It’s a peculiar time of the season; the Men’s 1s who became champions last week, played out an insipid 1-1 draw away to Saffron Walden (who they pumped 9-0 last time round). The Ladies 1s who secured another season of National League last week went down 2-4 away to Horsham.

Both teams will no doubt be disappointed but let’s not lose sight of the prize – both teams will be in EHL next year (although one suspects the men may be travelling to the midlands whilst the ladies play in the east).

Elsewhere, there was plenty to cheer about, the Men’s 2s are closer than anyone – 2 wins from 2 in their last matches will see them win the league and be promoted to Division 1 which is the minimum the club needs with a 1st XI in National League.

The Ladies 2s whose promotion campaign somewhat hit the buffers over a few weeks returned to winning ways, the Ladies 3s saw a hattrick from Min Patel and victory against Framlingham (the only team to have defeated them this year) and the Ladies 4s continued to impress with a 5-1 victory. Regrettably the Ladies 5s game was a 5-0 w/o albeit in their favour! The men’s 3s who are likely to finish mid table and went down 0-3 to Newmarket (excellent report below) but the Men’s 4s starred this weekend with an 11-0 victory with the youthful Pete Glading getting on the scoresheet 4 times – most impressive. 11-0 is the biggest victory of the season eclipsing the ladies 2s and Men’s 1s who both secured 9-0 victories earlier in the season. The Men’s 4s and the ladies 2s are in a good position to be promoted as best 2nd placed (assuming 2 get promoted from their respective leagues).

So what is left to play for? Pride? Passion? Personal gain? Fitness? Plenty in fact, and with just 2 weekends left in the official calendar it would be marvellous to see the club finish on a high and secure 4 promotions from 9 (and with zero relegations). We’ve won 104 games so far with a 60%+ win rate – it would be rather impressive to keep that above 60, it really would.

Elsewhere there is some healthy competition to play for – can Min Patel catch Chloe Williams? Can the Men’s 1s finish with a GA of fewer than 1 per game and if they score 10 in their last 2 they’ll have 100 on the board. Will the Men’s 4s finish the season with the best defensive record? Will the ladies 3s topple Harwich this weekend? There are a myriad of things to play before so let’s finish in style, but please, let’s get those 4 promotions!

For now, here are your correspondents:

Ladies 1s L2-4

Another game of the uncontrollables winning

Ipswich Ladies 1s travelled to their penultimate away game of the season down in Horsham. Ipswich knew without their coach , it would be up to them to organise, stay motivated and maintain their values.

Ipswich started very strong with big circle entries and threatening the goal early. The girls hit the ground running and got an early team goal. Starting with a 2v1 created by Lizzy Wheelhouse, offloaded to Taylor Ball and a drive down the left, a reverse bunt for Eloise Ward to pick up in front of the goalkeeper and a big roll landed Ipswich the goal.

Horsham retaliated with equalising (1-1). It didn't stop Ipswich from creating more chances through the lines and rewarding the forwards with balls up the wide channels. Unfortunately Ipswich unable to convert, Horsham win a short corner. Ipswich deny the first but not the second. Horsham go 2-1 up at half time.

Second half and Ipswich respond with strong connections from the midfields and the forwards. POTM, Sophie Sexton, battled hard for the ball, dribbling and passing at the right times. An opportunity arises in the middle of the pitch, with Captain, Lucy Dunnett firing a skipping crash ball into the D. Where unmarked, Taylor Ball stole the ball from under the keepers feet, scoring the equaliser. Ipswich were not giving up that easily. 2-2.

More end to end game play saw both teams struggling for that final connection with their highest players. Horsham beat Ipswich to it with the next goal, an unfortunate one with the luck of the whistle on their side, 3-2. Lots of speedy carries from Emma Williamson and feeds from Kat Blake and Ellie Scott allowed Ipswich to get back up the pitch into Horsham’s half. A short corner won by Sexton gave Ipswich a good look in. But even with a re-award, Ipswich couldn’t secure the goal.

Final quarter, Ipswich were caught a couple of times on quick turnovers and counters towards their own goal. Both teams were getting a little more panicked on the ball and out came the green and yellow cards. Horsham and Ipswich both had moments with a player down but neither could capitalise on the advantage. Less than 5 minutes to go and Horsham snuck another favoured, lucky goal in. The game finished 4-2.

Ipswich hung their heads low, gutted with the loss but didn’t get too disheartened. The performance the Ladies 1s put in was strong and echoed the values that coach, Mariette Rix, had asked them to implement.

Roll on the final two games of the season, Guildford and East London are Ipswich’s final battles. Will they come away with the 6 points?

Ladies 2s W2-1

Ladies 3s W4-2

A wet and soggy Saturday saw them away against Framlingham. Felix joined for an inspirational team talk, before having to shoot off to face Felixstowe. The team had clearly taken his talk on board as they started with great intensity and motivation to beat Fram this time around. Minal Patel continued in her fight for women's top goal scorer with two early goals. Fram saw their opportunity when Ipswich’s intensity slacked off, and scored. Megan Palmer then answered this with a half-way line drive to the baseline, somehow scoring an amazing goal at an impossible angle.

A slower second half, Fram fought back and won themselves a short corner which they converted. However, Minal wasn't finished and was determined to secure her hatrick! A great game, with lots of intensity which they will take with them for the top of the table clash next week against Harwich.

Ladies 4s W5-1

Men’s 2s W4-0

Mens 2’s played out a predictably feisty match against Felixstowe 1’s at Tuddenham Road.
Felixstowe started the brighter and only a couple of decent saves from Jez & a stunning goal line clearance from Charlie kept the score goalless. Ipswich soon began to threaten & on 15 minutes Southy drilled home a short corner which deflected off a defender into the net.

Ipswich then picked up the pace & with strong runs from Cian & Seth, the home side pinned Felixstowe in their own half. A great through ball from Pete played in Windy to finish with a low hit swiftly followed by a terrific move for the third. A swift break saw Greg fly down the left wing to cross for Windy who deflected the ball past the stranded goalkeeper.

With the score 3-0 at halftime, the team chat was all about game management which was tested with a Shyam green card & harsh yellow for the otherwise faultless Joe.

However, the result never looked in doubt as Ipswich soaked up any Felixstowe attacks and after good build up play involving most of the outstanding midfield, Pete was left with a simple tap in to make it 4-0.

Men’1s D1-1

The less said the better; it was somewhat ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ following promotion the week before. Mistraps, missed passes, missing heads, missing legs and missing youngsters. Walden’s goal was a somewhat dubious penalty flick with Dykesy ending up with a bruise the size of his head despite being clattered outside the post. Nick Fry was about as happy a canary in a coal mine and who can blame him after this performance. Only Thomas Ward took anything from the day as he got to warm up, hang out with the ‘lads’ and had a trip in Dykes’ van. There was even a suggestion that substituting him on would have made a difference for the better. Cambridge may face a backlash on Saturday.

Men’s 3s L0-3

M3 head to the races. M3 headed to the races to face Newmarket. Let's get the negative out the way first a 3-0 loss.

Now for the positive which will dominate the review. Ipswich played their socks off and dominated the first 15 minutes with excellent passing and communication and teamwork. Every player worked 110% to get back for every break from Newmarket despite having a bare 11 but the luck was on their side with Newmarket making the most of their chances.

Ipswich had multiple chances with a number of shots hitting the post.
It's been a tough few weeks for the team but the bond between the players is very strong and will use the result to act as motivation for summer league and next season. As the smell of deep heat leaves a haze in the post match cooldown/pub Ipswich look forward to the local Derby against IES next weekend.

Men’s 4s W11-0

M4 go crazy at Bury.

Ipswich went to Bury knowing they needed a win to maintain promotion, and the more goals the better.

As a result there are just too many goals to talk through this week, instead we just want to go through a few key highlights.

Firstly, an 11-0 win to Ipswich. A brilliant performance against a very poor and somewhat aged Bury team, but you still have to pass the ball and hit the back of the net. The team’s persistence, and determination to play decent hockey and grab the goals was great to watch. Superb effort by all.

Secondly - Jake Shelley on the scoresheet!! It’s been coming and what a beauty it was. A shot in the D from the left deflected and rose high to the right post/corner of the goal. Jake reacted first to bring the ball down swiftly and smack it home with the reverse of his stick before anyone could do anything about it. Well pleased for him. Great goal.

Thirdly - Tom Offord got his first league hockey hattrick, nice work Tom. The best of the 3 was a rocket shot from the right into the far left side of the net. Keeper, no chance!

Lastly - thanks to Flet and Chris Palmer for helping out, Fraser for the clean sheet, and Ian Taylor for tireless running on the wing. The ball was getting hammered out to him time after time and he put in a non stop excellent performance.

The 4s have two games left, both at home. Next weeks it’s Cranes!

Stats

- Played 169, Won 104, Drawn 20, Lost 45
- Win Rate 60%
- Goals For 510, Goals Against 285, Goal difference 225
- Best men’s defence – the 4s (GPG)
- Best men’s attack – the 1s (GPG)
- Best ladies defence – the 3s (GPG)
- Best ladies attack – the 3s (GPG)

Team Av. GF Av. GA Win Ratio

L1 1.9 2.19 38%
L2 3.0 1.00 64%
L3 4.1 0.94 83%
L4 1.9 2.17 44%
L5 1.9 4.00 33%
M1 4.5 1.00 85%
M2 3.8 1.00 75%
M3 2.8 2.61 56%
M4 2.9 0.68 68%

Golden Stick – Men’s

Craig Wiid 25
Will Chrystal 18
Wardy 15
Windy 17
Fred Weller 12
Pete Glading 11
Matt Lang 10
Ant Harper 10

Golden Stick – Ladies

Chloe Williams 25
Min Patel 18
Eloise Ward 13
Emily Calver 9
Taylor Ball 7
Caitlyn Wright 7
Mariette Rix 6
Beth Scott 6
Chloe Macmillan 5
Nicky Miller 5

Team Form Guide

L1 L W W L L W L L W L W D L W D L
L2 W W W W W D W D W W L W W W W D L W D L L W
L3 W W D W W W W L D W W W W W W W W W
L4 L L L L W W W W D W L D L L W W W
L5 W L W L L L L L W L W D D L L W L W
M1 L W W W W W D W W W W W W W W W W W W D
M2 W W W W L W W W W W L W D L L W W W W W
M3 W L L W W W D L W W W W D L L L W W L
M4 D W L W W W D W W W W D W D W L W W W