East  League  

Div 1N

Ipswich 2's v Sudbury

Result: Drew 1-1

Scorers: E Millar

In a game more about pride than places Ipswich dug in deep for a worthy 1-1 draw against a temperamental Sudbury team, with the performance of the Ipswich youngsters proving what a bright future those individuals and this side could have. 

Ipswich started the game with a new look line up, due to missing influential right defender Lucy Gallagher who is suffering from a hairline facture in her ankle. 17 year old Lisa Jones dropped back to right defender from her usual midfield role and Vic Sandall deputised for Jones in the middle of the pitch.

Lisa Jones

The game started with the home side dominating the play and Sudbury seemed shocked to be on the back foot and almost instantly began to question the umpiring decisions. Ipswich should have taken the lead from a well-worked short corner but striker Fiona Shaw saw her shot go agonisingly wide. Amanda Little then also had a good chance to open the scoring but her undercut shot was well saved by the Sudbury keeper.  As Ipswich began to tire the visitors stepped up the pressure but player of the match 15 year old Hannah Godfrey was in outstanding form and her timely tackles soon began to frustrate the visitors. Unfortunately these frustrations led to the game becoming rather heated at times and several players were shown green cards in an attempt to calm the situation. The half ended with the Ipswich defence of captain Kat Wrinch, Lisa Jones, Sam Bennett and Hannah Godfrey battling hard to keep the score lines at 0-0 and Ipswich were keen to regroup during the break.

Ipswich defending a short corner

Ipswich started the second half again rather sluggishly and it was not long before Sudbury punished them. A breakaway move saw them scramble the ball in past Ipswich keeper Claire Goulding and Ipswich knew they would need to raise their game if they wanted to share the spoils.  The reaction from the home side was immediate, Vic Sandall and Emma Millar combining well to open up the Sudbury defence and only some good defending by the visitors kept the home side out. Sudbury though were still dangerous on the attack but the Ipswich defence were determined to stand strong.  A change of formation saw Ipswich put increased pressure on the visitors but the home side could not find that final touch. As time ticked on and after a run of short corners, Ipswich could have been forgiven for thinking this was not to be their day.  Lady luck though had other ideas and as a short corner routine was stopped by a Sudbury players foot the ball fell kindly to Emma Millar, who made no mistake in placing the ball in the bottom corner of the goal.

East  League  

Div 2C

Ipswich 3's v Harleston 3's

Result: Won 3-1

Scorers: V Allen, M Butcher, V Dixon

After last weeks encouraging victory over IES the settled Ipswich squad were ready to take anything their northern opponents could throw at them.

Ipswich took first push back and the team slowly settled into their respective positions. However the Harleston Magpies know their opponents too well and took advantage of this period of uncertainty driving hard and quickly into the Ipswich half to take the lead after only a few minutes. However Ipswich are used to this state of affairs and settled down to play the match to their agenda. This entails dominance across the pitch, strong reliable defence, active forward play and pressure on the opponents D at all times.

As has been the story over the last few weeks Ipswich played to this recipe and were well in control of the match after 20 minutes. Following a period of end to end play Ipswich built a strong attack and gained a number of short corners. Following one of these, Ipswich were awarded a free hit just outside the Harleston D. Vickey Dixon drilled the ball hard into the melee of players, Alice Christian directed it goalwards and Martine Butcher made sure there was no question that Ipswich were now on equal terms.

Ipswich continued to dominate the game throughout the first half and as the half drew to a close a sequence of short corners resulted in Vickey Dixon converting after some stunning control and dummy moves around the Harleston defence.

The second half began as the first had ended with Ipswich in control pressurising the Harleston teams into their half for much of the time. The Ipswich midfield played a significant roles nimbly working around the Harleston players and using great skill to work through the strength of the Harleston team. Two performances worthy of particular note were those from the Louise White and Beth Scott, who despite the greater strength and experience of the Harleston players used their skills to manoeuvre around the midfield and provide good deliveries to the Ipswich forwards.

Ipswich had the run of play throughout the second half with rare counter attacks from the Harleston team. Close to the end of the match Ipswich gained a run of short corners and Vickey Dixon delivered a cunning ball to Vanessa Allen who imaginatively lifted the ball over the Harleston goalie giving her no chance to keep it out. Without the Harleston goalies heroic defence of her goal Ipswich may have doubled their tally but the final result was a good reflection of the performance on a very cold day. The Harleston strength was outplayed by the Ipswich skill.

Suffolk League 

Div 1

Sudbury 4's v Ipswich 4's

Result: Drew 0-0

Scorers:

English National Hockey League

South Division

Whitchurch v Ipswich

  Result: Drew 2-2

Scorers: I Smith, S Gilmour

On Friday night Ipswich travelled the 250 miles west to Cardiff to play Whitchurch on Saturday at their home ground of the Welsh Institute of  Sport. Whitchurch presently in 3^rd position in the league 2 places above Ipswich are in a battle to gain the 2^nd spot and a chance to win promotion into National division one. Whitchurch whose starting eleven boasts 5 welsh senior international players were at full strength as Wales had failed to qualify for the commonwealth games this time round. Ipswich whose away from home form has been poor and whose ability on water-based pitches had raised questions went out from the first whistle to prove critics wrong. Ipswich coach Kathryn Macdonald had opted for a half court press with the aim to counter attack at every opportunity. The first half was full to the brim of these for both teams but Ipswich started to look the more interested and took the early lead after good build up play down the right from Matt Stainthorpe and Will Fulker and found Scott Gilmour in front of goal to lift it over the diving keeper.

An ugly confrontation between a Whitchurch forward and an Ipswich defender set a tone for the game of niggly challenges and viscious mumblings but it didn’t detract from the quality of hockey played and the end result.

Ipswich went 2 goals ahead from a good steal of the ball and early release to Ivan Smith who from a similar spot to Gilmour lifted it into the goal. Whitchurch looked shocked to be trailing and started to push players forward. They had a couple of chances saved by Pinner in goal and close marking by defenders made Whitchurch hit posts and miss chances. A bad umpiring decision awarded Whitchurch a free hit outside Ipswich’s D, which was taken and deflected into Ipswich goal it was hard to tell whose stick deflected the goal and the umpire confidently gave a long corner, adjudging it had come off a defender. Ipswich had a great chance to widen the gap when a break away of 4 players on 3 defenders saw Sam Tyler go wide around the keeper and then shoot wide, leaving the other better placed forwards wondering if a pass wouldn’t have been the best option.

The second half was more of the same for Ipswich, 3 on 2’s, 4 on 3’s where Ipswich had overloads of players their decision making was poor in not being able to reach the D with the best advantage. Not the same player made the errors, poor decision making seemed to have afflicted the whole team. Without being able to find the third goal and killing the game off Whitchurch started to apply more pressure, this was made easier when Evans was sin binned then when he returned to the field Smith and Tyler were then sin binned for 5 minutes each. Ipswich down to 9 men at one stage battled well but a free hit again outside the D this time was deflected into the Ipswich goal, then with ten minutes to go a short corner from Whitchurch deflected off an Ipswich defender to catch Pinner going for the original trajectory and led to their second goal. Ipswich hung on for the last ten and got the draw. Ipswich looking at the overall game will be disappointed not to have won especially with all the counter attacks they had with a man advantage but those are the first points Whitchurch have dropped at home and Ipswich have answered the critics about away form on water-based pitches.

Ipswich’s last 2 games are both home next week on Sunday against Indian Gymkhana and then the following Saturday against Oxford Hawks.

East League

Premier B

Ipswich 2's v St Neots

  Result: Won 5-2

Scorers: A Cook (3), S Miller, Youngman

Ipswich played bottom of the table St Neots this weekend needing to keep up the pressure on third placed Pelicans to take the third promotion spot down to the last games of the season.

Ipswich slightly depleted in number this week due to injuries and suspensions put out a team blending youth and experience.  The average age of the team was 25, although the youngest players were 14 with the oldest at 50 odd! The team were subsequently very pleased with the final result after going 1-0 down after 5 minutes.  After the slow start Ipswich put some good moves together and began to dominate, playing some good hockey, and putting in goals at regular intervals to win 5-2.  A hat-trick from Cook and goals from Miller and Youngman gave the potentially leaky defence a good level of protection although they did not really need it despite the pre-match concerns as St Neots posed few threats.

Significant changes from the week before left captain Toby Lever having to draft in coach Nick Fry (aka Fort) for his first full game in numerous seasons at central defence, leaving the team jesting that there was potential for Fry (Fort) and Wrinch (Knox) to be less like Fort Knox and more like Securitas (in recent weeks) and not keep much out for long!  However St Neots did not threaten often and the defensive duo, combining age and experience and youth and simplicity (comparably) were left feeling relatively happy with the solidity of the performance!

Next week Ipswich play Colchester who have been playing well in recent weeks, and will need a good performance to keep the promotion prospects alive.

East League

Div 3NE

Ipswich 3's v Pelicans 2's

  Result: Won 6-1

Scorers: O Holloway (3), P Graves, Gibson, Cutting 

Ipswich produced a good performance to beat Pelicans 2’s 7-1 with  a very changed side from the previous week.  With at least 6 of the first half of the seasons squad injured or unavailable this week Ipswich were uncertain as to how the team would blend together, especially with the come back of Holloway after yet another injury and Carl Simpson stepping in at short notice to bolster the midfield.  However in the end concerns were unfounded with a comfortable win seeing goals from Holloway (4), Graves, Gibbson & Cutting.  Holloway scored two from penalty flicks, with the first being memorable for the fact that he went down faster than the keeper! Fortunately for him the ball still found the back of the net and he did not injure himself in the process!

The last game of the season is next week against Lowestoft Railway and Ipswich hope to maintain the good performance from this week to finish the season on a high note.  The chance of promotion has escaped Ipswich this season after a lull in performances after Christmas, but there will be high hopes for next season!.

East  League  

Div 5 NE

Felixstowe 2's v Ipswich 4's

Result: lost 5-4

Scorers:  

East Vet’s League

Pelicans v Ipswich

Result: Drew 4-4

Scorers: Ben Glading 3, Peter Glading, Foster, Hampton 

Ipswich made this trip to play Waveney in a friendly fixture with only 8 players due to significant injury and non availability, but the home side were able to lend a player to even the numbers a bit. Johnny Gordon also managed to umpire the match single handed in what was a very sporting but competitive match. Despite their lack of numbers Ipswich looked the more likely side with Ben Glading joining his Dad up front and the speedy Foster in mid field. Indeed it was Foster who opened the scoring glancing home Ben Glading's excellent cross and then minutes later the roles were reversed as Ben's touch in deceived the goalkeeper. Ipswich were very much on top now and as Hampton, who enjoyed an excellent performance, found himself unchallenged in the opposition circle unleashed a cracking shot that went in off a hapless defenders foot.

The second half began with Waveney coming much more into the game, their midfield duo of Crane and Sampson taking control and creating a number of scoring opportunities for their forwards, but too often the final effort flew wide and those that were on target Steward saved with relative ease. The home side were soon made to pay for these wasted chances as Peter Glading increased the Ipswich lead, his looping effort finding the roof of the net. Son Ben then converted a penalty corner at the near post before he completed his first ever hat-trick with a superb reverse stick shot to overshadow his dad on this occasion.

Ipswich will be hoping to be back to full strength next week as they travel to Bishops Stortford for what should prove to be a much sterner test.

U18 Cup

Quarter Finals

Ipswich v Cannock

Result: Lost 6-2

Scorers: W Hearne, C Tanck 

The final scoreline disguises the fact that Ipswich were narrowly defeated in their attempt to reach the finals of the England Hockey under 18 competition, the match probably turning against them with a very controversial decision in the closing stages. What boads well for the future however, is that all but 1 of this years squad will be eligible again next year with a significant number also 2 years young.

Cannock started at a tremendous pace and ripped open the home team defence in the first minute to take the lead, but their dominance was short lived as the Ipswich team gradually took control of mid-field and continually frustrated Cannock who could not retain possession to good effect. Unfortunately for Ipswich they could not turn this advantage into goals until Tanck stepped up to convert a penalty corner to bring the score level. Glading in the Ipswich goal was having an unexpectedly quite first half as the home team aided by some inept attacking from Cannock continued to dominate, Dave and Phil Messent caused all sorts of problems down the right as Woodgate quitely and cooly stamped his authority on the mid field and Stoeckman and the lively Hearne down the left were looking dangerous.

The second half began much as the first finished, with Ipswich on top, but 10 minutes into the half Cannock increased their lead converting after a goal mouth scrammble. Ipswich pushed forward in search of another equaliser and the Cannock defence were at full stretch, resorting to unseemly tackling, but in the 57th minute Cannock once again broke free to increase the lead. Ipswich heads did not drop and thet surged forward in numbers, Phil Messent's effort was superbly saved by the visitors keeper, but Tanck could not repeat his first half effort from several penalty corner chances. With under 10 minutes remaining Ipswich pulled a goal back, Hearne's initial effort was saved but he made no mistake from the rebound. Ipswich felt they could now get the equaliser they deserved, and in bizarre circumstances they felt they should have been awarded a penalty flick; Jan Stoeckman picked up the ball attacked the Cannock defence, but as he beat the last man in the circle he was cynically taken out, but the large crowd of supporters were dumbfounded when the umpire only awarded a penalty corner and a green card to the offender! This incident seemed to turn the game and with only 5 minutes remaining Ipswich threw caution to the wind as they went in search of an equaliser. This unfortunately played into the hands of the lethal Cannock attack who had been held in check up until now as they carved open the Ipswich defence to rattle in 3 goals in as many minutes to put an unfair reflection on the game.