Sevenoaks 6 Ipswich 1

Slazenger East Conference

Sevenoaks 6 Ipswich 1

SUNDAY'S match away at high-flying Sevenoaks was always likely to be a tough contest for Ipswich. Having been called off on two previous weekends due to a snow covered pitch, this re-arranged fixture left many Ipswich players unavailable due to family and work commitments, forcing Ipswich to travel with no substitutes.

Sevenoaks were never likely to take sympathy with their opponent's situation, and pressed Ipswich deep in their own half from the first minute. Tim Warrington opened the scoring after just five minutes with a close range tap-in, before grabbing a second two minutes later with a surging run and shot from midfield which found the bottom corner. Ipswich went 3-0 down in controversial circumstances, when an Ipswich free hit on the edge of their own circle was reversed by the umpire and immediately capitalized on by Sevenoaks, who smashed the ball into the circle for Nick McClaren to deflect into the roof of the net.

Ipswich were being outplayed by their opponents, but worked hard with teenagers Jonny Gall, Micky Franklin, Max Underwood and Josh Godfrey all impressing. However, Sevenoaks went into half time with a virtually unassailable 4-0 lead thanks to an open play strike from Adam Fullwood. Four-nil became 5-0 shortly after half time when Neil Smith tapped in from close range, but Josh Godfrey pulled a goal back moments later when he deflected a reverse stick cross from Rich Stainthorpe into the goal to celebrate his 17th birthday in style. Ipswich created several more goal scoring opportunities, but it was Sevenoaks who finished the scoring when Warrington completed his hat trick in the 58th minute.

Ipswich captain Ivan Smith was disappointed with the weekend's performances, but insists that his team's chances of survival have not entirely disappeared. “We have six games to go, two of which are at home against our relegation rivals Chelmsford and Peterborough, so we still have it all to play for.”