Yes, it may be a competition that manager Paul Lambert has scant regard for, but Town’s winning habit continued last night at Portman Road, against a young Spurs side who were out-fought and out-thought for long segments of the game.
There were nine changes to the team that defeated Shrewsbury Town in a League One match last Saturday but our squad is so strong these days that we still managed to dominate affairs. The Leasing.com Trophy is hardly a tournament that inspires much enthusiasm, and yet the small crowd at home last night bore witness to another win and perhaps, more importantly, another entertaining performance from the Blues.
The only two survivors from our last encounter were Myles Kenlock and Luke Woolfenden at the back, and there was a nice mix of youth and experience on the team sheet. It was great to see both Jon Nolan and Emyr Huws play the full ninety minutes and they gave our midfield an added creative dimension.
The standout player, however, was little known Armando Dobra who was excellent throughout and he was responsible for finally putting Jordan Roberts on the scoresheet, after a number of missed chances in the first half. The young Albanian’s guile and intelligence on the ball was a constant nightmare for the young Spurs team, and I am quite sure that the London club’s scouts will have sat up and taken note!
Ipswich fell behind totally against the run of play early on but this did not deter the Blues from continuing with attacking intent and in the second half a brace from Roberts ensured that the Tractor Boys would be triumphant. A horrendous Enock Asante miss in injury time could have taken the game to penalties but it would have been an injustice given the Blues complete dominance.
Ipswich Town: Norris, Woolfenden, Wilson, Kenlock, Donacien, Huws, Nolan (captain), El Mizouni, Dobra, Roberts ( Tyreece Simpson 67 mins). Unused: Wright, Rowe, Downes, Vincent-Young, Ndaba, Clements.
Tottenham Under 21’s: Whiteman, Eyoma (captain), Oakley-Booth (Patterson 69 mins), Tracey, White (Asante 87 mins), Hinds, Lyons-Foster, Markanday, Shashoua, Richards, Okedina. Unused: De Bie, Dinzeyi, Patterson, Clarke, Thorpe.
The Referee: Craig Hicks ( from Surrey). Attendance: 5,377
(Spurs fans at Portman Road: 283).
