Town's reserves lost 2-0 against Fulham last night. TWTD has been sent two reports, one from Dan Botten and one from Julian Marjoram. Cheers. Here's Dan's, then Julian's.

Ipswich Town Reserves went down 2-0 to Fulham in monsoon-like conditions at Woking FC.

Substitute Darren Bent spurned two excellent chances in the second half, as Ipswich looked to level up Tom Hutchinson's early strike for the
hosts.

Fulham's Stewart Noble scored the decisive second goal late on to kill off Ipswich's plucky challenge.

Both sides featured players looking to force their way into the Premiership encounter a week today at Portman Road. No-one really stood out for Ipswich although Janie Clapham had a good game at left back and Wayne Brown would have impressed any watching scouts. Fabian Wilnis,
linked to Fulham in the weekend tabloids, made little impression in front of his potential buyers.

Fulham started the better and took the lead on 24 minutes when Danish international Bjarne Goldbaek's free kick thudded against the post and
the unmarked Hutchinson stroked it home from six yards out .

Richard Naylor and Titus Bramble were booked for rash challenges as Ipswich struggled to match Fulham's passing game. In particular, Naylor
looked to clash heads with England U21 starlet Sean Davis. Davis was substituted soon afterwards.

Ulrich Le Pen had Ipswich's only shot on target which was comfortably saved by Maik Taylor.

The second half saw an improved Ipswich create the better chances throughout, Darren Bent stubbed a whipped Le Pen free kick wide and then
shot past the post when the Frenchman put him in the clear with a defence-splitting pass.

Fulham sub Noble sealed the win for the home side with three minutes remaining when he shot home off the post after a jinking run.

Ipswich battled hard throughout but failed to convert their chances against a very solid Fulham second string.

After the match Titus Bramble spoke about his current situation: " Personally it's disappointing for me not getting into the first team but it's great that the lads are doing so well, I'll just have to bide my time and keep plugging away."

As for the recent speculation linking him to Bobby Robson's Newcastle United, Bramble said "it's just paper talk".

Ipswich Reserves:

1. Mike Salmon 6/10 No chance with the goals,
2. Fabian Wilnis 6/10 None of his usual attacking forays. Quiet on the night, 3. Jamie Clapham 7/10 Solid and supported the midfield well, 4. Ashley Nicholls (off 70) 5/10 Struggled throughout against experienced opponents, 5. Titus Bramble (off 60) 6/10 Booked for a late challenge
which led to Fulham first goal. Relatively untroubled, 6. Wayne Brown 7/10 Solid against Latvian international Stolcers. Very vocal and commanded the defence, 7. Nabil Abidallah (off 60) 6/10 Nice touches but final ball was
lacking, 8. Tommy Miller 6/10 Worked hard on a testing pitch, 9. Richard Naylor 6/10 Physical threat but lacked real quality, 10. Pablo Couñago 6/10 Looked better in attacking midfield role for last 30 minutes, 11. Ulrich Le Pen 6/10 Game passed him by at times but does have creative flair. Subs: 12. Darren Bent (on 60) 5/10 Missed two great chances. Pace is a real threat, 13. Lewis Price (GK), 14. Justin Miller (on 60) 6/10 On for Bramble and played well. One great tackle to foil Fulham striker, 15. Darren Ambrose (on 70) 6/10 Late shot saved by Taylor, 16. William Snowdon.

Report 2: A wet and windy evening in Woking saw Town's second string eventually lose a match they could have won and probably should have drawn. Town lined up with an impressive side with plenty of first team experience.

Playing 4-4-2 was Mike Salmon in goal after Keith Branagan's withdrawal, Fabian Wilnis at right back,Jamie Clapham left back with Titus Bramble and Wayne Brown the centre halves. In midfield Tommy Miller started on the right, Ulrich Le Pen on the left and Nabil Abidallah and Ashley Nicholls in the middle. Pablo Couñago and Richard Naylor were up front.

Fulham had a mixture of fringe players and people I had frankly never heard of. Amongst the higher profile players were Northern Ireland international keeper Maik Taylor, former Chelsea men Bjarne Goldbaek and John Harley, Andres Stolcers and surprisingly England under-21 starlet Sean Davis. Also in the line up was former Woking man Kevin Betsy,putting another dozen or so on the gate.

A hardy 238 braved the weather and it was good to see a fair smattering of Town fans supporting the boys. Good work people!

The match started in sheeting rain with both sides struggling somewhat in the conditions. Despite the weather the pitch played surprisingly well and both team started to play a bit,with Town perhaps slightly the better early on. After 15 minutes or so of both teams cancelling each other out came the first real incident of the night. As expected Psycho was the Town man involved. Naylor was fighting for a ball in the Fulham half when he went up and Sean Davis went down like a sack of spuds. In true Arsene Wenger style I didn't see the incident clearly but Bam Bam seemed clumsy rather than malicious. The end result though was a yellow card for "the powerful centre-forward" and apparently a broken nose for Davis who was immediately substituted. Hopefully it was just a footballing accident and that will be the end of it, unless Davis gets a call from the much hated Darren Purse.

The game continued and Naylor and Pablo began to link up well without ever threatening to score.
Then midway through the first half came what proved to be the decisive moment of the match. Town were looking good defensively until a Fulham through ball pierced the back four and their man looked to be getting through. That means I don't know who he was. Titus slid in and brought down whatsisname. I had a pretty good view and honestly thought it was a good tackle,although I frequently get these things wrong. Still,you'll never see the highlights so I reckon Titus was unlucky.The referee however didn't agree and gave a free kick 20 yards out and booked the new Kevin Beattie. Bjarne Goldbaek stepped up and struck a superb free kick against the foot of the post.Unfortunately for us it fell at the feet of someone calling himself Tom Hutchinson for a simple tap in, 1-0 to Fulham slightly against the run of play.

Pablo should have done better from an Abidallah cross before Salmon cleared up another clever Fulham through ball. Another Goldbaek effort from long range went close but the real highlight was still to come.

In first half injury time the 'home' side beat the offside trap and one of their anonymous players put in a super ball to another unknown mystery man. With Salmon beaten by the cross and the entire defence out of the game, the fella had the goal at his mercy from all of three yards out in a central position. Hilariously he somehow put it over in true Ronnie Rosenthal/Marlon Harewood style to bring the biggest cheer of the night. From me,anyway. Saha and company should rest easy.

Town immediately started the second half with more impetus and were clearly the better side. Pablo had an awful effort from about 40 yards and that was the call for a couple of substitutions from Town. Titus was rested in favour of Justin Miller in a straight swap and Nabil Abidallah was replaced by the exciting Darren Bent. Don't ask me what the formation was now,but it appeared to be 4-4-2ish with Pablo playing in an advanced midfield role. Curious indeed, but Pablo seemed happier out of the firing line.

Bent the younger had an instant impact and probably should have scored with his very first touch.A cross fell to him six yards out and he pushed it inches past the far post. Shame. Town were having their best spell and Bent again and Miller both had reasonable chances, Miller's being well saved. Fulham were still dangerous though with one cross squirming across the goal line.

On 70 minutes Ashley Nicholls was replaced by Darren Ambrose. Bent again went just wide after good work by Naylor, and a good Fulham move was stopped by a classy Justin Miller tackle. New man Ambrose hit the side netting and Pablo should have done better with a cross- shot.

Naylor definately should have done better from a Le Pen cross before Fulham wrapped the game up. Substitute Stewart Noble got the ball just inside the Town half and set off on a powerful run, skipping past Wilnis and Justin Miller before firing a superb shot past Salmon. It was a fantastic individual goal and clearly the footballing highlight of the night.

Ambrose then had a half chance before the final whistle went. 2-0.

Player ratings: Mike Salmon 6 (out of 10. Obviously) Looked OK, no chance with either goal and communicated well with the defence.Solid,and as fourth choice an excellent man to have. Fabian Wilnis 6 Again looked solid although we didn't see any buccaneering runs forward. Looked like he wanted to play though. Jamie Clapham 6 Decent enough without standing out. Played intelligently and involved others well.Looked good coming forward in the second half. Titus Bramble 6
Hmmm. Typical Titus really. Was commanding at the back and won every 50-50 ball yet somehow cost us a goal. Infuriating but his attitude was top class.I was impressed with how vocal he was, showing real leadership. Didn't look to me like success has gone to his head. Wayne Brown 8 Town's outstanding player on the night.Solidity personified. Didn't make a mistake and was 100% reliable.Wouldn't let us down in the first team. Tommy Miller 5 Somewhat disappointing. This game should have been made for his physical approach having played in the lower leagues but he didn't take the opportunity to impress. Certainly tried though and by no means poor. Ulrich Le Pen 6 Looked like he needed the game and should be all the better for it. Wasn't as involved as I would have liked but that was hardly his fault. A few good touches but more matches like this will do him good. Nabil Abidallah 7 Good performance. Very bright indeed and looked our most creative player first half. Worked hard,very busy and not as lightweight as people would have you believe. Ashley Nicholls 6 Bit of a nothing game really, Ashley didn't catch the eye. Certainly did absolutely nothing wrong but didn't really get all that involved. Pablo Couñago 5 The poor lad is struggling in front of goal. Looks short of confidence,and Woking must feel a long way from Celta Vigo. To be fair it was never his sort of match and he still produced some quality flicks and turns.Definitely has ability. Richard Naylor 6
As always Psycho would cheerfully run through a brick wall and his physical presence caused problems. Er. Particularly for the unfortunate Sean Davis. Unfortunately he never looked like scoring. Remember Wembley Richard? Looks a long way off that form. Subs: Darren Bent 7 Looked really exciting and made a big difference, allowing us to use the ball over the top. Caused lots of problems with his pace and movement. Having said that he really should have scored. Justin Miller 6 Didn't see a lot of the ball,but a few nice touches and one classy tackle in a important area. Darren Ambrose
Not on for long but looked very bright and lively. I'll keep an eye on him.

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls