Slazenger EHL

Premier Division

Olton & West Warwick v Ipswich

Lost 2-1 (J Hall)

After a weekend of travelling up North for two games in two days Ipswich returned to Suffolk late on Sunday evening with one win and 3 points.  Saturday saw them record their first loss in the EHL Slazenger Premier League, as they lost 2-1 to Olton & West Warwick but Sunday saw them tear apart a Doncaster team 4-1 to give Ipswich their first win of the campaign. 

Saturday’s game will unfortunately be remembered not for the good level of hockey but for the umpiring decisions that Ipswich will feel have cost them at least a point.  Controversy reared its head early on as Olton forward Mandy Gather opened the scoring for the home team.  Her initial shot missed the goal and went out of play but the ball bounced back into play off the wheel attached to the side of the goal and while Ipswich waited for the whistle she popped the ball over the line.  Ipswich appealed but with neither umpire in the right position to see the infringement, the goal was amazingly allowed to stand. 

Ipswich to their credit shook off the error and some great play from South African International Kate Hector, saw them begin to create chances at the other end.   The break through finally occurred when Evie van-Poortvliet’s powerful run and subsequent cross was collected by 17 year old jenny hall at the top of the circle.  Hall, showed no nerves, in her debut league game for the Suffolk team, as she rifled the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

Half time saw Ipswich given clear instruction and they started the game again with renewed vigour. Unfortunately an umpiring decision was again involved in the next Olton goal, as Ipswich keeper Charlotte Lee-Smith was harshly judged to have fouled a player while clearing the ball and a penalty stroke was given.  Lee-Smith dived the right way but could not keep out the stroke from Rachel Walker.

Ipswich now pushed forward for another equaliser but just as the game was turning their way Kate Hector was issued a yellow card and sent off for a stick tackle. Within minutes Olton too were down to 10 players as the umpires had set the trend of yellow cards for rather innocuous tackles.  However things got worse for Ipswich as they were soon reduced to 10 players when Van-Poortvliet was also sent off. Despite the lack of numbers Ipswich coped well and with Hector back on the Suffolk team where the ones looking most likely to score.

With only minutes remaining Ipswich did indeed think they had equalized, but Becky Bakers shot from a penalty corner was adjudged too high, even though it had deflected off the prone Olton keepers helmet. 

A disappointing result for Ipswich but mainly a feeling of frustration at some disappointing decisions.

 Slazenger EHL

Premier Division

Doncaster v Ipswich

Won 4-1 (J Hall (2), L Aldous(2))

Sunday saw the team determined to claim the win as the travelled further North to play Doncaster.  With neither side having won a game the pressure was definitely on both to get a result.  The game started off quite evenly but Ipswich soon began to dominate possession and within 9 minutes had taken the lead. Lizzy Aldous firing the ball into the roof after a goal mouth scramble.  10 minutes later and Hall scored her second goal of the weekend, a superb strike leaving the keeper with no chance. Ipswich were now rampant and on the 28^th minute Hall added to her tally with a goal of pure individual brilliance. Her sublime skills left the Doncaster keeper flummoxed and she coolly walked the ball into the open net to make it 3-0 and claim her third goal of the weekend. Emma Lee-Smith was then very lucky not to make it 4-0 as she saw her ferocious strike cannon back off the top crossbar. 

Half time could not come quickly enough for Doncaster but they started the second half with renewed spirit. Ipswich though were enjoying the game and as player rotation kept everyone working hard they continued to pressure Doncaster into errors. Sarah Tallent was unlucky not to get her name on the score sheet as she missed a superb cross from Aldous by a whisker. It was eventually Aldous herself that scored the 4^th goal, a poacher’s deflection after another bamboozling run by Hall. Aldous now has scored three goals so far this season and sits in second place in the overall league goal-scoring list.

 Doncaster pulled one back through their England striker Jo Ellis but it was too little too late for the Yorkshire side and as Ipswich celebrated the win Doncaster faced life at the bottom of the table.

 A much better performance and result from Ipswich and they now lie in 6^th place 3 points behind second placed Canterbury, whom they face at home next weekend. 

East League Div 1 N

Cambridge University v  Ipswich 2's

Won 6-0 (L King (3), F Shaw, L Jones, J Gray )

Ipswich 2s maintained their position at the top of East League Div 1 North with a comfortable 6-0 victory over Cambridge University 2s. 

The students made a strong start but were quickly stopped by a solid Ipswich defensive line of Hannah Godfrey, Hannah Tallent and Sam Bennett.  With great support play from Jenny Ellis, Leisa King and Lisa Jones in midfield, it didn’t take long for Ipswich to start piling on the pressure.  Less than 10 minutes into the game, King fired home the first of her hat-trick from a penalty corner.  Ipswich maintained their attacking pressure and Tory Spencer was unlucky not to get her name to the score sheet with a sweep at goal being deflected wide by the Cambs keeper.  15 minutes in, King added her second, again from a well rehearsed short corner routine. 

Ipswich did not let up and a superb under-arm pass from Jo Gray, who had been blocked in on the back line, was picked up by Lisa Jones who coolly clinched goal number 3 with a reverse stick sweep.  This was far from a one-sided game however, and Cambridge made the Ipswich midfield and defence work extremely hard to maintain the score at 3-0 to half-time.

 After the break the visitors continued to pressure the Cambs defence with some great space creating moves from King in midfield and sustained pressure from Ellis and Spencer.  A superb cross from “Man of the Match” Spencer found Fiona Lane unmarked in front of goal and a simple deflection made it 4-0.  King secured her hat-trick with a decisive short corner strike and could have had 4 to her name but for her kind reminder to the umpire that another thundering shot was actually too high to deserve the goal he had just awarded J

Jo Gray topped off the score with a neat touch deflecting the ball through the unbalanced keeper’s legs to make it 6-0.  

The score line reflects somewhat unfairly on Cambridge who played some excellent hockey and throughout the game remained threatening particularly in the latter minutes of each half.  Their superior fitness started to show in the final 15 minutes with Claire Gould & her defence being called upon to defend several short corners.

East League Div 2C

Ipswich 3's v Haverhill

Won 3-0 (A Christian, M Walters, N Keely)

The longest first half since records began saw two stoppages for the Haverhill keeper to touch up her make up, and both Captain’s spoken to by the Umpires about their unruly and argumentative teams (mentioning no names – Victoria, Bethany…) Sadly this long period saw what can only be described as shoddy play from the Ipswich side.  The team were unable to find their feet and whilst Haverhill never provided too much of a threat in the defending D, Ipswich were equally unable to make an impact at the other end.

 Towards the end of the first half Ipswich finally broke the stalemate thanks to an all-too-rare short corner decision.  Excellent stick skills from Vicky Dixon (which resulted in a spontaneous round of applause from spectators!) saw Alex Daniels free at the top of the D with a strong ball to Alice Christian who was able to tip the ball inside the back post much to the delight of the Ipswich side.  Finally getting on top paved the way for a brighter second half…

 …which saw a completely different approach from the Ipswich side who started to dominate the game.  Ipswich’s second goal came after a string of 5 short corners.  A perfectly positioned Mim Walters on the back post neatly converted a strike from Roisin Moore at left slip, the team efficiently exploiting the significant space afforded by a passive Haverhill defence.

 Ipswich built the pressure for the remainder of the game despite a number of threatening breaks from Haverhill which exposed a none too cohesive Ipswich midfield.  After another period of building pressure (from a series of long corners this time) Ipswich found the mark again.  Nicky Keely was responsible for Ipswich’s third goal which she ‘blasted home’ from a ‘perfect position’ (all her own words!) and I s’pose we’d better mention Vicky Dixon’s AWESOME stick skills which were responsible for landing the ball on Nicky’s perfectly positioned stick in the first place!!

 The umpires provided plenty of entertainment value this weekend with an interesting interpretation of the rules of hockey (how’s that for diplomatic?!) and special mentions to Mim, Nicky and Tori for great individual performances.  It was also however a day for injuries as Ro attempted to ruin both her knee and ankle in one swift step on the ball (error!) and Nicky left the pitch with an impressively bloody knee.  Alice also got friendly with an opposition defender – each to their own and all that but it was a bit close for comfort in my humble opinion!  So all’s well that ends well and the 3s find themselves holding on to that top spot in the league.  Good stuff innit. 

Suffolk League

Division 1

Ipswich 4's v Haverhill 2's

Won 2-0 (S Parry (2))

Ipswich faced a tough game this week against Haverhill 2's, who were sitting just behind them in the league, having only lost 1 match so far. 

Ipswich started of the slower of the two teams and were under pressure form the start.  However after a gritty first 10 mins, Ipswich soon found their form and started passing the ball beautifully around the field, outsmarting the Haverhill midfield.  Substitute Sarah Parry, made her debut return by scoring both goals in the first half.  Just minutes after coming on!  Whilst Ipswich continued to dominate they just couldn't find the final touch to get the ball in the back of the net.  Leaving it 2-0 at the final whistle.

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East Div 5 NE

Ipswich 4's v Pelicans 3's

Won 11-0 (Alex Bond (1), Alan Fischer (6), Ian Glassford (1), Stuart Robinson (1), Robert Sebborn (2))

Up until now, Ipswich had won their previous games comfortably but had failed to convert many of the chances that were created. There had always been a feeling amongst the Mens 4th team that the side had the potential to land a big score against one of the seasons struggling teams. It was certainly not expected in this top of the table clash against second placed & unbeaten Pelicans 3s. 

Ipswich started brightly with Paul Whetton supporting the attack at every opportunity & the home side taking an early lead when Ian Glassford drove along the dead ball line to enable Alan Fischer to score the first of his six goals for the day. A second shortly followed when a lively Robert Sebborn set up Alex Bond to score at the far post. Robert Sebborn made it three goals at the interval when he blasted a short corner home from the edge of the circle.

 Any nerves in the second half were quickly settled when Ian Glassfords strong run with the ball was flicked on by Gary Scarf for Stuart Robinson to tap in. Robert Sebborn took his second of the day with a solo effort that was blasted into the top of the net from the edge of the circle. The remainder of the half was transposed into the ‘Alan Fischer show’ who netted a further five times to give himself a double hat trick for the day. Ian Glassford was rewarded for his hard work when he converted after more good work by Alex Bond. 

It certainly was not ‘one way traffic’ throughout this game with Pelicans building several opportunities from the back, only to find either the final ball going astray or Ipswich keeper Imran Khan being forced to make several great saves. A fine all round display by Ipswich with all of the team contributing to the goals.