English's Hockey League Premier Division

BTexact Ipswich v Leicester

Result: Lost 2-1 (S Bamfield)

Saturday’s Premier league Hockey match saw an energetic Ipswich start their last league game before the Christmas break. The opposition was a Leicester team depleted of several players like Ipswich who are on international duties in Australia.

 Ipswich came out guns blazing for the first twenty minutes and for the first time this season took the early lead care of a Sarah Bamfield deflected goal at a short corner. 

Despite at least a half a dozen more attacking short corners Ipswich failed to convert considerable pressure on Leicester’s defence into goals. The away team then came back into the game and equalised just before half time. The weather conditions caused a delay to the start of the second half as floodlights were fired up to combat the gloom created by the rain. Gloom struck soon after the restart for Ipswich as the Leicester team seemed to have coped with the delays better and took the lead. With the final score being 2-1 in favour of the visitors it leaves Ipswich firmly at bottom place in the league. Coach Kathryn Macdonald when reflecting on the game and her team’s performance said “Today’s game was a revelation for us not in terms of end result but in terms’ of how the girls played for the first thirty five minutes, they are shaping up into a good committed team and I was really pleased to see Lizzy Aldous, Annie Nunn and Amy Tippen having exceptional games.”

 Ipswich now go indoors for preparation for the premier league indoor tournaments which are in January. The outdoor season resumes in February, at the prospect of playing all the teams again Kathryn said “I feel we have really improved as a team and we have only lost games by the smallest of margins, it will a good bench mark to the level of improvement we have made when we replay those teams whom we played at the start of the season.  

Printwize East Premier League

Canterbury 2's v Ipswich2's

Result: Lost 2-1 

Ipswich 2s travelled to Canterbury in for this Printwize East Premier League game, still in search of much needed points to lift them from the bottom of the table. The visitors quickly took command of the game, and were very much in control of the play for much of the first half. 

Sarah Juggins and Karla Waddleton combined well in the centre of the pitch consistently cutting off Canterbury attacks in midfield and feeding through balls to the forwards allowing steady pressure on the home goal. 

Jo Gray made a welcome return to the forward line along with Sophie Sheldrake and the duo was soon unnerving the Canterbury defence. Ipswich pressure paid off mid way through the first half when a straight pass to the near post was deftly deflected past the Canterbury keeper by Hannah Golding to put Ipswich ahead.

Canterbury fought back but with the defensive trio of Jenny Ellis, Amanda Little and Dawn Course successfully controlling the Canterbury forwards and Mary Ost outstanding in goal, they were unable to make any impact and the half time score remained 1-0 to the visitors.

The second half saw a reorganised Canterbury become more threatening up front and the Ipswich midfield and defence were made to work hard to contain the pressure finally conceding in the last 10 minutes when Canterbury’s forwards found space to crack home 2 goals. Final score 2-1

Printwize East League Div 2 North

Ipswich 3's v Boston

Result: won 7-0 ( V Dixon (2), T Theobold (3), N Hart, N Miller)

Suffolk League Div 1

Mildenhall v Ipswich 4's

Lost 3-0

Printwize East League Premier A

 Ipswich 1's v Bishop Stortford

Result :won 5-2. (Scorers: S Miller (2), T Parry, M Stainthorpe, R Fox)

It was back to winning ways for Ipswich on Saturday in the Printwize East Premier 'A' division. The Suffolk side went into this game on the back off six straight league defeats and was desperate for victory.

However, the game was barely a minute old when a fine aerial ball from Stortford defender Darren Brown launched a devastating counter attack. Scott Shearing raced down the right wing and found Ed Bull who made no mistake with only keeper Tony Burch to beat. 

With such a disastrous start, Ipswich maintained a sense of calm but knew that too many games have been lost through lack of concentration such as that. Will Turner returned from illness to the Ipswich midfield and immediately looked comfortable on the ball and showed some clever early touches. To their credit the whole of the Ipswich midfield were a much tighter unit then in recent games and snuffed out the majority of Stortford's counter attacks.

Ipswich drew level after eight minutes. Richard Stainthorpe combined well with Turner and his run took him to the top of the circle. His cross was deflected by defender Mark Slack and whilst the ball appeared to be heading harmlessly off for a long corner, Simon Miller continued his darting run and managed to steer the ball into the empty net much to the dismay of the complacent defenders.

Ipswich's joy again turned to despair ten minutes later. With the Ipswich midfield enjoying possession high up the pitch another Stortford Counter attack found Will Defoe deep inside Ipswich territory. A rash challenge by Chris Palmer appeared to have haltered Defoe's run but as the forward kicked the ball past Ipswich's last defender, the Umpire allowed play to continue. His cross was expertly converted by Paul Mayne to restore the Hertfordshire side's lead.

Ipswich were quick to draw level and once again looked toward Simon Miller for composure under pressure and a cool finish. Neat inter-passing between Andy Swindin and Matt Walker split the Stortford rear guard and Miller found himself with time and space in the circle. Ipswich's leading scorer neatly side-stepped his defender and unleashed a ferocious reverse stick shot under the advancing keeper.

Ipswich have been guilty of failing to turn good performances into victories and set about ensuring that all three points would be theirs in the second half. The Henley Road outfit got off to a perfect start. A determined run by Stainthorpe on the left wing saw him beat Bull and Sheppard before working his way to the Stortford back line. His accurate pass found Richard Fox who had ghosted in at the far post for the easiest of 'tap-ins'.

With their noses in front, Ipswich dominated the remainder of the game and treated the crowd to some stylish attacking hockey. Danny Mayhew marshalled the midfield to ensure the home side did not let their grip on the match slip and also looked a handful when supporting the forward line.

Youngster Tom Parry was introduced to the fray with 25 minutes to go and almost had an instant impact. In another move started by Turner on the right, Fox outpaced Mark Slack and cut inside before finding Parry in the circle. His shot was just wide but was an indication that his determination would pay dividends.

Ipswich made the game safe in the 50th minute with another stylish move. Bishop's Stortford were finding it increasingly difficult to clear their lines and a long ball clearance was easily intercepted by Miller. After beating his man he laid the ball onto Fox at the top of the circle. Fox slipped the ball past the oncoming defender but then took the ball wide instead of shooting at goal. His clever reverse stick cross was turned in at the near post by the hungry Parry who was first to react in the heavily crowded area.

The comfort of having a two goal advantage settled the Ipswich nerves and allowed the side to play with more confidence and flair. To their credit, Stortford attempted to salvage something from the game but Ipswich have learnt the hard way that team discipline has to be maintained until the final whistle. 

The icing on the cake for the home side came on the hour when a well worked short corner saw Matt Stainthorpe claim his first of the season. Having injected the corner, the bearded defender lurked on the near post and Miller's slick through ball was deflected high into the roof of the net.

Ipswich are looking like turning their season around. With newcomers Parry, Turner and Mayhew all making their mark on the team, they can look forward to next week's away fixture at Blueharts with extra confidence, enthusiasm and purpose.

Printwize East League Div 3SE

 Ipswich 3's v Old Southendian 2's

Result :won 4-0. (Scorers: Scarf (2), Mayhew, Webb)

A much changed Ipswich 3rd team took the field against an Old Southendian
team that had struggled in recent weeks.

Ipswich started off in dominant fashion and were quickly three goals up
through Webb, on his seasonal debut, Mayhew and Scarrf. In the second half
Ipswich's play deteriorated a bit as the weather worsened but with Healy
(another debutante) making a few good saves the result was never in doubt.

In the last few minutes Scarff scored again to over-take Mayhew as top
scorer. The team recorded their seventh straight win equalling last seasons
third team record. As a result they remain top of Division 3SE of the East
League and look forward to a tough away game to 3rd placed Wapping next
week.

Printwize East League Div 4SE

 Upminster 2's v Ipswich 4's

Result :lost 3-1 (Scorer: E Youngman)

AS it happened, the rain actually stopped in Basildon at 13.20 as the 4th XI started their game at 13.30. it did not start again until we were back in the car on our way home. If only the result had been as good. However, this was a very enjoyable game played by 2 sides close together at the bottom of the table. Unfortunately, yet again is had been extremely hard during the week to get a team together as there always is but even more so when it is an away game. It took the team some time to knot together and, by the time we had achieved that we were already 3-0 down. By a super human effort, we were able to stem the tide and the score remained 3-0 at half time. In the second half, we played much better and were actually able to get one back. If we had known one another a little better, we may have even been able to level the match as a couple of good chance were lost.

This was amazing considering that the team included 2 players who were playing their first game this season one of which had only played in the 6th XI last year. Several players were having to play out of position but the effort and team spirit was wonderful. It is difficult to single any one out for special mention because everyone played well and fought so very hard. However, Ed Marston and Ed Youngman, our 2 very young strikers impressed and they manufactured the goal between them. Also, Andy Galbraith playing in an unusual position for him and carrying an injury fought like a tiger. John Steward deserves our thanks for another outstanding performance stepping into the breach when the Vets game was cancelled. After being very fed up with the general commitment of the club while trying to get a team together, this team restored my faith in human nature. 

Printwize East League Div 6SE

Ipswich 5's v Maldon & Little Baddow

Result: Postponed

Ipswich Vets v Dereham

Cancelled