Slazenger Men's EHL South Division Bromley & Beckenham 3 Ipswich 1Two of Bromley & Beckenham's three wins this season have now come against Ipswich after the Suffolk side produced a below-par display against the South East Londoners on Sunday.

Slazenger Men's EHL

South Division

Bromley & Beckenham 3 Ipswich 1

Two of Bromley & Beckenham's three wins this season have now come against Ipswich after the Suffolk side produced a below-par display against the South East Londoners on Sunday.

Keir Dixon came into the squad in place of the injured Olly Woodgate and was unquestionably a star performer in the match, along with 16-year-old Micky Franklin who has England trials this week.

Ipswich started the match well, with Dixon, Messent and Richard Stainthorpe combining to create good opportunities down the right.

However, Bromley & Beckenham looked dangerous moving forward and won a penalty corner in the seventh minute, which was put away by Beau Couldrey.

Ipswich were not soon on level terms thanks to a trademark Keir Dixon penalty corner drag flick in the 19th minute.

In what was slowly turning into an extremely physical encounter, Ipswich had a chance to take the lead at the start of the second half when Ivan Smith's through ball found Richard Stainthorpe just outside the circle, who beat his man but not the goalkeeper.

Seven minutes into the half, Dan Holmes moved Bromley & Beckenham into a 2-1 lead, punishing an unusual error from defender Mark Wheelhouse whose attempted aerial pass was intercepted.

The goal was a massive blow to Ipswich, who lost their both their structure and discipline. Dave Evans soon made matters worse for the visitors when he deflected into the net from a tight angle to give his side a two goal lead with 20 minutes to go.

Despite working hard all over the field, Ipswich never looked likely to get back into the game and began to become frustrated with themselves, the umpires and the opposition players and crowd.

With ten minutes to go, captain Ivan Smith received a yellow card after letting his frustrations get the better of him.

Cice Captain Mark Wrinch said: “That is very irritating, but one consolation is that we are still ahead of them (Bromley & Beckenham) in the league.

“We know that we are the better side, but they have out-performed us on both occasions this season and absolutely deserved the victories.”