victory. In the end, they had to be content with their third 1-1 draw in their last four home games.

Here are the stark statistics

1 Town are the only one of the 92 Football League clubs to be without a win

2 Portsmouth were the 90th, and Darlington were the 91st

3 Town are four points adrift of safety, 13 points off the play-offs, and 18 points behind the top two

4 You have to go look down towards the foot of the Blue Square South to find another team without a win - Lewes

5 Southampton, who began their League One season with minus 10 points, now have two more than Town

That's the bad news.

But is there any good news? Well, manager Keane insisted that Town “should have won” on Saturday, and at least Counago bagged his first goal of the season.

The Portman Road crowd again got behind their team, and again there were indications of better times to come. A win might be just around the corner, but at the moment that corner feels more like a never-ending bend.

Hopefully, it will be lucky No. 13 when Watford are the visitors tomorrow evening.

Editorial Comment - page 18