Cold days arrive

Tuesday 21 November 2023, Ipswich Town Under 21s 1 Millwall Under 21s 1 - Professional Development League, Bent Lane Training Ground

Winter has arrived, damp, cold wind- but cheered by a feisty, competitive game in which Ipswich had to work till the end to get a point.

Army Land

Saturday 18 November 2023, Belle Vue Social Club 5 Sudbury Sports 3 - Essex & Suffolk Border League, Premier Division, Garrison 'A'

Had to stay local today, so was always going to be a Step 7 game, after my Suffolk game was called off, it was the short trip down the A12 to Colchester as there were two new grounds on offer plus a number of re-visits as back up.

A number of hoppers had been wondering about the new ground for Belle Vue as Futbology also seemed to be confused.

Colchester is still a large military town but the Garrison is much smaller than it used to be. Between all the old barracks was a large grassed area and on the edge of it there is an athletics stadium, Astro hockey pitches and a football pitch - known as Garrison 'B' it was used by the Youth teams of Colchester Utd for a number of years, as just a short walk from Layer Rd and this season it is being used by the Colchester United Women's team. The athletics track and hockey pitches are also used by local clubs as well as the military.

Then you had Garrison 'A'  a cricket ground, with a small pavilion and score box, when I served in Colchester, it was hard enough to get to play a cricket match on the ground let alone ever think of playing football on it!! It was even used by Essex once, for a First Class cricket match, when the Castle Ground in Colchester was waterlogged.

The football pitch was in very good condition, on the far side of the cricket square, and roped off on one side with two portable dug outs.

Sudbury sports are part of the AFC Sudbury set up, with this team giving some of their academy players an opportunity to play Saturday football, however at the start they looked like they had never played together before, Belle Vue were 3 up after 31 minutes, and it looked like game over but Sudbury then seemed to remember how to pass to each other and got two goals back just before the break.

Sudbury looked much more organised in the second half but could not add to their two goals, Belle Vue were mainly defending but did look dangerous on the break as Sudbury pushed forward. 

Then it went goal mad, Belle Vue got their fourth goal in the last minute of the game, then Sudbury pulled one back after 94 minutes, only for Belle Vue get their fifth goal with the last kick of the game.

Remembering

Saturday 11 November 2023, Ipswich Town 3 Swansea City 2 - Championship, Portman Road

Another win, nd now equal top on points, but today was not just about football.

Today we remembered, not only our veterans but also Ipswich fans no longer with us.

The club was magnificent, the way they looked after the relatives of those who will be remembered in the new Memorial Garden and then in how they supported, local veterans charity, Combat2Coffee and the medals for matches scheme.

We remembered and well done all those at the club, who made it such a memorable day. 

Few destined for the Premier

Wednesday 8 November 2023, Arsenal Under 19s 1 Seville Under 19s 1 - UEFA Youth League, Boreham Wood FC

A game played in heavy rain, but on a pitch that played superbly. Well organised event, free and fans made welcome!

Football wise, Arsenal got a point but are going out at the Group stage, Seville still have a chance to qualify for the next stage.

Not impressed by Arsenal, some very poor passing, not sure many will make it to the Premier. Some of the Seville players might, but not impressed by their diving and playacting. The 3 match officials, all women from Romania, did well in a game made harder for them  by the playacting.

Young Town team hang on

Tuesday 7 November 20923, Ipswich Wanderers 1 Ipswich Town Under 21 2 - Suffolk Premier Cup, Humber Doucy Lane

Wanderers struck unlucky this week, a club that does not have the crowd support of rivals, Felixstowe, Bury or Lowestoft hoped to make the most of drawing Ipswich in the cup, but then fate stuck as Rotherham- Ipswich was postponed last week and played tonight and live on Sky- so a lower crowd than Wanderers get for a normal midweek game.

Ipswich had a mostly U18 team with a few Under 21s but they dominated the first 30 minutes, scoring and also hitting the woodwork 3 times. Some of them seemed to relish playing against adults. (Not sure wanderers were at full strength).

Second half and Ipswich scored early on then wanderers dominated as Ipswich lost their shape and struggled physically, wanderers pulled one back but thanks to some last ditch defending and a good keeper, Ipswich held on and in fact looked more likely to score on a number of fast counter attacks they had.

Rain did not stop play

Saturday 4 November 2023, South Park 0 Chertsey Town 4, Isthmian League, South Central, St Georges Field

Not my intended destination, was hoping for a Combined Counties double but in the end plastic saved the day. Nothing much to say about the ground- very, very basic. Good clubhouse but that is 150 metres from the ground!

But should not complain, we may all prefer grass but a quality G4 surface today allowed us to see a game when many would have been sat at home.

Chertsey came to the game in third place and on a run of wins, and they dominated the game from the start but only half one goal in the first half to show for the domination and they only got that in first half injury time. Only real incident was a 2 minutes of handbag throwing which resulted in a number of yellow cards. 

Second half saw the South Park center back ( who was one of those booked in the first half) get a second yellow and Chertsey took advantage of the extra man and added a further 3 goals in the second half, for an easy win.

Cup run over

Wednesday 1 November 2023, Ipswich Town 1 Fulham 3 - League Cup, 4th Round, Portman Road

The London club strolled to an easy win. Ipswich changed their whole team from Saturday, it seemed Fulham see the cup as a higher priority than Ipswich.

Trouble was that it was not just our back up players, the issue was many of them were very short of match practice.

Once we introduced our subs, the game became more competitive, and if we had played a few more first choice players at the start, it may have been a better indication of how much more we would have to do, if promoted.