Ipswich Town Res 1 Charlton Athletic Res 2A CONFIDENCE-boosting goal for Dean Bowditch was not enough to salvage anything out of their last Premier Reserve League (South) game at Portman Road.

By Derek Davis

Ipswich Town Res 1 Charlton Athletic Res 2

A CONFIDENCE-boosting goal for Dean Bowditch was not enough to salvage anything out of their last Premier Reserve League (South) game at Portman Road.

Charlton went ahead after six minutes when Gonzalo Sorondo took advantage of some poor defending to head in a Lloyd Sam corner.

The Addicks enjoyed a good spell of possession, but Town slowly clawed their way back into the game with sharp attacking play and equalised in the 28th minute.

The goal came from the persistence of Danny Haynes who got the better of young international defender Sorondo before laying the ball on a plate for Dean Bowditch to mark his return from a loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers with a simple finish.

Bowditch went close with a 25-yard drive, while Liam Trotter had a pile-driver deflected across goal for a corner.

Academy defender Luke Webster saved a certain goal with a block to deny Sam six yards out after good work from Premiership striker Jay Bothroyd.

The Londoners went back in front on the stroke of half-time when Alex Varney somehow squeezed the ball in after a scramble to beat Chris Casement and Lewis Price's despairing dive.

With speedsters Dean McDonald and Jamie Peters playing wide, Town had plenty of flair, but little end product.

McDonald has been attracting interest from lower division clubs after it was announced he will not be offered a new contract in the summer and already Blackpool and Bradford City have made preliminary enquiries about taking him.

The Blues enjoyed most of the second half play, but rarely tested Darren Randolph in the Charlton goal.

Bothroyd tried his luck with a 25-yard free kick, but Price was comfortably behind it in a rare moment of action for him.

This was the last home reserve game of the campaign and the last time fans will see the second string at Portman Road.

Ipswich are dropping out of the Premier Reserve League for next season and so are most likely to be playing at Bent Lane in the future. They could also appear at a selection of non-league grounds as they take the second string into the community.

The Academy side has a game scheduled for Portman Road on May 1, with Manchester United due to be the opponents in a special open day match.

Ipswich Town Res: Price, Casement, Webster, Skard, Mitchell, Krause, Peters (Leabon, 75) Trotter, Bowditch, McDonald (Knights, 75) Haynes. Subs not used: Fenn, Petursson.

Charlton Athletic Res: Randolph, Sankofa, Youga (Ashton, 72) El Karkouri, Sorondo, Fortune, Sam (John, 80) Gislason, Bothroyd, Varney, Wright (Weston, 72) Subs not used: Basey, Woolley.

Referee: S Beck. Attendance: 579.