East Division One

Ipswich and East Suffolk 1st XI - 4
Brentwood 1st XI - 1

Looking to continue their winning ways, Brentwood headed to Ipswich, expecting a tough game from the team placed second in the league.

The game started evenly, with Brentwood desperate not to concede early goals and have to chase the game as in previous weeks. However Brentwood soon found themselves on the back foot, as the Ipswich Australian oversees player, who was as sharp as darts, was constantly causing havoc for the defence, calling on Goakeepr Ian Malone to pull off some fine saves to keep the scores level. Brentwood created several half-chances up-front, although were unable to convert these into goals, with clinical finishing lacking from the side. Brentwood were soon made to pay for this, as Ipswich won a penalty corner and duly converted it with a slick routine. Minutes passed and it seemed as though it was the story of previous weeks, as Brentwood leaked two more goals, whilst they themselves were as dry as a bag of peanuts in that department, as Nic Hull came close but was denied by a sprawling keeper diving low to his right. With time running out, Brentwood composed themselves and began putting nice passes together and competing much more. They were rewarded as James Duggan, who is more dangerous in front of goal than a knife in a plug socket, received the ball from Ian Forbes, before rolling around the keeper and lifting the ball into the back of the net. The half ended, leaving Brentwood with a hefty, but not impossible deficit to overturn.

Spurred on by a rousing team-talk from Captain Simon Teale, Brentwood hit the field with a white-line fever, pressing the Ipswich defence aggressively. Brentwood turned over lots of ball in the Ipswich half, although poor decision-making and wayward shots prevented them from getting an early goal. Ipswich were very fast on the counter-attack and looked threatening when they got the ball, although a determined Brentwood defence managed to keep them out, with Stuart Piper and Adrian Guilder making key clearances off the Brentwood goal line. Finally however, the Brentwood defence were undone, as a long ball found an unmarked man on the side of the circle, who slotted it past Malone in goal. The game ended disappointingly 4-1 in Ipswich's favour, with Brentwood never really finding their rhythm, although will look to bounce back strongly next week at Becket Keys School, 2pm push back.