Remember Ian Smith’s famous commentary at the cricket world cup in 2019: “England have won the world cup, by the barest of margins. Agony for New Zealand. Ecstasy for England”? As our hockey season at Ipswich hurtles along, the fate of teams promotion chances may be dictated by similar margins. League leading Men’s 2s went down 2-1 on the road reducing their lead to a point whereas the Men’s 4s 1-0 victory kept them top albeit with Sudbury breathing hard down their necks. Elsewhere the Men’s 1s and Ladies 2s dominated at home, the ladies 3s won on the road and there was a welcome return to the pitch for the ladies 1s albeit it regrettably ended in last gasp loss in London against a tough opposition. The Ladies 4s and 5s were left frustrated with draws where they were goals up and the Men’s 3s had a tough away game and despite a stirring performance, went down away to Dereham. It was also good to see some impressive scoring feats this weekend in the ladies 2s and ladies 3s as well as some fine clean sheets on show across the club.

Finally there was also another outing for the Gentlemen’s over 40s who won at home to Norwich followed by a good get together in the clubhouse. I’d recommend reading the report, not least because Felix Fitch suffered a calamitous injury in the warm-up; must be an age thing!

So with the O40s match, there are 10 games to catch up on and some stats worth reading, especially for the defenders and goal keepers – it’s not all about the primadonnas strikers despite what we’d have you believe.

Enjoy!

Ladies 1s L1-2

Defeat in the final play

The second half of the league saw our Ladies 1s travel to Hampstead and Westminster. After meeting them in their first game of the season and taking a 3-1 defeat at home. Ipswich were back for round 2 to try turn that around. This time, with the delight of the return of Captain Lucy Dunnett. In the first half, both teams were battling end to end but H&W became the first on the scoresheet from a penalty corner strike. Ipswich did keep their defence strong after the goal with Emma Williamson dominating the middle grounds. With a couple of near misses from May Percival and Taylor Ball, Ipswich were going into the second quarter on the back foot.

Ipswich knew they needed to come out better to equalise H&W in the second quarter. And better they were, with an immense team goal, starting from, POTM, Hollie Dring-Richardson connecting with Eloise Ward, who selflessly passes it to Ball to first-time into the net for the equaliser.

The second half saw Ipswich under the pump with numerous opportunities from H&W to take the lead, but with Ali Barham’s slick saves and the transfers around the back distributed out from Kat Blake and Ellie Scott , Ipswich held strong. As the final quarter progressed, Ipswich’s 13-player squad started to tire and legs and lungs started to struggle. H&W turned it up one more gear and found themselves threatening Ipswich’s D multiple times. And with the hopeful thought of Ipswich coming away with a convincing draw and 1 point, the carpet was ripped from under them. A crash ball fired in from the 23 to meet many sticks and with an unlucky ricochet, the ball found the net. With less than 60 seconds on the clock from the restart, Ipswich were out of time and out of luck. A gruelling defeat after a positive performance but Ipswich will be back home next week to host Bishop’s Stortford. Can they improve on their previous win against them and take the 3 points they need?

Ladies 2s W9-0

After a double header (and 6 points won) last weekend, Ipswich ladies’ 2s welcomed mid-table St Neots to Tuddenham Road.

With a few regular faces missing due to 1st team call ups, Ipswich fielded a rather young but talented side. The away fixture against St Neots in October was a tight affair as Ipswich struggled to find the back of the net despite numerous chances. The return leg, however, couldn’t have been more different.

With a strong start, the home team scored within a few minutes through a calmly taken goal by Chloe Williams. The girls continued to build confidence, stringing together some lovely passes and patterns of play. More goals came through Beth Scott (stroke) and Isabella Folster in the first half.

To be honest, only Pete and his clipboard know exactly who scored and when. The ladies 2s’ favourite badger gave a positive team talk at half time, requesting more midfield transfers and more goals.

And goals did come…9 in total in fact… much to the delight of the rowdy, badgery crowd but to the frustration of the opposition coach. The St Neots defence couldn’t keep up with the strength, speed and skill of the Ipswich forwards. Particular mention must be given to captain Katie Rowe for her work rate - a true example to the Ipswich ticker.

Thanks to dream team yellow canaries Pete Glading and Alex Fletton who kept the game flowing. Overall, a very impressive team performance that keeps the 2s at the forefront of the race for promotion to East Prem. Whilst Chloe Williams furthers her quest for the club’s top goal scorer award.

Ladies 3s W7-2

Perfect conditions awaited the Ladies 3s at Culford School, and a strong team of 13 started in the best possible way with Min Patel scoring within the first 5 minutes, with you guessed it, a tap in! They continued to dominate, and Caitlyn Wright was prolific in front of goal, scoring twice before half time. And she didn't stop there, second half, two more goals! Bury fought back, and two counter attack goals were put away. However, they finished the match strong with two more goals from Luce Hinton and Lou Rickard, the final whistle coming with Lou still celebrating on the ground after diving to get the goal. Final score 7-2.

Ladies 4s D3-3

Ladies 5s D2-2

For a home match vs Christchurch 2s the spirits were high and the ladies fielded an excellent squad. Foxy warmed the team up and set them off with some great advice and Winger organised the subs. Great team support all round.

Allie scored within the first 15 mins and the 5s looked comfortably in control of the game until the opposition equaliser. They came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and scored quickly with an aerial goal from Gillian from an excellent assist by Vix. But it was to be a draw as Christchurch converted a penalty corner in the last 15 mins of play. Ipswich dominated possession and looked good so it was naturally a shame not to win. Well done all - onwards and up! A win and two draws in ladies 5s last 3 games is a good return!

Men’s 1s W6-0

Ipswich hosted Peterborough on February the 4th at 2pm on windless cloudy day at Tuddenham road

Ipswich set the tone of the game with a quick pace, moving the ball around swiftly. The first goal came from supreme flicker Craig Wiid through a short corner. Followed by man of the moment Craig Wiid by slapping the ball across the face of goal calmly deflected by fox in the box Wardy. The control and possession of the game followed through to the end of the half with some solid saves from the Peterborough goalkeeper, finishing the half at 2-0.

Minutes into the second half William Crystal dispatched a reverse shot from in front of the keeper, followed by a flick AGAIN from Craig Wiid making the score 4-0. Ipswich felt comfortable with one excellent save from Jez Blake and solid defending from the Ipswich defenders. This allowed Ipswich to go and get the 5th goal through a short corner back to the injector and put into the roof of the net by striker Josh Cutting. The final goal epitomises how Ipswich are playing this year with a brilliant team goal finished by William Crystal. A good result for the Ipswich team however onto the next game. Away to Spalding Hockey Club.

Quote of the day: you don’t need to put the ball in the net to score.

Men’s 2s L1-2

Mens 2’s saw their lead at the top cut to just 2 points after a disappointing defeat away at UEA.

The students were much improved from the first half of the season and the opening period saw them well organised. Ipswich dominated possession but chances were thin on the ground. Good distribution from Wrinch & Joe prompted attacks and after terrific work by Tom & Foxy, Greg hit the post twice from a tight angle. Right on halftime, Ipswich finally broke the deadlock - Windy finishing low to the keeper’s left after great work from Ollie Pipe.

Despite rarely troubling the Ipswich back four, UEA equalised 8 minutes into the second half with a low reverse stick shot which gave the students confidence. However, Ipswich continued to have the majority of the play but just couldn’t open up for clear chances although both Windy and Tommy could have done better from tight positions. With 15 minutes to go, UEA scored with only their second shot of the game to take the lead. It was not without controversy, with Ipswich convinced there was no touch from a UEA player in the area from a cross.

Ipswich huffed and puffed for the remainder of the match but just couldn’t find a way through.

Men’s 3s L0-3

12 players against a tough opposition and 0-3 loss - but a cracking performance and yes, Fraser was the man of the match, covering for the old gits at the back with a combined age of about 787!! After the match everyone came off the field shattered, but with a smile on their face because they knew they had put in a shift. It was a very good and positive attitude throughout the game and with no cards. It was a very hard and intense end to end match, and in fact the 3s could have been 2-0 up in 10 minutes but the Dereham keeper made some good saves, it didn’t feel like a 3-0 match, as most of the opposition mentioned at the end, they also commented on our youngsters, who will be the making of the team and how they wish they had something similar.

Men’s 4s W1-0

How much possession for the 4s?

Ipswich M4s absolutely thrashed Bury 6s 1-0. Never has a game been played with so much possession by Ipswich M4s. Utter and complete dominance from start to finish with attack after attack, and Bury had all but one player behind the ball at all times.
Ipswich had a great chance within first 20 seconds when bury mistrapped the ball, then rushed a pass which Tom intercepted, laid off to Ant who passed back to Tom but the defence got a lucky stick to Tom’s attack.

Bury struggled to clear lines most of the time either making sloppy passes, or giving the ball away cheaply which Ipswich ran onto with ease.

However for all the Ipswich possession and pressure the excellent Bury defence and keeper stood resolute and the game was 0-0 at half time.

The message by Ant was simple, keep doing the same, and it’s not a matter of “if” we score a goal, it’s more a case of “when”.

That proved to be the case when Ipswich won a long corner, Austin quickly passed to Ant who turned and fired into the D, Tom received turned and shot, the keeper saved but the ball rebounded back to Tom who then neatly slotted into the goal. 1-0. Well deserved.

The game was much the same throughout, possession, and more possession, waves of attacks, what felt like close to 15 short corners, with the keeper continuing to save a number of drag flicks into the top corner by Peter. The 2nd goal never came, and whilst both Ipswich and Bury legs started to get weary there were still no more goals. Game finished 1-0 to Ipswich.
Call outs - Tom O & Peter W. Tireless work. Jake S and Will F who played excellently in unfamiliar positions. And lastly Dan F - who stood in goal for Fraser, probably only touched the ball twice and kept a clean sheet. Best defence in the league!

Next week away to Newmarket - grudge match!

Gentlemen’s O40s

The Men's Masters of hockey faced Norwich Dragons on Sunday in the 3rd round of the cup. The warm up was extended whilst they waited for the last of the Dragons team to arrive, which gave Felix enough time to flick a ball into his own head and split his eyebrow open! Thankfully he returned shortly into the match to put in a controlled display at the back along with Dave Cooper, Dave Healey (on debut), Ed Downie and the evergreen Pidge; whilst Jez got his 1 touch of the game with a smart low stick save. Despite dominating possession with Jim Walker and Pete Bale (who doubled up as Felix's personal medic) pulling the strings in midfield and creating plenty of chances Ipswich only lead through a Wardy reverse scoop into the bottom corner. The 2nd half saw Ipswich continue to create and not convert open play chances, so it was left to the short corner team to score the goals. Wardy tapped a couple in against a keeper clearly wary of Storm's rasping drag flick option and Ollie Pipe capped a fine personal display with a composed flick into the roof off a rebound. A great display of hockey played in the right spirit, onwards to Pelicans.

Stats
- 39 clean sheets so far this season: M1/M4 have 6, L2 have 8 / L3 6
- Best defensive goals per game 0.67 for the ladies 2s, 0.85 for the men’s 1s
- Wiid, Chrystal and Williams open up a game in the scoring stats
- GF 366 GA 191
- 62% win rate, down slighty!

Golden Stick

Ladies Leaders

Chloe Williams 19
Min Patel 12
Emily Calver 9
Caitlyn Wright 7
Eloise Ward 7
Mariette Rix 6
Beth Scott 5
Chloe Macmillan 5
Nicky Miller 5

Men’s Leaders

Will Chrystal 15
Craig Wiid 14
Fred Weller 12
Windy 12
Wardy 11
Foxy 7
Pete Glading 7
Sam Lynne 5