Just Back v Ipswich

silverlion

Well-known member
Staff member
A well contested game of two halves where the first was ours but the second was definitely theirs.

Clearly experimentation is not over yet as Leonard started at RWB, Shack made a start in CM and Flem played up front. We had the better of the opening exchanges with Molly looking lively on the left, Benik looking sharp upfront and Honeyman taking no prisoners in the middle. There was some good forward movement and an early chance for Molly which ran away from him and a similar chance for Benik. It was not long before we had our noses in front. They tried to play it out from the back but a telegraphed pass was intercepted by Benik who knocked it forward into space and slotted it home from 12 yards. The keeper had no chance. They kept plugging away but created very little although they played neat possession football. A decent flicked header went wide of the far post and another chance where their attacker cut in from the left and his shot had Bart scrambling but it went wide of the post. The half ended with us just in front.
The second half started well for us with some good forward movement and a chnance or two that never really tested their keeper. There was a drinks break on the hour and we made six subs. Off went Cooper, Billy,Murray, Honeyman, Shack and Benik and on came Danny, Cresswell, Bennett, Bradshaw, Sav and Evans. They made subs too and then the game changed. They played joined up football with short passes and we hit long balls to Bradshaw which were useless. Bennett did put in a couple of aggressive tackles which won us the ball but little came of it. They sensed their chance could come and pressed forward with threat. Their Morsy drove them on and their 23 got more involved and more creative. Some quality near post corners had us at sixes and sevens but we kept them out. We took off Molly and Flem and brought on Topalloj and Burey. It made little difference. We did see a great interception from Leonard who drove forward but his touch let him down and the chance was lost. They nearly nicked it at the death. The 23 drove forward and hit a rasping shot from just outside the box. Bart got a hand to it and knocked it onto the bar, it came down behind him and he gathered it before it crossed the line.

Bart had a decent game and got a warm reception from the Ipswich fans behind his goal at the beginning of the second half. Leonard was OK at RB and similar at CB whereas Hutch was solid and Cooper similar except for one blip. Murray was yet again Mr Dependable. Molly had a decent start but faded a little in the second half. Billy was busy and Shack had two or three clever touches but MOM was just shaded by Honeyman who ran, tackled and hustled all at the same time. Flem had some moments and Benik took his goal well. Danny looked the part, Cresswell less so, Sav ran hard, Bennett was aggressive, Bradshaw had poor service and Evans did little to impress. The same could be said of Burey who watched the ball sail over his head most of the time and Topalloj was adequate. In my mind there are several who should be nailed on to start next week but the jury is still out on two or three.
I did see TT and Zac before the game and I can recommend their YouTube channel “The Drive Home” for some honest and accurate post match analysis. Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet.
 
This game to me proved that we are a forward short , we scored from a defenders mistake but cannot really remember their goalie tested before or after that and really they deserved to win in the second half ,I know it's still pre season but some of our passing or attempted passing was dire , no penetration up front all.game and our free kicks & 1 corner were predictable , need a really big improvement next week which I hope we can find
 
Thanks Silver. Always appreciate your efforts.Couldn't make it today
. From your report I'm even more convinced that Bradshaw and Abojo badly need a play maker just behind them to feed the hall through.
 
This is us, this was us last year bar a few games and I don't see much improvement. Come next Saturday and we will see if we are worthy challengers or also rans. IMHO.
 
Apologies as I made no mention of their goal. There was an element of good fortune with a tackle which ricocheted to Ladapo who was free on the edge of the box and he slotted it home. He had another decent chance a few minutes later with a spin in the box but Murray made a good block. They also gave it large about ‘the championship…you’re having a laugh’ but they did have a point that we were not at our best!
 
This game to me proved that we are a forward short , we scored from a defenders mistake but cannot really remember their goalie tested before or after that and really they deserved to win in the second half ,I know it's still pre season but some of our passing or attempted passing was dire , no penetration up front all.game and our free kicks & 1 corner were predictable , need a really big improvement next week which I hope we can find
It’s more about the poor service to our forwards than who is playing up front. The whole preseason has seen little structure to our play. Another forward will not help if they don’t get the ball.
 
It’s more about the poor service to our forwards than who is playing up front. The whole preseason has seen little structure to our play. Another forward will not help if they don’t get the ball.
If we sacrificed a central defender and played an extra midfielder it might help address this. A bit more width higher up the pitch may also help getting balls into the danger areas quicker.