Needham Market's third friendly ended in defeat to a good Ipswich Town U21s side on Tuesday night.
Joe Neal's fifth goal in three matches gave the Reds a half-time lead, with the lead standing until two late quickfire goals from the young Blues turned the game on it's head against ten men.
Leon Elliott saw a second minute left wing cross well held by James Bradbrook at his near post, while Town fired a shot over soon after.
At the other end, Tommy Smith picked out Joe Neal with a great left wing cross to the far post although the forward's header went just over on 6 minutes.
Ashton Boswell meanwhile drove into space but fired his low shot wide of the bottom right-hand corner eleven minutes later as Town enjoyed more of the early possession though both teams looked bright going forward.
Ash Boatswain then saw a 21st minute low shot from the left-hand edge of the box well held by Bradbrook, while Needham released Joe Neal through inside the box who held up possession well to find Myles Cowling whose shot was blocked.
Ollie Saunders meanwhile clipped a great ball across the face of goal that was headed behind for a corner just ahead of Ryan Miles on 23 minutes, which saw the latter wrap a low shot narrowly wide.
Josh Pitts however curled a dangerous free-kick narrowly wide of the top near, left-hand, corner on the half-hour mark, before Needham broke the deadlock a minute later.
Joe Neal added his fifth goal in three games as Henry Gray gave possession straight to him on the penalty spot to open space to net into an empty net.
Boswell's left wing 37th minute corner found Walker Shabazz-Edwards at the far post but his dangerous headed was blocked behind by Jake Dye.
Town however fired a 30-yard free-kick over at the end of the first half as Needham led at the break.
Great link up play and one two between Joe Neal and Myles Cowling almost released the latter through on goal but was intercepted before he could drive towards goal on 49 minutes.
Needham however started the second half the brighter, Kyle Hammond though struck a 30-yard free-kick over the crossbar in the 56th minute, while James Bradbrook narrowed the angle brilliantly to deny Town at point blank range on 62 minutes with Tommy Taylor's lay off seeing Boatswain denied at close range.
Dan Morphew was soon a second yellow card soon after, while Josh Pitts was fed through inside the box but saw his low fierce shot well held by Bradbrook on 70 minutes.
Town enjoyed more of the possession as the half progressed, though the game remained fast paced and an entertaining contest, even with both sides having made a bunch of substitutions.
Tommy Taylor however equalised on 83 minutes, the attacking midfielder received possession in space to fire in off the inside of the bottom right-hand post.
Two minutes later, Jamie Mauge then met a left wing cross to head home into the far post at close range.
Pitts then weaved into space but saw a low shot comfortably held by Bradbrook on 87 minutes, while Town saw a rasping 90th minute strike well held by Bradbrook at head height.
Needham host Aveley on Saturday (3pm).
Needham:- 1 Bradders, 4 Hammond, 2 Dye (HT' 5 Trialist MT), 6 Dan (c), 3 Tommy, 12 Hunter (60' 18 Eddie Barker), 8 Saunders (82' 19 Brad Smith), 15 Cowling (60' 17 James Coton), 11 Miles (60' 14 Jamie McGrath), 10 Neal (60' 9 Seth Chambers), 7 Lambe (73' 18 Olly Reynolds).
Town:- 31 Henry Gray (HT' 1 Woody Williamson), 2 Dan Babb, 3 Leon Elliott (66' 19 Josh Lewis), 4 Trialist A (66' 14 Fraser Heard), 5 Shabazz Walker-Edwards (66' 12 Corbin Mthunzi), 6 Steven Turner, 7 Ashton Boswell (66' 17 Nico Valentine), 8 Trialist B (66' 15 Abs Onuchukwu), 9 Ash Boatswain (66' 16 Jamie Mauge), 10 Tommy Taylor (c), 11 Josh Pitts.
Goals: Joe Neal (31'); Tommy Taylor (83'), Jamie Mauge (85').
REACTION | Tom Rothery | Needham Market v Ipswich Town U21 | Post Match Interview | 22.07.2025 |
DK: Despite the result, another good pre-season friendly in the bag?
TR: Yeah, I thought it was a really good workout. Lots of positives up until whenever the red card was the 60-65, not sure when that was. 62, yeah, so up until that point really positive. I thought after that there were still positives, as in how we tried to contain, but as a spectacle from our perspective, we didn't get much out of it then other than trying to contain, obviously. So, yeah, there is frustration, but the first 62 minutes especially and the game in general still has proved to be a good exercise for us from the point of view of they were good, they moved the ball really well, they made it difficult for us and I thought, like I said, for the first hour we were good and we managed that really well and then obviously when we go down to ten it makes it very difficult and you then kind of, it's very difficult then to build anything and try and build anything, so that then kind of ruins that side of it for us. So, yeah, frustrating really from that perspective, but overall a good workout.
DK: Yeah, it was a very fast-paced game and it was quite open in terms of possession, but it was kind of tight in terms of chances created?
TR: Yeah, there weren't many until the red card, I can't think of a chance they had to be honest, but yeah, I thought they were good, they moved the ball really well, they were energetic and off the back of that we then had to make decisions around when to press, when not to press and obviously how we then moved the ball as well and when to play forward, etc, etc. So, like I said, it was a really good workout and yeah, really, there are positives, quite a few positives, but you kind of come out of it with a bit of a negative feeling, like I said, just because of the red card and the implications that could then have onto the start of the season and also, like I said, you end up spending the last half hour just obviously trying to defend against the 11 men.
DK: Yeah, it was fine margins even with the red card, but I think you could probably say a draw would have been fair?
TR: Yeah, I thought it's very difficult, isn't it, in pre-season, that's why, look, it's good to get results, it's good to build momentum, but the reality is the results aren't the be-all and end-all and I think in general, up until, I don't know when they scored the first goal, around the 80th minute, was it? Yeah, so look, once you start making, you're making seven changes, you wouldn't do that in a league game and then it becomes a little bit false and like I said, when you're down to 10 men as well, so look, that's kind of then rising to that result, isn't it? They get their tails up after the first goal and then score a second goal very quickly after, so that's fair play to them. Like I said, I thought they were good, probably pleased with what they got out of it and like I said, I'm pleased with what we got out of it up until the red card. I just think the red card's unnecessary and I just think it's a little bit, I just think it's over-fussy really, if I'm honest, but that was kind of the story of the night.
DK: But even with the changes, other than the two goals, do you think we still defended okay?
TR: Yeah, I thought we did. By and large, I thought Hammo and Tommy were good throughout. Obviously, it's difficult for the trialist and Oli then coming on as well, so look, like I said, it just makes it difficult, doesn't it? Because you're defending against 11 men for the trialist and Oli, they're defending against good players with players they don't necessarily know that well. They don't know their games that well and then you're bringing on Brad and James from the reserves into it as well and that just makes it very tough for them, doesn't it, when they're playing against 11 men. So that's the frustration really. I intentionally made the changes late tonight because we've got a few away Saturday, so I know people are going to have to do more minutes on Saturday. So I've tried to get the lads that aren't here Saturday to get more minutes tonight and then the lads that are here Saturday get less minutes tonight and what they've ended up doing is coming on late in the game and defending against 10 men and the reserves have come on when we've got 10 men and it just makes it very difficult for them players that are coming on. The seven subs that are coming on are coming on trying to fight fires rather than actually trying to impress really, so I feel sympathy for them really, if I'm honest.
DK: It was Ryan's debut in red, he put on a good performance?
TR: Yeah, like I said, look, so Ryan was subbed when he just scored the first goal along with I made four changes, didn't I? Was that just before the red card, the four changes? I think it was, wasn't it? I can't remember now. So he was one of the four changes that I made and I think that happened before the red card, didn't it, if I remember right? I think I did it on 60 and then like you said the red card was shortly after. So yeah, like I said, there was lots of positives. I thought Ryan was positive. I thought Ollie Saunders had a really good game in the centre of the pitch. I thought Hammo was outstanding at full-back. Tommy was solid as usual. Joe Neal was excellent again. Mylo was excellent. So there were lots of positives but like I said, you come away with a little bit of negative feel because of the last half an hour and like I said, it's also frustrating because players who want to then come on and impress haven't really had that opportunity to do because of the circumstances.
DK: Yeah, and speaking of Joe, five goals in three games, even if it's pre-season, that's still good.
TR: Yeah, it's brilliant. It's good for him, it's good for the team and like I said the other night, he's just a good player. So we're not surprised at what he's doing but I think what he's also doing is, you can see from his work ethic, he's superb. He's closing people down, he's hunting and we're defending from the front and that's obviously hugely important if we want to be successful and it's also important that when we then do get the ball forward that one, he can look after it and two, he knows where the back of the net is, where the old onion bag is and he definitely knows that side. Yeah, it's been a really positive start for him.
DK: Next up is Averley on Saturday, and I know you said we've got a few players missing but that should still be a very good test.
TR: It'll definitely be a test. They're the same as us, they've come down from step two obviously. New manager and obviously they've rebuilt. They look strong on paper from what I've seen of who, well I know who they've signed so they look very strong and yeah, it'll be another good test, but like I said, pre-season's about trying to build momentum and get results but that isn't the be all and end all. Obviously I always want to win games and I always want to build momentum but it's also important that you understand there are going to be players away. You're going to get decisions like we did tonight, that may happen in the season as well, and you have to deal with all those ups and downs. Like I said, Saturday we've got four away so obviously we are going to be lighter than we would want to be. That might be five away as well so that takes us down to a little bit shorter but we'll call up the reserves and we'll go as strong as we can and try and get another good workout out of it and I'm sure we will.
No comments:
Post a Comment