East Men’s League

Division 3NE

FOLLOWING last week’s fightback from two goals down to secure a 3-3 draw, Ipswich Cranes continued their resurgence of form with a morale-boosting first victory of 2011.

The visiting side of Bury St Edmunds were looking for revenge after Ipswich Cranes bagged a last minute winner at their place back in October.

Both teams had to keep warm before the start due to a delayed push back following technical difficulties and it was the home team that kicked into gear first, dominating the early possession with some fluid movement from the back.

This led to some early chances for Ipswich Cranes as their forward line took advantage of some suspect defending.

After a series of decent opportunities from open play, it seemed only a matter of time until Ipswich Cranes would score and indeed, it was their captain, Andrew Bristow, who led from the front, taking a quick sideline ball to catch the visitors unaware.

He ghosted into the D from the right flank before crossing for Burden, whose shot was well saved by the Bury keeper, only for the in-form Muchal to dispatch the rebound.

Soon after taking the lead, Ipswich Cranes converted a short corner with a cleverly placed flick from Andrew McManus, who had another outstanding game, partnering the industrious Wade at the back.

With a two-goal advantage at half-time, the home side were not about to become complacent and picked up the second half from where they had left off, creating more opportunities to score and restricting Bury to only a couple of half-chances at the other end.

Craig Bloomfield thought he’d made it 3-0 when he followed up from a short corner but the umpire had spotted a questionable infringement prior to this, so the goal was disallowed.

It was not long though before Cranes wrapped things up with the 3rd goal – Bristow pouncing on a loose ball to slot past the keeper from a tight angle.

With Spring just around the corner, Ipswich Cranes look to be on a roll.

Man of the match: Andrew Wade