Ipswich Town beat Arsenal U21s 2-0 in the Papa John's Trophy last night. STUART WATSON reflects on the action.

YOUNG GUNS

This was, literally, men against boys.

Just like in the group opener against Northampton (a 6-0 win), Blues boss Kieran McKenna rotated but was still able to name a strong senior XI.

Seven of his 10 outfield players had Championship experience.

Arsenal, by contrast, had just one player with Football League experience in the form of captain Matt Smith (he's had loan spells at Swindon, Charlton and Doncaster).

At 21 years of age he was the elder statesman in Mehmet Ali's squad. Every other outfielder was aged between 16 and 19.

Mind you, there was a similar contrast back in September 2020 and December 2021 - and both times the young Gunners left Portman Road victorious in this competition.

This time, however, Town got the job done in a fuss free manner.

FREDDIE AND THE CROWD

Freddie Ladapo was the man a 5,236-strong crowd away from Portman Road talking about.

The summer signing from Rotherham had a strange old night in between his early assist and late goal.

He was part of a slick move which led to an early corner. He then flicked on Leif Davis' subsequent dead ball delivery for Dominic Ball to ram home the opener. Great stuff.

In the sixth minute he couldn't quite power away from Taylor Foran one-v-one and was tackled. No big deal.

In the 26th minute he produced a fine cushioned header in the box which led to Conor Chaplin's thumping effort being blocked. Nice.

But then, either side of half-time, frustrations grew.


In the 35th minute he ran onto a Kyle Edwards pass but didn't really get hold of a difficult near post chance. Then, in the 41st minute, he worked himself space on the edge of the box but his low shot, which lacked conviction, was comfortably saved.


After the restart, Davis' shot inside the box stung the hands of keeper Hubert Graczyk and Ladapo headed the rebound over to the sound of groans. Let's have it right, Davis' initial chance was far more gilt-edged. The ball had come back to Ladapo fast and at an awkward height. But now you sensed the chatter in the stands was centred around a misfiring number nine.

Within seconds, that narrative was solidified when Ladapo dragged wide inside the box. That one, undoubtedly, had been a good opening. He knew it and reacted by repeatedly slapping palm against forehead.

What followed was hard to interpret. Ladapo's name was chanted, to various tunes, repeatedly by fans in the North Stand. At times it felt like a show of encouragement to the striker. At others, and I might be wrong, it felt patronising and mocking. Asking for him to 'give us a wave' during the game certainly wasn't very helpful.

So full credit to the 29-year-old for keeping his head. He kept making good runs in behind. He showed strength and footwork when almost combining with Tyreece John-Jules. And he showed great desire to get on the end of a sweeping Kayden Jackson cross on the stretch.

The reward eventually came in the 85th minute. With everything that had gone on, it would have been easy for Ladapo to over-think when racing clear. Instead, he coolly slid a low shot past the on-rushing keeper.

For me, he did more good than bad in this game. I'd say the same when summarising his nine goalless appearances in the league too.


WHO TOOK THEIR CHANCE?

Dominic Ball, like Ladapo, ended the game with a goal and assist.

The midfielder showed good movement and composure for the opener (Ipswich score at a set-piece klaxon). And his through ball for the second was perfectly-weighted.

He was tenacious throughout and executed the simple things with focus. Sam Morsy and Lee Evans may have the central midfield slots nailed down at the moment, but Ball is undoubtedly going to have an important role to play at some point.

The same can be said of Richard Keogh, who read the game expertly to nullify Arsenal's pacey attack. One fine clearance from under the bar exemplified that.

Teenage midfielder Cameron Humphreys, again, looked very much at home in senior football.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see who gets the nod to take Wes Burns' place in the team at Plymouth on Sunday while the Welshman is away on international duty.

Kyle Edwards played that right wing role, with Kane Vincent-Young in support from right-back. Both were direct and energetic. Some things they tried came off, other things didn't. It might be that Kayden Jackson is ahead of both for that role. We'll see.


SLICE OF LUCK

It seems that Ipswich are getting their slices of luck in the Papa John's Trophy.

Marcus Harness had a perfectly legitimate goal against Barnsley disallowed for a 'foul' in August. A few days later he got away with climbing over the top of a defender to open the scoring against Northampton in this competition.

Last weekend, Sheffield Wednesday's late equaliser against Town looked very much like it should have been disallowed for offside. A few days later and Ladapo's clincher looked a tight offside call that went in Town's favour.

I'm all for riding that good fortune all the way to Wembley. But some big calls going the Blues' way in the league wouldn't go amiss either.


ALMOST THERE

Town now have one foot in the knockout stages of this competition.

McKenna's men top the group with six points from six. Avoid defeat at Cambridge United on October 18 and the Blues progress to the last 32.

All attentions now turn to two massive league games against Plymouth (a) and Portsmouth (h), of course.

This competition could be a nice little distraction from promotion pressure along the way though. With the squad's depth, there's every reason to believe it can aid momentum rather than derail it.