An own goal from Colchester’s Magnus Okuonghae and a cool Jordan Rhodes finish gave Ipswich a 2-0 win over their A12 rivals in Fabian Wilnis’ testimonial.
After a goalless and drab first half, Town moved up a gear or two in the second half but were still well below their best for the second time in a week, having been slightly underwhelming against Southend on Wednesday.
Roy Keane’s preferred formation looks to be a 4-5-1/4-3-3, something that the fans got in Jim’s back for. It was the first time that I had got to see Ipswich in pre-season and for £15 a ticket, I expected a lot more. Yes, it was only a friendly and these sort of games are more about raising fitness and testing out players, but the Blues really need to improve when the season starts against Coventry.
Richard Wright started in goal and had very little to do, but did make one fine save with his feet when the U’s – backed by a fairly large following (well, it is their cup final) – probably should have gone ahead. David Perkins eventually nodded the ball over after one heck of a goalmouth scramble. It was new left-back Damien Delaney’s fault, as he let in one of their players down the Town left.
The signing from QPR looked edgy, reluctant to run at players, and letting the ball slip under his foot in the first minutes did not help his confidence. That sort of mistake would have earned you a lap of the pitch in school!
Pim and Gareth McAuley were winning everything in the air, they looked very comfortable as a centre back pairing. Alex Bruce on the right was as solid as Roy Keane in his playing days.
Liam Trotter comfortably controlled the midfield and was not afraid to use his powerful figure to roam about in the centre of the park. He was tidy on the ball and performances like that will earn him a regular place in the side.
Lee Martin made his home debut on the left of the front three but for all his trickery, he couldn’t find a way past the Col Who back line. He and Jonny Walters switched from right to left and left to right throughout the first 45, but had little success.
Their was very little hoof ball from Town in the first 45, their passing was pleasing on the eye but the lack of end product was slightly worrying. After a couple of changes in the Blues side as the second half started, the gulf in class between the two sides started to tell and it was Ipswich that grabbed the first goal. Sub David Wright’s cross was headed in by U’s defender (number 15) Magnus O, any striker would have been proud of such a bullet header, but just what was he doing!?
Jordan Rhodes grabbed Ipswich’s second just seconds after coming off the bench. Connor Wickham played a great through ball, Rhodes was as cool as a cucumber and slid the ball past the Col U keeper. 2-0 and game over, which meant Fabian had one last run out in the famous Blue shirt.
The Dutchman kicked off the game to celebrate his 10 years at the club, and was played at right back for the final quarter of an hour. Although he didn’t have too much to do, he still managed to entertain the crowd with one of his massive step over’s.
All in all, a nice end to Fabian’s career but still plenty of work to be done ahead of the new season.
Town side: Richard Wright, Bruce, McAuley, Balkestein (David Wright), Delaney (Wilnis), Walters (Rhodes), Norris (Healy), Trotter (Shumulikoski), Garvan, Martin (Peters) and Stead (Wickham).
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