IPSWICH WANDERERS v HISTON RESERVES

RIDGEONS PREMIER LEAGUE

SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER 2006

It was a hot and sticky afternoon with the pitch looking in good order, showing the benefit of all the hard work put into it since the end of last season. Manager John Clarkson returned Mark Goldfinch to the lineup, pulled Marc Lowe back to sit in front of the back line, reinstated Ricky Martin and played Rene Swann up front on his own, relegating Dean Tournay-Godfrey to the bench.

In the first minute, Marc Lowe lost the ball to Histon danger man BenSaud inside his half, but Neil Shade was on hand to tidy up. Wanderers spent the first 5 mins trapped in their own half, unable to get out due to the Histon offside trap, but the visitors never really threatened Jamie Stannard's goal. Then, Rene Swann broke through the offside trap, reached the by line and pulled the ball back for Lee Owen, whose shot was charged down.

The Wanderers midfield had found a way to deal with Histon’s offside tactics and Rene Swann was finding plenty of room behind their back line. On 10 mins he won a physical tussle with Hipperson but sent his shot skyward. Then, 2 mins later, he beat the same defender and Davies punched out his shot to Lee Owen whose shot was deflected for a corner.

On 16 mins, Rene Swann got the better of Webster and, again, Davies was equal to his shot, but Danny Smy’s effort from the rebound looked a certain goal until Webster somehow got in the way.

By the half hour, Wanderers had established a dominance in midfield, restricting Histon to only a few attacking moves but, with only Rene Swann up front, the slightly suspect looking Histon defence was not being put under a lot of pressure. A lengthy delay ensued following a clash between Danny Smy and Patterson, with the latter falling awkwardly and having to be stretchered off. Matthew Cunningham went down, requiring an amount of treatment, under a challenge from Steele, but was able to continue. Turner tripped Danny Smy as he raced into the area but the resultant free kick was cleared as Wanderers mounted attack after attack. This pressure eventually paid off in added time (the 39th minute if you account for injury stoppages) when Ricky Martin and Lee Owen combining well down the left.

It was the Wanderers no. 11’s determination to win the ball and cross that gave Lee Owen the opportunity to shoot from the edge of the ‘D’, beyond Davies and into the net.

With 9 mins of added time to play, Wanderers continued to pull the Histon defence to pieces with Davies saving from Danny Smy’s snap shot the highlight. The half ended with Jamie Stannard called into action in spectacular fashion as he dived to cut out Turner’s stinging cross come shot and then watched as Flack’s shot was blocked by BenSaud on the 6yd line.

Ipswich Wanderers 1 Histon Reserves 0

Early on in the second half, Neil Shade ventured up field and set up an interchange between Lee Owen and Danny Smy which gave the latter a chance to shoot but it went wide of the far port. Histon had replaced Steele, the strong centre forward, at half time and their front line was now looking a bit depleted. On 56 mins, Rene Swann had the best chance of the game as he did all the hard work in shaking off his markers and rounding Davies to be presented with an open goal but his sidefooted shot brushed the wrong side of the post. This would have killed off the game but Histon saw that they had a chance to get back into the game and redoubled their efforts in attack. On 64 mins a Histon free kick was hit straight into the wall but the lofted cross from the rebound was gathered by Jamie Stannard who was fouled as he jumped.

Then Turner brought a save from the Wanderers ‘keeper as Histon continued to press forward.

On 70 mins a Lee Owen corner was headed goalward by Simon Hyde, cleared off the line by Mintus and Rene Swann’s follow up header was tipped over the bar by Davies. From the next corner, Histon cleared upfield quickly and Flack’s pace took him past Mark Goldfinch and Neil Shade but his shot went just wide. The game was becoming more end to end with each side desperate to get the next goal and Jamie Stannard had to react quickly to race to the edge of his area to clear from the feet of BenSaud. Then, on 76 mins, Simon Hyde popped up with a spectacular shot from all of 35yds which flew into the top corner past a surprised Davies.

With the game won, Wanderers relaxed slightly to allow Histon further chances but, with more added time for injuries, there was still time left in the game. Jamie Stannard claimed a high ball, lofted forward by Flack, but his clearance kick hit the back of a retreating Mintus and rebounded over the goal line, worryingly close to the foot of the post.

As a final demonstration of team work, Ben Miller, Matthew Cunningham, Lee Owen and then Dean Tournay-Godfrey with a shot, combined down the left in a display of one touch passing football to give Wanderers a well deserved clean sheet and 3 points.

1 Jamie Stannard

2 Neil Shade (c)

3 Sean Bell

4 Mark Goldfinch

5 Matthew Cunningham

6 Daniel Smy (sub 88)

7 Simon Hyde

8 Marc Lowe

9 Rene Swann (sub 78)

10 Lee Owen

11 Ricky Martin (sub 80)

12 Ben Miller (sub 80)

14 Terry Layton (sub 88)

15 Lee Smith

16 Dean Tournay-Godfrey (sub 78)

17 Keith Hetherington

Goals: Owen, Hyde

Bookings: none