Despite leading by two goals at half-time, Town's reserves were eventually defeated 3-2 by Chelsea on Monday night. A late goal from captain Alexis Nicolas gave the points to the side run by former Blues' manager Mick McGiven.
Chelsea play their reserve matches at Aldershot's Recreation Ground, on a pitch looking a lot better than the one at Stamford Bridge and it played well throughout the match. The ground is just a few miles off the M3 and you get the feeling you've been through a time warp back to the 60s or 70s as you take your place on the terracing.
Town lined-up with five at the back with Pullen in goal, Naylor, Hogg and Beevers as the middle three, and Bloomfield and Richards wide. Abidallah, Westlake and Reuser were in midfield with Armstrong and Finidi up front.
The first half was all Ipswich. We won the midfield battle and kept possession well with some nice hold-up play from Armstrong in particular. Nabil Abidallah was impressive in midfield, skipping round players and forcing the keeper make a few saves with shots from outside the box.
Naylor, playing as a makeshift centre-half, had little to do defensively in the first 45 minutes and scored our first goal on 35. A corner was taken short to Nabil on the edge of the box, his shot pinballed to Naylor who scored from close range.
In the 38th minute we doubled our lead after a nice passing move involving Armstrong and Reuser, who played the ball to Finidi whose low shot beat the keeper.
Two-nil at half time and it was too easy. We out-played them, creating numerous chances for the front men and Abidallah and Reuser too.
All was to change in the second half unfortunately, with Chelsea scoring six minutes after the break. The referee overruled his linesman and gave a corner much to Reuser's disappointment. Not sure why he remonstrated with the linesman, when it was he who agreed with the Dutchman, but the corner was given anyway. The ball was sent over and Da Silva scored to make it 2-1.
Six minutes later and Chelsea pulled level. Robert Huth received the ball 30 yards from goal and beat James Pullen with a wonderful shot.
With five minutes remaining, Pullen tipped the ball over the bar magnificently from another long shot. From the resultant corner, Chelsea put themselves in the lead for the first time in the game, this time the ball scrambled in at the far post. It looked as though Town had got the ball away, but the linesman flagged that it had crossed the line and the referee awarded the goal.
A draw would have been a fairer result, but Chelsea's team talk at half time did the trick for the home side. They certainly looked a different team after the break and it didn't take too long for our rhythm to be disrupted, our passing going astray when facing the greater industry of the Chelsea midfield.
Although James Pullen took the ball from the back of the net three times, he didn't have much to do apart from a few long shots from the home side. His distribution was good and made no blindingly, mind-numbingly stupid errors. The defence was quite solid with Naylor taking charge at the back. It was difficult to see who was exactly at fault with the two corners, as both times the goals came from a bit of a melee.
Nabil Abidallah certainly caught the eye in the first half. He harried and harassed and dribbled with the ball well. He also had a few shots which were on target but didn't trouble the keeper too much. In the second half he and the other midfielders were pushed out of the game by a more commanding Chelsea team.
Reuser was my man of the match. Before the game I expected he and Finidi not to put in 100% in a reserve match, but Martijn was keen to put in a good performance. He came deep when necessary, linked well with the front men and put himself in contention for a first team place at the weekend. Finidi, however, did not.
Town: Pullen, Bloomfield, Richards, Hogg, Naylor, Beevers, Abidallah (Okay 70), Westlake, Reuser, George, Armstrong.