I had the pleasure of watching the ladies 3s and the Men’s 3s over the weekend – both games were fine victories. I also enjoyed watching the results come in as it became apparent that Ipswich forward lines were in a rather rampant mood. 42 goals were scored in 9 adult games, and to make matters even better the boys Under 14s ran out 14 nil winners on Sunday. Saturday was a goal fest – the ladies 4s and 5s scored 2 each even though they ended up on the losing side, and the Men’s 1s and 2s scored 17 between them. Week number 4 was when the Men’s 2s and Ladies 2s made it 4 from 4 and where the Ladies 3s firmly put themselves in contention for silverwear. The Men’s 1s continue to impress as do the Ladies 1s despite a reverse in a tough match away to league leaders.

Before the reports and stats, two things for your attention: firstly, please put the 19th November, club social – Bingo Night, in you diary. Chantal and the ladies 4s are hosting everyone – it’s a club fundraiser, please make the time to support and help us continue to grow your club.

Secondly, next time you are at the club please say hello and thank you to your umpires. We can’t play without them, and they do an amazing job – fine performances from Cutts and Min umpiring the Men’s 2s on the weekend and then Foxy and Pigeon brought some real class to the Men’s 3s match. Thanks also to everyone who helps organise umpires inside and outside the club; we want to be a place umpires want to come to and were well on the way to achieving this.

Men’s 4s
‘The fours find five’- Ipswich 4s travelled to Sudbury hoping to keep up their promotion push. They started well and went close very early on with a first 5 min spell of dominance. This was capped off with a goal after Ant stole the ball in midfield and drove through to feed Freddie who slid it past the keeper for 1-0. A few mins later a counterattack by an equally youthful Sudbury team pulled it back to 1-1.

Austin and Freddie turned the pressure up and great work in midfield resulted in Austin getting on the scoresheet to take the 2s into half time 2-1 ahead. Keeping good shape was emphasized at half time and Ipswich continued to make opportunities. The 3rd goal came after more good work from Austin down the left, putting it past the keeper for 3-1. The 4th for Ipswich was a penalty flick after a goal bound short was stopped on the line by a defender. Captain Ant stepped up (powered by his sock on his head) and easily put it into the back of the net to make it 4-1. A few minutes later and a corner resulted in a 5th, this time by the evergreen Pete Glading after Austin’s initial effort was deflected. A great win – now time to bring this form into their home games!

Men’s 3s
The Men’s 3's are back on form following a fine second half performance against Dereham. They started the day knowing they needed a win to keep pace with the top half of the division. With new young faces in the team Ipswich started well but some loose passing allowed Dereham to pounce and the first half ended 1-0 to Dereham. A firm team talk at half time seemed to do the trick with a fine solo effort from Dylan Jarvis making it level, but Dereham pounced back with a fine corner strike. Ipswich made it 2-2 soon after through Fred Weller. With the match at 2-2 Ipswich stepped up a gear to score two fine goals from Fred Weller and Adam El-Mahrout to finish 4-2 winners. The team now have a week off before heading to rural Norfolk to play Watton in two weeks’ time.

I must say this game was a humdinger – end to end stuff, some serious young talent, some serious stately talent, and some seriously good goals. It was the pick of the home games on Saturday for sure.

Men’s 2s
Windy’s Warriors won their 4th game on the bounce, this time a 9-0 thrashing of UEA. The game was probably most notable for hattrick avoidance from Windy, Wardy and Foxy who all scored 2. The team have now scored 33 and conceded just 2. The goal against column is notable because Felix and JC are constantly reminding the forwards that every goal scored starts at back (with them) – it’s this type of attitude that can bring down a team and Windy has already mentioned that he’s concerned about disruptive forces in the backline. The same can’t be said for the midfield and wing backs, Max was on spectacular form, driving through players and into space, and he set up numerous opportunities and scored one himself. Max was supported by Henry and Seth - roaming wing backs – and a fine midfield of Tom, Tommy and Joe who hassled, hounded and harried UEA into coughing the ball up on numerous occasions. Up front, the forward line were clinical, Foxy, Windy and Wardy all scoring 2 and Joe Mulholland and Max and Seth with 1 each; Seth’s was a fine reverse stick shot, pick of the open play goals. The league is starting to look like a 2 horse race with Norwich Dragons also with 4 wins from 4.

Men’s 1s
The report I’ve seen was a video of coach Nick Fry and Craig Wiid having a pint race for reasons unknown (Craig won by the way). I do know however, that pleasingly they ran out 8-0 winners at Peterborough with 4 goals from Josh Cutting, 2 from Will Chrystal and 1 apiece from Craig Wiid and Alex Hunnable. After 3 wins from 3, they sit second in the league – the race for promotion to EHL is starting to look like a another 2 horse race with Chelmsford. There are 2 weeks off and then Spalding at home.

Ladies 5s
The Ladies’s 5 played Christchurch 3’s away and gave them a good run for their money with a very close game. Unfortunately, Christchurch went ahead in the first half 2-0, but the 5’s got their heads together at half time, with two goals in the second half from Rianne Neale and Sarah Offord. Helena Jarvis as goalie continued to make some superb saves, but sadly the final score was 2-4 with Christchurch taking the points on this occasion.

Ladies 4s
There were several alterations to the team going into the clash with Framlingham along with a new formation for the ladies 4s to get their heads around. That said, a competitive first half ended 2-2 after some excellent turnovers and runs through the middle with finishes from Vic and Tegan. However, under pressure in second half the young defence had their backs to the wall facing some feisty forwards with dubious shoulder action! The second half however, saw Framlingham finish up 5-2 victors despite all the hard work from the defence and further good breaks (with a goal denied by a foot on the line from Fram). However, despite the results and league position, there remains lots to build on as the ladies get used to the new formation and special mention goes to players being asked to play at the back for the first time! This team have a real togetherness and spirit and I’m confident they’ll rise to the challenge of this new league.

Ladies 3s
After a fire was lit under the Women’s 3s following a bad performance last week, the 3s got their act together this weekend and returned to winning ways. And what awesome winning ways they were! With coach Felix on the sideline, they moved the ball confidently, put the opposition under enormous pressure and the goals starting coming, especially for Min Patel! It was 4-0 before Min stopped hogging the glory and allowed Lauren and Erin to join the fun too. An all-round great team performance and a good atmosphere too; the 3s are back on form! Min was awarded DoTD for getting carded and MoM Katie for her amazing work in the midfield.

Ladies 2s
The Ladies 2s are competing with the Men’s 2s for the form prize but it should be noted that the Ladies 2s were promoted this year making their early season form even more impressive. They travelled to Spalding who were promoted undefeated last year. There were no nerves on show as Ipswich came away 5-1 victors. Numbers were tight this weekend and they went with only 12 and without coach Peter Wright. They outclassed Spalding in a highly impressive 1st half leading 5-0 into the break. Eloise Ward scored 3 impressive strikes with captain Katie and Jess Logan (penalty flick) with the remaining 2 goals. Mention must also go to Jules who saved a penalty flick in the first half. It’s been a mighty fine start from the Ladies 2s – long may it continue.

Ladies 1s
The Ladies 1s faced a tough opposition with league leaders Southgate away over the weekend. They ended up going down 1-2. Ipswich started well, threatening through the midfield of Sophie Sexton, Emma Rix, Hollie Dring-Richardson and Holly Wills. Southgate though soaked up the attacks and soon began to pile the pressure on, winning a run of PCs which the Ipswich defence firmly kept out. Despite some stout tackling the Ipswich defence of Ellie Scott, Kat Blake and Emma Williamson soon found themselves struggling to outlet and Southgate managed to nick the ball and overload the defence to score a neat goal and take the lead. Things got worse when at the end of the first quarter Ellie Scott got a green card & 2 minute suspension.

Ipswich worked hard to take control of the game but with decisions consistently going against them, they struggled to find momentum. An error right from the pushback for the 2nd quarter saw Southgate again break through and play the ball around GK, and Player of the Match, Ali Barham to double their lead. Ipswich dug in and continued to battle and it wasn’t long before more cards began to be dished out by the umpires with Southgate handed two greens in quick succession. This was the kick the Ipswich team needed and Taylor Ball stole the ball from the Southgate midfield and passed to Dring-Richardson who flashed round players and placed the ball beyond the GK to claw back a goal for the away side. Going into the half time break 2-1 up gave the Ipswich team confidence but it was Southgate who took advantage when a kick of the ball in the middle of the pitch was missed, allowing Southgate to push forward and score their third.
Despite the set back Ipswich continued to play their game and thought they had scored second. Lizzy Wheelhouse found herself alone in the middle of the D and coolly slotted the ball home, only for the whistle to blow for a believed foul meaning the goal was disallowed.

Ipswich held on strong and defended 12 PCs over the course of the game successfully, a proud achievement but they could not find the room to score again, losing the game 3-1.Next week sees a break in league fixtures and Ipswich take on St Albans 1st team at home in the cup.

Stats of the week*

Played 35: Won 22, Drawn 2, Lost 11
Goals For: 120 Goals Against 56

Form Guide
W1 L W W L
W2 W W W W
W3 W W D W
W4 L L L
W5 W L W L
M1 L W W W
M2 W W W W
M3 W L L W
M4 D W L W

Golden Stick – Men’s
Wardy x7, Will Chrystal, Windy x5, Josh Cutting, Gregg Bott, Craig Wiid, Foxy x4

Golden Stick – Ladies
Eloise Ward x5, Min Patel, Mariette Rix x4, Emily Ison, Chloe McMillian, Chloe Williams x3

*some goal scorers still to be accounted for.

Enjoy your half term break.