First-half goals from Cameron Stewart, James Alabi - one of two trialists who started for the Blues - and Jonny Parr saw Ipswich's U21s to a 3-0 victory over their Coventry City counterparts at Playford Road this afternoon.
Full-back Parr played the entire game as he continued his comeback from his thigh injury with Mark Kennedy’s team adding to last week’s win at Leeds United with a positive attacking first-half display.
Josh Yorwerth also started, following his debut goal in the Capital One Cup win against Stevenage, alongside Myles Kenlock, Adam McDonnell and the out of favour Stewart.
Ipswich started well and came close to an early lead when Andre Dozzell’s left-footed freekick had Reice Charles-Cook scrambling low to his left to tip the ball wide for a corner.
The pressure continued and Stewart opened the scoring in the third minute with a fantastic effort. After receiving the ball on the left wing the 24-year-old cut inside before rifling the ball into the top left corner of the goal from 20-yards, leaving Charles-Cook stuck to the spot as it went past him.
Coventry’s U21s — coached by former Town man Mark Venus — replied with two attacks of their own, but Jordan Shipley dragged a shot wide of the post before Devon Kelly-Evans fired over when one-on-one with trialist Ipswich keeper Jonathan Henly.
Alabi, who scored the winner at Leeds last week, had a chance to double the lead for Blues after intercepting an under-hit pass, but his powerful run towards goal was finished off with an uncontrolled shot over the bar with the trialist falling backwards as he hit it.
The striker didn’t make any mistake with his second chance. A similar run after gaining possession from a long ball saw him drive into the box before taking the ball round the keeper and calmly placing into an empty net to extend Ipswich’s lead on 27 minutes.
Henly, who previously played the second half of the U21s friendly at Norwich a fortnight ago, was called into action just after the half-hour mark and confidently beat Conor Thomas’s 25-yard swerving freekick away from danger.
Mark Kennedy’s side responded with another goal 10 minutes before the break. This time Myles Kenlock’s cross from the left was headed into the path of Parr who made no mistake in guiding the ball into the bottom left corner with a first time effort from the edge of the box.
The impressive Alabi (above) worked himself an opening when he used his strength to turn his marker in the box, but the tight angle meant his shot went straight at keeper Cook who dealt with the effort.
The trialist continued to work tirelessly up front closing down the Coventry defence and stole possession from Cian Harris, prompting another strong run towards goal which ended in his shot being blocked following a failed attempt from Kundai Benyu.
Substitute Kyle Hammond was the next player in a blue shirt to have a shot at goal some 20 minutes later in a very subdued second half. His low effort curled just wide of the left post, drawing applause from the Playford Road crowd.
Scotland U21 international Henly, like Alabi a free agent, was forced into a save for only the second time in the game in the closing exchanges, getting down well to block Amadou Soukouna’s shot from the edge of the box.
U21s: Henly, Parr, Kenlock (Hammond 57), McDonnell (Blanchfield 57), Yorwerth, Robinson, Connolly (Ramadan 72), Benyu, Alabi, Dozzell, Stewart. Unused: Crowe, Ford.