Game of few chances

Saturday 29 March 2025, Metrogas 0 Bexley 1 - Kent League, Premier Division, Metrogas Amateur Sportsground

Closed junction 28 - A12/M25 and then an accident by the Dartford Crossing, meant I had to abandon our initial destination and Metrogas was easiest option.

Hardly any parking, and with two sportsgrounds next to each other, both with two games going on, meant cars were all over every verge on the lane leading to Metrogas.

The main game was on the pitch closest to the social club, roped off on 3 sides and permanent dugouts. Club house was open, and bar doing a good trade.

Football wise, some good football from both sides, but neither keeper had many saves to make, it was Bexley who broke the deadlock with the very last kick of the 1st half.

Second half was very even, but Bexley had little difficulty  holding on to win the 3 points.

A game of few chances

Tuesday 25 March 2025,  Colchester United Under 21s 0 Millwall Under 21s 1- Professional Development League, Park Drive (Maldon)

Competitive game, well officiated but with few clear chances created by either team. The Colchester team were very young but were in it right to the end, Millwall slightly stronger in the second half when they got their winner from a header.

One way traffic

Sunday 23 March 2025, Ipswich Town Women 3 Plymouth Argyle Women 1 - Portman Road, FAWNL, Southern Premier Division

Decent crowd, who were entertained by a very good Ipswich performance, Ipswich will be slightly disappointed that they only got 3 goals and gave a needless one away at the end. Plymouth were never in the game, but never gave up, worked hard and had to play the last 11 minutes with 10 players after a defender was given a second yellow card.

Ipswich were ahead after just 2 minutes and added a second 25 minutes into a half which was all Ipswich, second half was slightly disjointed as both teams used all their subs, but Ipswich added a third on 56 minutes before a keeper error gave Plymouth a consolation goal on 82 minutes.

Sophie Peskett, the Ipswich forward was deservedly awarded 'Man of the Match', With Hashtag losing in Wales, Ipswich are now back on top of the Division.

Theatre of Trees

Saturday 22 March 2025, Roffey 2 Lingfield 1 - Southern Combination, Premier Division, Chennells Brook

Disappointment on arrival to find the Roffey skipper (and brother of Bruno Fernandes) was not playing today, but that was only downside of the day.

Super friendly welcome and that same attitude from club volunteers was very noticeable the whole day. Understand the name, 'Theatre of Trees' it does have a rural feel surrounded by trees, and with the wooden press box, hand craved benches and wooden patio but the close sound of the main road and the ground situated in a modern housing estate reminds you that you are not in the middle of some forest but actually on the edge of an urban sprawl.

Football wise it was the visitors who took the lead, with cracking direct fee kick placed in the top corner of the goal after 18 minutes. Roffey were back on level terms with a well taken goal after 34 minutes and then they took the lead 4 minutes later after a comedy of errors in the Lingfield box,

Entertaining second half but no further goals, Lingfield were unlucky not to get at least a point from the game, good match officials who just ignored the diving and moaning when it occurred. 

Attacks on top

Friday 21 March 2025, Colchester United Under 21s 1 Ipswich Town Under 21s 2 - Professional Development League, Colchester Utd Community Stadium

A game that was very entertaining with both teams set on attack, only surprise was there were only 3 goals, with the Ipswich keeper i particular making a number of great saves. Ipswich went ahead on 14 minutes and dominated most of the first half possession but Colchester probably had the better chances to score.

Second half saw Colchester get back on terms after 66 minutes, only with Town to secure all 3 points with a winner after 77 minutes.

Only downside was the state pf the Colchester pitch- like a flashback to the 70s, sand everywhere. 

Deserved win

Wednesday 19 March 2025, Colchester United Under 18s 2 AFC Bournemouth Under 18s 1 - Professional Development League, Park Drive, Maldon.

A deserved win for the home team, they had an outstanding first half, aggressive, positive and scored 2 good goals on 22 and 25 minutes.

Bournemouth look quite shell shocked but were much more organised in the second half, had a goal disallowed and pulled one back on 58 minutes, Colchester were mainly defending but still created chances on the break.

Sunny in Maldon, but still a cold wind from the estuary. 

Season over

Saturday 15 March 2025, Ipswich Town 2 Nottingham Forest 4 - Premier Division, Portman Road

Season over in 6 minutes of madness - not good enough,

Poor football, great goals

Wednesday 12  March 2025, RAF Honington 2 RAF Coningsby 3 (aet) - RAF Challenge Plate, Quarter Final, RAF Honington

Been after ticking this ground for a while, but the higher level team who did play here (RAF Regiment representative team) now borrow Walsham-Le Willows FC ground for games.

This was the RAF Honington station side, good news here is that the pitch is outside the wire so all can watch, small playing field inside a housing estate, one football pitch, one rugby pitch both with permanent dug outs. Changing room block by the rugby pitch (rugby pitch looks like it has not been used for a while)

As a cup match, 3 match officials however both teams did not seem well prepared, no first aid kits, just one sub for the visitors. Game kicked off late- (late arrival of Coningsby) 135pm instead of 1pm, so with extra time, a longer afternoon than expected, good news was that other than for about 2 minutes, the rain kept away.

Football wise, the standard was poor,a  couple of players were quite skillfull but that was about it, however for such poor players , 4 of the 5 goals were fantastic, 2 in the top corner, another saw the keeper chipped and to finish it off, we had a goal from an overhead kick! So even with not great football, I was kept well entertained.

Honington play in the Lincolnshire Armed Forces League (I know Honington is in Suffolk!) and the fixtures are on Full Time.

Surprise win

Tuesday 11 March 2025, Ipswich Wanderers 1 Brightlingsea Regent 0 - Isthmian League, North Division, Humber Doucy Lane

Surprise win for bottom of the table Wanderers against 5th placed Regent, however may have been a surprise but they probably deserved it. Defended well ad always looked dangerous on the break - Regent disappointed for a team close to the play-offs. wanderers taking the points with a 48th minute goal.

May not be enough for Wanderers to keep them up, but certainly gives them some hope for the remainder of the season.

Capitulation

Tuesday 11 March 2025. Ipswich Town Under 18s 1 Cardiff City Under 18s 5 - Professional Development League, Bent Lane Training Ground

Rare midweek U18 game, sunny but cold - even start with Ipswich having the best chance, great cross by Brouwers but no one getting on the end of it for an easy tap in. That was about it for the home team with Cardiff then dominating, helped by Ipswich giving the ball away cheaply. City scored in the 21st minute, a second from the spot in the 32nd, then scored again in the 41st, 61st and 66th, before Ipswich got a late consolation in the 70th. Cardiff wide player, Mannie Barton being the star player and a name to look out for in the future.

Took an hour to wake up!

Saturday 8 March 2025, Norwich CEYMS 3 Sprowston 3 - Hilltops, Anglian Combination, Premier Division

CEYMS had beaten Sprowston their ground last week, so were expecting to come on top again today. However in a first half of few chances it was the visitors who looked the better team and took a first half lead, CEYMS looked poor and their only real chance was cancelled out for offside, just before the break.

Second half started the same, till suddenly on the hour CEYMS seemed to woke up, got back on level terms, missed a penalty and added two further goals, late on.

Hilltops is a large sports field complex near the Norwich southern ring road, comprising of numerous sports pitches, including at least 2 football, 2 Rugby Union and 2 cricket. The clubhouse bar is owned by the rugby club, but football fans were welcome - club is Lakenham Union Rugby Union Club.

The CEYMS pitch, was fully roped off and had two concrete dugouts. Pitch was flat and in superb condition,

Harry Wright show

Wednesday 5 March 2025, Felixstowe and Walton United 2 Needham Market 2 (3-0 on pens) - Suffolk Premier Cup, semi-final, Humber Doucy Lane (Ipswich Wanderers)

Bagged the last car park space and still 20 minutes before kick off! First half was easily forgotten, in a half of few chances with both teams probably thinking about Saturday with Felixstowe going for promotion and Needham fighting relegation, in fact they could end up being in the same division next season.

Second half was a vast improvement with Felixstowe going 2 up, both goals coming from set pieces on 61 and 66 minutes. This woke Needham up, who got one back on 74 minutes then equalised two minutes into injury time.

You would have thought the momentum would now be with the team from the higher league, Needham but it became the Harry Wright show, with the Felixstowe keeper ( son of ex Ipswich, Arsenal, everton, Man City and England keeper- Richard) saving the first three Needham penalty kicks whilst his teammates scored all their penalties.

Felixstowe now into the final where they will again face a team from a higher division. 

Attempted to throw it away

Tuesday 4 March 2025, Ipswich Town Under 21s 3  QPR Under 21s 2  - Professional Development League, Bent Lane Training Ground

A sparse crowd had their attendance rewarded by a decent game, that was full of entertainment.

Ipswich scored 3 goals, all came from shots that were either blocked or saved but Ipswich players reacted first to tap the loose ball in. Ipswich scored in the 14th minute and added a second on 43 minutes, in a half that they dominated.

Second half saw the visitors having most of the ball as Ipswich seemed happy to sit back and soak up the pressure it seemed to be working with Ipswich adding a third goal on the break after 76 minutes. 

However Ipswich then attempted to throw the game away as QPR scored after 84 minutes then added a second in injury time. Ipswich managed to hang on to get the win.

Close but no cigar

Monday 3 March 2025, Nottingham Forest 1 Ipswich Town 1 - City Ground, FA Cup, Round 5

Forest probably just edged this game over the 120 minutes but Ipswich gave them a good test- with a much improved second half - hard to believe that one team is close to getting into the Champions League whilst the other may get relegated, as very little between the two teams.

Fair result

Saturday 1 March 2025, Holmer Green 1 Langley 1 - Combined Counties, Division One, Watchet Lane

Tree lined ground, with the club house inside the sports centre 100m away in the car park. Small wooden seated stand and a small bit of standing cover near the entrance. New G4 pitch next to main pitch, recently opened, but now screened off from main pitch.

Good game that had plenty of chances at both ends and played in a good spirit with help from good match officials.

Langley may have looked the better football side, but Holmer Green looked very dangerous from every corner and no surprise that they took the lead from a corner in the 59th minute. But a draw was a fair result and Langley equalised from the penalty spot in the first minute of injury time.

Home form will cost us

Saturday 22 March 2025, Ipswich Town 1 Tottenham Hotspur 4 - Premier League, Portman Road

Maybe the championship is where we need to go, to build for the future- but will not miss the time wasting, poor refs and cheating 

Great comeback

Saturday 15 February 2025, ADC United 3 Springfield 3 - Essex Olympian League, Premier Division, Seymour Field

Cracking first half, with the second half competitive but lacking the first half goal fest!

ACD Utd, started the day just above their local rivals from Chelmsford in the league, however it was the visitors who started the game on top. After 4 minutes the home keeper had a howler and gifted Springfield a goal, after 23 minutes they were three up and those present were probably expecting a big away win.

The game was quite feisty with some crunching challenges but the Ref managed to keep a lid on it and did well to hardly use his yellow card and keep all 22 players on the pitch.

ACD manged to pull two goals back and so that was it for the first half. 4 Minutes into the second half and the home team were back on level terms, the only surprise over that last 41 minutes, was that no further goals were scored.

Basic set up on the edge of the village, just off the A12, pitch fully roped off and a small changing room block, no other facilities. Very small car park.

No win this time

Tuesday 11 February 2025, Ipswich Town Under 21s 3 Bristol City Under 21s 4 - Professional Development League, Bent Lane Training Ground

One thing you are guaranteed watching Ipswich Under 21s is goals, and another 7 today. Unlike last week , no win for the Town this time but yet another competitive game that gave the few in attendance an afternoon of good entertainment. Ipswich took the lead early on through an own goal and dominated for the first 30 minutes, then Bristol took control and got level after 42 minutes. City started the second half on top and quickly took a lead by two clear goal. Ipswich then made  a few changes and pulled one back, only for Bristol to get a 4th goal on the break, Ipswich pulled another goal back on the 87th minute but could not get an equaliser. 

Under 21 League serves up another cracker

Saturday 8 February 2025, Sutton United (Birmingham) U21s 3 Stafford Rangers Under 21s 3 - MFL U21, North Division, Coleshill Road Stadium

My third time this season watching games in the Midland U21 League, all have been good with this one probably the best of the lot. Sutton went ahead within a few minutes of the start and were 2 up within 10 minutes and looked far sharper than Stafford Rangers but suddenly the visitors seemed to get their game together and were back on level terms within 24 minutes, only for Sutton to take the lead again before half an hour had been played.

The second half was quite even and the only surprise was taht there was just one more goal scored, the visitors getting an equaliser after 75 minutes.

Many of us here are not keen on new grounds and some are made even worse with a G4 pitch, but if you are going to have to build a new stadium, you can't get much better than Sutton, well looked after pitch, hard standing on all 4 sides, even some astro turf terracing steps behind one goal. Plus a cafe/ bar doing good business with plenty of parents watching two younger teams playing on the smaller pitches. Obviously a well run club, who are very proud of their new home.

Then it was just a short drive to Coventry to see Ipswich play in the FA Cup

Coventry City 1 Ipswich Town 4

FA Cup Round 4

CBS Stadium

Town’s second string never looked in any danger of being defeated by a Coventry side which until Wednesday’s loss to Leeds had won five in a row, perhaps illustrating the difference between the divisions.

Jack Clarke was perhaps the biggest of plenty of positives for Town, the summer signing netting twice and assisting one and giving the Coventry defence a tough time all afternoon.