English Hockey League 

Premier 1

Saturday 19h February 2005

Ipswich v Chelmsford

Won 2-1 (V Roberts, C Gilliat-Smith)

A passionate top of the table derby clash between Ipswich and Chelmsford, in front of a large crowd at Tuddenham road on Saturday, ended in fittingly dramatic fashion. Ex-Chelmsford striker Cath Gilliat-Smith scoring the winner with 30 seconds left on the clock to see Ipswich move 2 points clear at the top of the table. 

The English Hockey League Premier 1 game started at a cracking pace with the home side tearing into their visitors at will and sensing an early goal was on the cards. Sure enough a poor clearance by Chelmsford England sweeper Lisa Wooding was intercepted by Emma Millar who’s early pass picked out Cath Gilliat Smith on the top of the circle. Gilliat-Smith turned her defender with a neat bit of skill and slipped the ball calmly to the diving Vanessa Roberts, who made no mistake scoring her 5^th goal of the season from close range. 

Chelmsford looked shell-shocked and Ipswich looked to turn up the heat. However some positional slackness saw the home side begin to place themselves under unnecessary pressure and the Essex visitors began to re-discover some confidence. After some good build up play Chelmsford earned their first short corner but the Ipswich defence of, Lizzy Aldous, Beccy Duggan, Kirsten Spencer, Charlie Anderson and Izzy Sheldrake were up to the challenge and saw off the threat. Ipswich though could not seem to find a way through the Chelmsford midfield and once again found themselves under enormous pressure. The visitors again won a short corner and this time got the goal they craved. A fierce straight strike from Lisa Wooding flying in off the pads of Ipswich keeper Duggan to make it 1-1. 

Ipswich aware that they were in a game seemed to raise their standard of play and were almost celebrating their second goal after a superb run and pass by Gilliat-Smith but it was put agonisingly wide by the diving Tanya Barnard. 

Some clear instructions given to Ipswich from the coaching team of Sandie Lister and Nick Thompson during half time saw them start the 2^nd half much the brighter side.  Captain Vic Sandall was commanding in midfield, one signature run over 50 yards saw her beating the majority of the Chelmsford midfield.   Sandall began to link in superbly with Leisa King and with Kirsten Spencer marshalling the defence the Suffolk side began to put the visitors under some serious pressure.  Some good skill from Barnard earned Ipswich their first short corner of the game. A well-worked move almost saw Ipswich re-take the lead but Chelmsford keeper Katy Roberts pulled off a superb diving save to deny Jo Ellis.

Chelmsford though were also keen to take advantage of their few chances. A poor defensive clearance by Ipswich saw Chelmsford’s striker Chloe Rogers one on one with keeper Beccy Duggan but her fantastic double save frustrated the Essex striker and minutes later she was at it again.  Chelmsford gained their 3^rd corner of the game and looked to take the lead for the first time in but Duggan was determined not to be beaten and her initial save and the follow up clearance by Leisa King saw Ipswich survive the danger.  With time running out and the vocal home crowd cheering them on Ipswich began to step-up on the Chelmsford defence, forcing them into several untimely clearances and errors. A foul by Chelmsford on the edge of their circle enabled Emma Millar to take a quick free hit, which picked out the alert Gilliat-Smith. Her initial shot was well saved by Roberts’s but she made no mistake with her second chance. With nerves of steel she dummied the defender and once they were committed to making a save from a shot that was never coming, Gilliat-Smith placed the ball in the opposite corner to make it 2-1 to Ipswich and spark manic celebrations.  With only 30 seconds remaining Ipswich knew that they had done enough to push their opponents down into second place and assume the mantle of league leaders for the first time this season.

Chelmsford finished off their disappointing weekend with a 3-0 loss to Leicester in the Cup semi-final and now face a tough trip to Europe next weekend to play in the Indoor Club Trophy.  Ipswich’s attentions turn towards their game in hand against Slough and they will be looking for revenge over the team that beat them outdoors back in October and to the Indoor title 3 weeks ago.

Game postponed because of snow!

 Postponed 

East League Premier A

Sat 19th February 2005

Ipswich v Pelicans

Won 7-0  (  A Cook,  I Smith (3), C Palmer,  W Turner (2))

Ipswich moved within one victory of the East Premier ‘A’ title after beating Cambridge City on Saturday. The clash between the two in-form sides of the league was billed to be a classic and it did not disappoint, however few pundits would have predicted the seven-goal thrashing.

Ipswich were missing midfield playmakers Simon Miller (injury) and Will Fulker (suspension) and coach Kath Macdonald was forced to make several changes. Veteran Chris Palmer moved out of the defence to bolster the midfield and Kev Brown and Asif Rais returned to the rearguard.

squad 2004-2005

After a sluggish start to last week’s match, Ipswich were looking to make and immediate impact on the game and succeeded. From the push back the ball was moved to Andy Swindin at left back who spotted Richard Fox breaking down the wing. Swindin dispatched an inch perfect aerial ball for Fox to run onto and the Ipswich Captain in turn fired in a cross towards Ivan Smith. Smith was unable to control the cross and the ball was collected by right back James Walker just outside the Cambridge ‘D’. Walker took one touch to control before delivering a quick pass to Smith who had remained on the penalty spot. Smith expertly deflected the ball past Nick Clarey to give Ipswich the lead without the home side touching the ball.

Ipswich were two goals to the good four minutes later courtesy of a short corner. The ball was switched to the left-hand side giving Smith time to shoot low to the right. Clarey did well to pull of a diving save but his parry fell kindly for Will Turner who managed to squeeze the ball home from a tight angle.

Despite going further behind, the home side still looked dangerous on the break and the Ipswich defence had to be on the guard at all times. Asif Rais marshalled his troops and made several timely tackles to thwart John Gordon and James Gardener.

Ipswich increased their lead on the ½ hour after a period of sustained pressure. A short corner was awarded after Nigel Gadsby fouled the evergreen Andy Cook as he closed in on goal. From the resultant short Corner the ball was again switched to Smith and this time he shot low to the left. Gadsby did his best to keep out the ferocious effort but only served to deflect the ball into the roof of the net.

Cambridge City began to lose their structure in the midfield and the frustration was evident. Cambridge skipper Nick Willingham spent five minutes in the sin bin and the game was in danger of turning into a scrappy battle.

At half time Ipswich Coach Macdonald insisted her team remained calm and continue to press the Cambridge defence. Ipswich took the field for the second period full of confidence and desire. The visitors moved the ball at pace and midfielders Turner and Matt Walker controlled the game. Ipswich’s midfield movements and leading runs from the forwards drew the Cambridge defence apart and the Suffolk side put the game beyond City’s reach within five minutes of the restart. Palmer and Turner exchanged passes and evaded the tackles of Gardener and Willingham on the right before finding Cook with only Clarey to beat. Ipswich’s leading goal scorer wrong footed the keeper and slotted home with ease.

Ipswich’s fifth was scored by Palmer from the penalty spot after Andy Vaughn had thwarted a devastating run at goal by Cook. Palmer dispatched the ball down the centre of the goal after claiming he spotted Clarey moving to his left. 

The current leaders of the league looked like champions for the remainder of the game. Ipswich were happy to pass the ball all over the pitch and never stopped chasing the ball down. In truth Cambridge were simply not up to Ipswich’s standard and the constant onslaught was met with a series of cynical fouls and attempts to break up the play. 

From one such tackle, Ipswich were awarded a free hit just outside the ‘D’. Teenager Will Turner stepped up in the absence of Fulker and fired the ball to Smith who had found space to the left of the goal. Smith beat Matt Shaw along the goal line and as Gadsby covered the expectant cross to Cook on the penalty spot Smith slipped the ball under the advancing Clarey to claim a well-deserved hat trick. 

Richard Stainthorpe was brought into the fray midway through the second half and showed just how devastating he can be. Playing on either wing, Stainthorpe looked comfortable and dangerous on the ball and provided Cook with several quality crosses to further test the Cambridge keeper.

Ipswich completed the rout with five minutes to go thanks to a moment of individual magic. Man of the Match Will Turner proved that he is not adverse to trying something unorthodox to unlock defences. Having once again shrugged off the interests of Willingham the teenager moved the ball quickly to Stainthorpe on the right wing who fired in another accurate cross. Stainthorpe’s pass was collected by Cook who laid the ball back to Turner at the top of the ‘D’ for the teenager to unleash a thunderbolt high into the net.

Ipswich now have one hand on the championship trophy and face West Herts at Henley Road on Saturday knowing a victory will secure the title for the third time in the club’s history. In this kind of form, Ipswich are looking forward to a deserved return to National League hockey.

Bedford v Ipswich vets

Sat 19th February 2005

Drew 2-2 (Glading , Hauxwell)

Ipswich made the long trip to Bedford on a bitterly cold afternoon and it proved unlucky 13, as their run of 12 consecutive victories (excluding cup games) came to an end. Indeed a delayed start seemed to have affected the visitors as they conceded 2 goals in the first few minutes, firstly a number of defensive errors allowed the Bedford forward to fire home from a narrow angle and then a well struck free hit was deflected home. it looked like a thrashing may be in store but gradually Ipswich dug deep and gradually began to compete. In particular Curzon, still carrying an injury, began to cause problems down the right wing but on several occasions his cross avoided the oncoming attack. He was also the victim of a number of poor tackles, and from such a tackle as he was dumped on the ground the ball fell to Glading at the top of the circle and he crashed home as the umpire allowed a good advantage. 

Ipswich's best chances came at penalty corners and on the stroke of half time they equalised; Glading fed the ball to Curzon, his shot was saved and Hauxwell followed up to make no mistake.

The second half was very open with both teams playing some excellent open hockey, Bedford enjoyed the majority of possession but created few chances; although keeper Gordon was forced to make an excellent save low to his right to keep Ipswich on terms. in fact the best chances fell to Ipswich, Glading saw his close range effort blocked after a superb run by De Sousa, playing his first game for eight years. The other effort fell to Morley, now playing in his 45th season for the club, but he was just unable to get his stick to Gough's pass. And so a draw was fair result despite the early wobbles.