English National League

Premier 1

Sat 6th November 2004

BTExact Ipswich v Leicester

Lost 1-0 

On a weekend associated with impressive performances of the firework variety BTExact Ipswich were aiming for 2 sparkling results, instead they suffered double disappointment, losing 1-0 to Leicester and going out 1-0 to a Golden goal against Canterbury in the Cup.

Saturday saw 5th placed Leicester arrive at Tuddenham road and the visitors took no time in stamping their authority on the game. Ipswich started poorly and despite a much improved performance in the second half never really got their game going.

Beccy Duggan was again called into early action in the Ipswich goal and as usual dealt with the shots superbly. This should have given the home side confidence but Ipswich seemed one step slower to the ball than their aggressive opponents and could not keep possession for any length of time.

Leicester eventually punished the lacklustre Ipswich side, Georgina Sharples scoring from a short corner on the 19th minute mark to put the visitors 1-0 up.

Ipswich could not get any worse and the second half saw the home team step up their game and begin to put the visitors under some serious pressure. Ipswich did carve out a couple of chances that should have been dealt with better but the visitors worked hard to frustrate the Suffolk side and close the game out.  A disappointing loss that saw Ipswich drop to 6th place with Leicester taking 4th spot. However the league is still tight at the top and Ipswich are only 4 points of the lead with a game in hand.

Ipswich now have to focus on Saturday's game away at Bowdon Hightown, aware that they need to get things right and get 3 points.

English Hockey Cup

Round 3

Sun 7th November 2004

BTExact Ipswich v Canterbury

Lost 1-0 (Golden Goal)

24 hours earlier BTExact Ipswich had played their worst hockey of the season and knew that if they did not step up their game then Canterbury had the team to punish them in this titanic 3rd round Cup tie.

What a difference a day makes because Ipswich started like a rocket and should have been 1-0 up within  minutes, ironically almost mirroring the league encounter between these two sides 8 day previously. However this time Canterbury some how kept the ball out the back of the net and it became apparent that this was going to be a very attacking and entertaining game of hockey.

Both sides moved the ball round with pace, Ipswich probably having the greater possession initially but Canterbury soon used the pace of their forwards to create several chances that luckily for Ipswich were embarrassingly missed.

Ipswich too had chances, several short corners were well saved by the visitors keeper and both sides could have been 2 goals ahead.

The second half saw the game continue to ebb and flow with each side appealing for a penalty stroke, neither were given. Ipswich probably had the better of the chances, Tanya Barnard through on goal was denied by some brave keeping, but with time running out extra time was looming. A run of 3 short corners right on the 70th minute mark could and should have been Ipswich's time to win the tie but Canterbury defended frenetically and the game moved into extra time and the lottery that is golden goal.

Canterbury threw caution to the wind and attacked Ipswich in over whelming numbers, Nikki Litchfield scoring the winning goal on the 74th minute.

Canterbury celebrated their revenge over the club that had taken their unbeaten record in the league while the Suffolk club were left to ponder on a disappointing weekend. It was a much better display though from the home team and the large crowd thoroughly enjoyed a true Cup classic.

East Premier League

Sat 6th November 2004

Crostyx v Ipswich 2's 

Lost 2-1 (K Waddleton)

Once again Ipswich will feel that they deserved more from this game. Leisa Jones making her full second team debut.

The game started at a slow pace with neither side creating two much in the way of chances, a scrappy first half followed.

At half time Captain Jo Gray tried to fire up her team, however it was Crostyx that took the lead early in the second half. Ipswich equalized straight away with another fine Penalty Corner strike form Karla Waddleton.

Some better hockey from Ipswich saw them go close on several occasions. Once
again though Crostyx went into the lead when they were awarded a disputed
short corner.

Ipswich were disappointed with this game as they felt with their recent
performances against some of the leagues top sides, they would be able get a result, however some lessons were learnt and they hope to be back with a more professional outlook next week.

East League Div 2 Central 

Sat 6th November 2004

 Ipswich 3's v Colchester

Won 3-1 (A Gallagher, A Daniels))

After Ipswich’s convincing win last week, confidence was high. However, within the first two minutes Ipswich were left shocked when Colchester took the lead after being awarded a short corner. Ipswich failed to let morale drop and battled back hard. Colchester failed to capitalise on their lead but there was good end to end play. 

Within 20 minutes Ipswich had re-asserted themselves and applied pressure such that they were awarded several short corners, none of which were converted. Neither side were willing to concede any more goals and the first half ended 1:0 to the visitors. 

After the break Ipswich went out hard and were rewarded with a goal from Annie Gallagher within two minutes. The visitors tried to redeem themselves but could not hold Ipswich back and within a further five minutes Ipswich had doubled the lead with a cross driven home by Alex Daniels.  Ipswich fought off the temptation to relax and the defence kept the Colchester forwards at bay for the remainder of the match, enabling Ipswich to add another win to their deserved successes this season. 

Suffolk Div 1

Sat 6th November  2004

Ipswich 4's

East Premier A Division

Ipswich v Cambridge City

Saturday 6th November

Won 3-1  (A Cook (2) I Smith)

Saturday's game Ipswich men's first team versus Cambridge city was destined to be a clash of will's. Ipswich who are unbeaten this season are still waiting to hit form for the whole 70 minutes of a game were aware that previous matches against Cambridge have
been lost in the second half, and that now all teams playing them will be out to play their best hockey in order to chase the leaders.

 Ipswich led the tempo of the game throughout with their forwards applying huge pressure on the Cambridge defence on hit outs. Several great attacks down the right side of the pitch just kept going wide of the target. Mid way through the first half and a well worked move down the right from Ivan Smith who then crossed in a ball to find Andy
Cook for a close range goal. Ipswich didn't have to wait long before a well worked set piece long corner from the left was crossed in to a this time waiting Smith who lifted the ball over his defenders stick and slotting it passed the keeper coming out to close him
down. Ivan Smith had a sublime match which was spurred on by the presence of his boss who's company Goldstar transport ltd is the men's team sponsor. The second
half was all about Ipswich with them not tiring of chasing balls down and hassling their opponents. However a few stray passes from defenders let Cambridge push forward and cross the ball into a dangerous position in the D from where Cambridge's Geremy Austin got a goal back. 

Ipswich who have the league title in the back of their minds need to tighten up their defence to stop soft goals from happening especially in second halves. However on
Saturday it was the kick start they needed and straight from the push back the ball was passed short to Will Turner who linked in with Simon Miller then Ivan Smith who again delivered a devastating ball to the awaiting Andy Cook, one of the best finishers in
the East premier league who was not going to miss such an opportunity. The final score was 3-1 to Ipswich but Saturdays game saw some amazing linking moves and off
the ball runs that surely are worthy of National league. Who knows what the future holds but what is fact is that this team is sitting pretty at the top of the league one point clear of chasing Bedford, with 36 goals for and a game in hand. 

East Premier B Division

Cambridge Uni 2's v Ipswich

Saturday 6th October

Lost 4-1 (J Smith)

A slip down the league table into the bottom four capped off a torrid day for Ipswich Men’s 2nds, who lost 4-1 away from home against an impressive Cambridge University 2nd team.

The students always looked the stronger side, dominating the early staged of the game, with Ipswich finding themselves two goals down after 20 minutes. It could easily have been more had Ipswich captain and goalkeeper Tony Burch not been in inspired form, making many breathtaking saves. However, Ipswich did have some good chances to reduce the deficit through Tom Parry, who may well have left his goal-scoring stick at home. Many times the Wales junior international created scoring opportunities, but was thwarted by University’s superb defensive work. The team played two players who were heavily involved in last seasons’ National League promotion winning Cambridge University side, emphasising the strength in depth the club are currently enjoying.

In the second half Ipswich did get more into the game, with Matthew Stainthorpe and James Smith working tirelessly in midfield. Cambridge University were always the stronger though and proved their dominance with a slick passing move to grab their third of the game. Ipswich responded quickly when Richard Stainthorpe surged past three players on the left before passing to Smith who casually found the bottom corner to reduce the deficit. But just when things started looked brighter, Ipswich saw two players sin-binned for miss-timed tackles and University tapped in their fourth, ending any thoughts of salvaging a point from the game.

Ipswich captain Tony Burch was disappointed with the loss, but conceded that the opposition were “younger, quicker and fitter” than Ipswich. “We may have to change things tactically for next week as we got it all wrong today. We tried to press them high, but as a result we left too much space at the back.” Ipswich play Norwich City next Saturday at Henley Road.

East Vets League

 Ipswich v Colchester

Saturday 6th October

Won 4-2 (Glading, Wheaton, Curzon, Macauley )

Ipswich playing their second league game of the season, played a depleted Colchester team, but assisted by providing some extra players and young Ben Glading stepped in goal for them at bit before reaching true veteran age!

Ipswich dominated the first half and keeper Steward was rarely brought into action, and indeed the home side should have been well ahead before Glading was on hand to tap home after a surging run and pinpoint pass by Curzon. Shortly before half time Wheaton converted a slide rule return from Glading at a penalty corner to make the scoreline more reflective of the first half action.

The second half was a much closer affair with but Ipswich kept their advantage. 

The vets now wait to see whether Dereham will fulfill their fixture next Saturday before taking on Holcombe in the over 40s HA Cup on Sunday, 1.00 at Henley Road