junior colts

Ipswich surprisingly managed to have more than just the one squad member on the bench this week, unlike the last two outings. Perhaps the numeric count of 19 players was somewhat misleading as at least three of the squad were still nursing injuries from previous matches. Bury arrived with an even more depleted team than we are used to putting out ourselves, they totalled a mere 12, but were determined to beat Ipswich regardless and would not entertain the option of a forfeit.

Their confidence didn’t prove to be misplaced as Bury put Ipswich under immediate pressure from the first whistle. But determined tackling held Bury off – one of the significant improvements from last week. The high wind coupled with exuberant kicking resulted in at least two match balls being lost beyond the club boundary – keeping Sam Goodwin’s older brother rather busy who was running the line and retrieving balls from trees and neighbouring gardens.

Bury’s first try came from a drive off a lineout (or was it a scrum, I’ll have to watch the video to confirm) (0-5). The conversion was well struck through the middle of the posts from a difficult angle with a strong wind (0-7).

Ipswich continued to be put under pressure for the next 15 minutes but increasingly started to threaten the Bury 22 line without threatening the try line though. Bury were always quickest to the breakdowns and showed more determination. On 25 minutes Ipswich won a penalty on Bury’s 22 directly in front of the posts. Ipswich wisely elected to go for points, Aidan Tynan struck the ball well to register Ipswich’s first points. (3-7)

There then followed a period of fairly even play in the middle of the pitch with both teams threatening to break through without getting close to the try line.

35 minutes into the game Bury kicked a penalty into touch close to the Ipswich try line. Having won the line out they drove the Ipswich defence over the try line to score (3-12). The high wind conspired against Bury and the conversion dropped short of the posts.

Half Time 3-12.

One of the rucks resulted in an injury to Kyle Hedges and for the second week running an Ipswich player was taken in an ambulance with a neck injury. This was subsequently confirmed not to be as bad as feared, bruising to all his neck muscles with the swelling expected to last 3 to 4 days. Although Kyle is no stranger to the local A&E department, it’s normally his knee that takes him there. We wish Kyle as speedy a recovery as Henry’s last week who came on as a substitute in the second half.

The play moved onto the adjoining pitch while Kyle was attended by paramedics.

Perhaps the familiar surroundings of our normal training pitch had an effect on the Ipswich players or perhaps the Bury players tiring but Ipswich started to win more balls at breakdowns. Ipswich became more adventurous resulting in captain Josh Cowey running through the middle to score Ipswich’s first try (8-12). The try was converted by Aidan Tynan (10-12).

Ipswich started to dominate in this period with a number of runs by Ben Grimwood, Tom Clift and James Milbourne getting the Ipswich spectators excited. Bury spectators, having been confident for most of the match that their depleted side would overcome superior number, began to sense the tide turning. The second Ipswich try finally came  only minutes before full time when Tom Rice ran the ball from the half way line through the centre to touch down under the posts (15-12). Try was converted by Aidan Tynan (17-12).     

Bury continued to pose a threat with a penalty into touch within the Ipswich 22. However Ipswich held them off and Josh Cowey kicked the ball out to touch after the referee called time to bring the proceedings to an end.

Final Score Ipswich 17 Bury 12.

Had Bury been at full strength there is no doubt the result would have been quite different. They comfortably outplayed Ipswich in the first half. We wish them well for the rest of the season. No doubt they will get an early opportunity to get their revenge when we meet me them in an additional  friendly encounter in two weeks at Bury.

It was promising to see such an improvement in our own team after the retirement of a number of our backs due to study and other sporting commitments – so well done to all the players who have stepped into the breach. Ipswich will need to continue to focus on building a stable back line and further work on tackling as we meet Clacton at HDL on 29^th November.  

Ipswich from: 

Tom Clift, Josh Cowey, Josh Fisher, James Godfrey, Sam Goodwin, Ben Grimwood, Kyle Hedges, Alex Hitter, Henry Lane, Dan Lansley, Joe Legaspi, James Milbourne, Tom O’Reilly, Jorge Pashler, Dan Pratchett, Tom Rice, Vik Sarpal, Sam Tipping, Aidan Tynan