Jack Marriott scored twice and Elliott Hewitt, Darren McQueen and Dylan Connolly once each as Town’s U21s beat Charlton Athletic 5-1 at Portman Road.

Dean Gerken, Tyrone Mings and Stephen Hunt were also amongst the starters for Mark Kennedy’s side, which also included 20-year-old central defender Josh Yorwerth, who has been with Cardiff City’s youth set-up and has been capped by Wales at U16, U19 and U21 levels.

In front of the watching Mick McCarthy and Terry Connor, Town began the game strongly and went ahead in the seventh minute when Connolly made a sped into the Charlton area.

The Irish U21 international looked set to shoot but took the ball wide to the right and instead cut it back to Jack Marriott. Keeper Dillon Phillips blocked his first shot but the striker, who is on loan at Colchester for the rest of the season but able to play for Town's U21s, lashed the rebound into the roof of the net.

Charlton should have equalised on 14 when Michael Kennedy was fed in behind the Town backline but Gerken came off his line quickly to stand tall and paw his lob away.

On 24 Marriott sent Connolly away down the right and the Irishman whipped over a low ball towards Darren McQueen but keeper Phillips claimed ahead of the striker.

Charlton were awarded a penalty in the 31st minute when skipper Matt Clarke slid in and felled Kennedy on the byline on the right. There was little argument from the Town players.

Karlan Ahearne-Grant took the spotkick but hit the ball far too close to Gerken and the keeper saved to his left.

The Blues doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Hewitt smashed a stunning strike across Phillips, off the post and into the net from the right edge of the area.

Two minutes later Town made it three when Henshall burst away on the left and cut the ball back to Darren McQueen, who diverted into the net from eight yards.

The Blues, who had been very much on top without having to play particularly well against an inexperienced and largely unthreatening Charlton outfit, were unable to add further to their lead before the break.

Charlton came close to pulling a goal back five minutes after the restart, Jack Munns lashing a 25-yard strike against Gerken’s right post with the keeper motionless.

A minute later, Henshall broke between Levander Pyke and sub George Pessima on the left and cut the ball across. It struck a defender and fell for Connolly, who slammed Town’s fourth goal into the net from 10 yards.

Marriott came within inches of making it 5-0 on 55, heading half-time sub Ben Wyatt’s cross from the left onto the crossbar.

The visitors pulled a goal back just before the hour when Pyke crossed from the right beyond trialist Yorwerth and sub Josh Umerah slid home from close range.

Soon after, Connolly limped off with what looked like an ankle injury, Kyle Hammond taking over at right-back and Hewitt moving into midfield.

On 65 Marriott made it 5-1, applying the final touch from close range after Yorwerth had found Henshall with a superb crossfield ball, the winger using his pace to burst past Pyke and cut across the six-yard box.

Marriott had grown in confidence having scored his goals and on 70 sped into the area but was thwarted as he looked to complete his hat-trick.

At the other end, Rhys Browne scraped wide from the edge of the box when Umerah was better placed to his left.

Late on Ahearne-Grant shot wide and a frustrated Umerah hit an effort into Gerken’s arms but the game had long been over as a contest.

Town had done more than enough to convincingly win the game without ever needing to stretch themselves.

The young Charlton side had been unable to cope with the pace of Henshall, putting in his best performance for a while, and Connolly down the flanks.

Gerken was largely untested, aside from the penalty, having stood little chance with the goal, while Mings was comfortable during his time on the field.

Hunt played a tigerish anchor role in central midfield, barking instructions throughout, while trialist Yorwerth was part of a Town backline which was never overly troubled by Charlton’s strikers but will be disappointed with the Addicks’ goal, although delighted with his pass which led to the fifth goal.

U21s: Gerken, Hewitt, Mings (Wyatt 46), Benyu, Yorwerth, Clarke (c), Connolly (Hammond 63), Hunt, McQueen (Ramadan 74), Marriott, Henshall. Unused: Crowe, Robinson.

Charlton: Phillips (c), Pyke, Edwards, Charles-Cook, Monlouis, Thomas, Munns, Cumberbatch, Ahearne-Grant, Smith, Kennedy. Subs: Pessima, Mitov, Gerard, Browne, Umerah. Referee: Paul Burnham.

Photo: Action Images

JackITFC96 added 21:17 - Apr 7 The lads obviously not ready yet, but I'll be very sad if he doesn't get offered a new contract.
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JackITFC96 added 21:17 - Apr 7 The lads obviously not ready yet, but I'll be very sad if he doesn't get offered a new contract.
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bluefeast added 21:24 - Apr 7 Small , quick , direct , works off the shoulder of defence , an absolute compliment for Murphy as indeed is Sears. Chris Wood , not mobile ,not quick , not fit , no goal threat ,disappeared the other side of the world , comes back and is put in the side as a starter vs Huddersfield. Taken off at half time. Nuff said…..
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Sporall added 21:24 - Apr 7 Didn't realise he was back from Colchester?
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bluefeast added 21:28 - Apr 7 Marriott is at colchester under a youth loan agreement ,which means he can play for our under 21s.
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Jimmy86 added 21:33 - Apr 7 Really hope Hewitt gets offered a new contract. Seemingly done well in his loan spells at col u. Can play right back and right mid, Worth another year at least. Thought he has done well for us whenever he has played, especially against Fulham at start of the season
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bluefeast added 21:45 - Apr 7 i reckon there will be a big clear out over the summer. Some of those going we will be disappointed about ,others delighted about. Bottom line is change and a freshen up whilst retaining the spine of the team , in that i include ,Berra , Skuse , Murphy as a spine. Funds will be raised via player sales. Its going to be an almighty summer ,the current squad is maxed out and over achieving ,the work horses need to be complemented with some skill and pace. This year we tried to emulate Burnley. Well thats daft as the football Burnley played was balanced ,they had a great right back in Trippier too. We are the most imbalanced side in the top 20 of the championship.Hats off to Mick for avoiding relegation. Big disappointment since the start of 2015 ,however we have overachieved. Are we better than brighton ,reading ,shef wed ,leeds , etc etc etc. No we are not.

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Len_Brennan added 07:24 - Apr 8 Of course we are better than Brighton, Reading, Sheffied Wed & Leeds. We have been in the top 3 for most of the season & only out of the top 6 in the last couple of weeks. You are now comparing us, & not kindly, with 2 clubs who have flirted with relegation for most of the season & 2 others who have never even threatened to break into the playoff race. By all means feel disappointed that we have had a bad run & slipped out of the top 6. You can even vent your frustration with the manager's selection errors & point to the games in which it has cost us; but at least be fair & realistic if you are going to throw around comparisons.

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Steelmonkey added 07:25 - Apr 8 Goals from crosses by wingers, MM must have wondered what the f**k was going on. Well done lads.
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battyblue added 07:29 - Apr 8 I am afraid if MM is still here it will be more of the same i am sure Hewitt could have done a good job for us as i am sure Connolly and Marriott would both be worthy subs from the bench with their pace but i forgot Mick doesn't like pace it wins games.
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Cat_ITFC added 07:48 - Apr 8 Looking at some of the above comments, there appears to be many out of work football managers who are also fans of Ipswich Town...
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bluefeast added 08:52 - Apr 8 Len Brennan , my point is simply we have been far more successful than we should of been. That is credit to Mick and his coaching staff. However we ran out of steam at the end of December is approximately the half way point. So yes in terms of form for the 1st half we were top 3 ish . But obviously that did not win us anything. Then look at the form table for the 2nd half of the table. We are no better than Brighton Leeds Shef Wed Reading. That hasn't won us anything either ,but i would suggest this 2nd half of the season form has lost us a considerable amount. Mick has squeezed blood out of a stone in terms of our squad , the reality is he is a better manager than those at the clubs i mentioned ,however our squad / team is not….

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bluefeast added 09:36 - Apr 8 Our strength was to out battle sides ,put them under pressure and our fitness for 25 games was fantastic. However the turning point was Southampton in the cup ,we did not perform and aside from a few games have been lethargic .Its a shame that this weakness was not addressed by Mick in January. Very simply our loan signings in terms of level of fitness apart from Varney is worse than the current squad. Freshen things up with unfit players seems madness.We have 6 loan signings on the books. How much further forward are we over last season. One place in the table..

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runningout added 10:01 - Apr 8 we have players that should realise self improvement never stops, at any level....
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Lightningboy added 11:25 - Apr 8 Marriott couldn't have brought any less to the first team than the likes of Sammon,Bajner and Wood have done this season..sometimes you should persevere with what's right under your own nose.
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RaymondovicBlue added 12:23 - Apr 8 I like bringing on young talent - very much. I have consistently been calling for pace in the first 11 (even if ony from the bench) and bemoaning it when Sears pace has been replaced by Wood's whatever. But whilst it is GREAT to see Henshall, Connolly, Hewitt and Marriott firing on all cylinders in this game - remember that this is the U21 NOT the Championship - AND that we have seen FAR less good performances all season even at this level. Yes - i would always have Henshall OR Connolly on the first team bench to "rip it up" later in the game - but I honestly think that we have a better Right Mid then Hewitt (I'm ignoring Right Back as Chambers is clearly always going to play there) and also I think that we have found a great right mid in Varney from what i saw v Bournemouth. I aolso think that Sears is better than Marriott - so ... Please give a contract to Connolly and/or Henshall, Marriott and Hewitt - but keep in mind their age and look out for them in a couple of years ! Make sense?

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RaymondovicBlue added 12:25 - Apr 8 I see Mings played a half - was he anonymous as the report showed absolutely no mention? Why was he subbed ?
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masetheace added 13:32 - Apr 8 PLEASE don't start another "Marriott is our saviour " campaign . Rarely makes the bench at bottom of the table Colchester in a league lower !!
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Kirbmeister added 13:39 - Apr 8 bluefeast - exactly how was MM supposed to address our weaknesses in January with no money to spend, apart from bringing in loan players that were surplus to requirements elsewhere? No clubs at that stage of the season are going to loan out their best players. Perhaps you have some players in mind that MM should have signed to improve us. Bent and Ince were always going to a bigger club. Derby get gates 10k higher that ours and they are able to pay the wages which we are not.

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battyblue added 16:29 - Apr 8 Well said lightningboy i could not agree with you more.
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bluefeast added 18:16 - Apr 8 Bringing in players on the way back from injury on loan under the emergency window is not going to benefit us is it. Wood and williams long term injured and getting back into full training the week we sign them. Williams is class ,but it would take him 4 or 5 lots of 9o mins in 1st team games to get match hardened. We only have that many games left. Every game i watch in the championship i see 4 or 5 of the opposition who i would rather have in our team ,than the players we have. Its simply a case of round in round ,not square in round as we have across our defence. The fact that Parr has been an accidental positive in midfield says so much about the managers blindness to change and improvement.

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Hegansheroes added 20:42 - Apr 8 Bluefeast makes a good point, however Murphy is getting on & if a stupid offer came in I think we should take it. There are a number of MM's signings I'd like to see go, Tabb, Anderson, Wood, S Hunt plus longer established players- Chambers, Gerken,Hyam and McGoldrick who although I think is a good player something isn't right there & I don't think we are really getting the truth from MM. I'd be overjoyed if MM went & we returned to playing football

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bluefeast added 20:55 - Apr 8 Hegansheroes im not sure it would be so great to see MM go. we have to be careful what we wish for. As an aside we may just play a bit more football next season ,our shortcomings are very obvious and I'm sure will be addressed over the summer. You never know , we may even break back into the top 6 and get promoted , good grief we would have to change an awful lot then ,imagine chambers as a right back over 36 or 38 perm games , poor bloke not his fault his manager exposes him

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NorwichBlue138 added 08:39 - Apr 9 Amusing listening to people hoping MM leaves. Any other manager with the team we have would have barely scraped into the top half. Our team isn't bad by any means, but when you look at the quality of the other teams who come to PR, and the way their midfields control the game, it puts it in perspective that we have overperformed this year, and it's been a joy to watch. Not sure ridding ourselves of MM is the answer though. Do we want to go back to the Roy Keane / Paul Jewell days of being completely unable to sign anyone, and having a team of players like Kevin Lisbie, Ivan Campo (yes, we used to sign aging loanees back then too) or have the likes of Sonko, Andy Drury or Ryan Stevenson on the bench as 'impact subs'? Some people have very short memories - our team is miles better now, even if it is arguably still not quite the finished article!

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