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Goals from Michael Chopra (pen), Luke Chambers and Jason Scotland saw Town to a confidence-boosting 3-1 victory over Premier League new boys West Ham at Portman Road. The Blues were two goals in front at the break after dominating the first half, but the visitors hit back through Matt Taylor before Jason Scotland sealed it late on.
Blues boss Paul Jewell named his strongest available side with only Andy Drury sidelined due to a calf injury.
Scott Loach was in goal with skipper Carlos Edwards at right-back, Aaron Cresswell at left-back and Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith, just back from the Olympics, at centre-half.
In midfield, Massimo Luongo and Luke Hyam were in the centre with Josh Carson on the left and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas on the right. Lee Martin was behind lone striker Michael Chopra. There was no place in the squad for Jimmy Bullard.
West Ham also named a strong team including new signings Jussi Jaaskelainen, James Collins and Modigo Maiga, as well as former Blues loanee Mark Noble.
The Blues started brightly and in the fourth minute Edwards whipped over a low cross from the right which Chopra diverted wide at the near post. Soon after, Collins blocked a Luongo strike from the edge of the area.
Emmanuel-Thomas curled a seventh minute freekick over after Martin had been fouled with Town continuing to make most of the running. Moments later, Edwards caused momentary panic in the Hammers’ area with a low cross which Collins cleared at the second attempt.
Town went ahead from the penalty spot on the quarter hour. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas played the ball into Martin’s feet just inside the area and as the midfielder turned away from Gary O’Neil, the West Ham man tripped him. Chopra stepped up and slammed the ball to Jaaskelainen’s left to notch his fourth goal of pre-season.
Four minutes later it was 2-0. Chopra was fouled on the right and Martin sent in a freekick which an unmarked Luke Chambers nodded past Jaaskelainen.
The Blues fully deserved to be in front with Scott Loach, making his first appearance at Portman Road as a Town player, having had little to do. On 22 Emmanuel-Thomas hit a scuffed effort from 20 yards which trickled just past Jaaskelainen’s left post.
As the game moved towards the half hour mark Edwards hit a well-struck shot which deflected wide with the Blues still very much on top.
Maiga shot well wide for the visitors on 32, then six minutes later another Emmanuel-Thomas blast was deflected past the post.
Neither side particularly threatened in the final seven minutes and the Blues went in deservedly 2-0 up at the break.
It had been a much-improved display throughout with Town on the front foot from the off, keeping the ball and creating opportunities. Martin was the stand-out performer, again excelling in the role behind Chopra, who took his penalty confidently.
Manager Paul Jewell will have been heartened to see a goal from a set piece going in at the right end when Chambers latched on to Martin’s freekick from the right.
Jewell switched Chopra and Martin, who had missed all but a few minutes of pre-season prior to the match, for Jason Scotland and Ryan Stevenson.
Despite the changes, the second half began in much the manner that the second half had ended and on 52 Edwards shot over.
West Ham began to have more of the ball but all too often gave it away cheaply. On 55 Cresswell sent a dangerous ball into the box which Jaaskelainen claimed.
A minute later, Stevenson shot over from the edge of the box, then Loach stopped Ricardo Vaz Te’s shot low to his left, the Hammers’ first shot on target of the afternoon.
After Jack Ainsley and Damien Delaney had taken over from Edwards and Smith just after the hour mark, Carson cut in from the right and hit a low shot just wide. Soon after, Byron Lawrence took over from Emmanuel-Thomas.
Cheick Kourouma, whose move to the Blues is still held up by red tape, took over from the again excellent Luongo as the game moved into its final 20 minutes.
On 73 the Hammers pulled a goal back. Matt Taylor was given too much time 20 yards out and the former Portsmouth man hit a low shot which struck Loach’s left post before crossing the line.
O’Neil hit a low shot through to Loach in the 76th minute before being replaced with the changes having come thick and fast throughout the second period. On 80 West Ham swapped keeper Jaaskelainen for one-time Blues target Stephen Henderson and Hyam made way for Ronan Murray.
The Hammers were looking the stronger side since the changes and on 82 Joey O’Brien headed across the face of goal when he probably should have put his side on terms.
Moments later, the Blues were 3-1 on front. Scotland was played into space on the left by Murray, the Trinidadian taking the ball on before cutting inside and lashing a shot beyond Henderson and into the net.
In the 85th minute Carson saw a shot deflect wide, then Kourouma went well over after the corner had been cleared.
In injury time Nicky Maynard set up Vaz Te but Loach did well to get across to his left to block. Moments later the whistle went to seal Town’s win.
Town fully deserved their victory, having been much the better side in the first half. West Ham only really got on top once the usual plethora of pre-season subs had been made but never really did enough to warrant getting on terms, even if O’Brien really ought to have equalised moments before Scotland’s third for the Blues.
A heartening win for Town against Premier League opposition after two disappointing results against Luton and Southend earlier in the week.
Well done town though... west ham don't exploit our width, tis why we beat em all the time. No problems with stopping crosses if they go straight up the middle.
What is it with us and West Ham? - same as last season really, do well against the better teams and then lose to nobodies, all the same should be somewhat of a confidence booster but would have rather played them away. All the same still a friendly and it means very little and it just shows we continue to be a very inconsistent team.
....as the song goes..... "Can we play you every week?" Simply outplayed them for over 60mins until we made changes to the first 11.
We MUST get Martin signed up - he is the catalyst to Town's free flowing, energetic displays. We are a shadow of that team when he's not in the middle of the park for us .
good game. better !st half. Luongo is class. chambers played well,martin was superb,chops looked sharp,murray looked good when he came on, scotland had a good half and a gr8 goal,korouma looked ok.Our first 11 look pretty good we lack strenght in depth tho.I am trying to take the +'s from the game however u gotta be objective too,stevenson was poor,Hyam looked out of his depth at times, loach shoulda come for a few crosses and didn't,delaney is just a f**king donkey.And if villa wanna pay 6 mil for creswell I think we should bite their hand off. I will post vids later of the first 2 goals. All in all good result and a few more additions and we will have a good squad to challenge for a top 6 place.
Really enjoyed game although only a friendly.Well worth entrance fee, Far harder games to come when league season starts. Thought all new signings played well but we do need to get some height and strengh into team to make progress this season.
Hyam was superb today and he and Luongo looked very good together. That partnership was the biggest plus for me closely followed by the performance of Martin. Agree Delaney looked very iffy when he came on and the only cross Loach had to deal with he did not come for which is slightly worrying as Watford fans have stated he is weak at crosses. Loach otherwise looks far better than what he have had and his kicking is a major plus. Just a pity that we have no striker that can get on the end of his long goal kicks. At the end it was refreshing to see so many youngsters on the field although persisting with Ainslie baffles me as once again he was beaten so easily down our right flank. Scotland took his goal superbly and great praise for Edwards who worked tirelessly and is such a natural athlete. Hope we don't go and mess it up at Col U and at home to Bristol Rovers. Encouraging today but we still need a pacy wide player another powerful centre back and a six foot plus striker. Easier said than done I know.
Sindre - why the negativity ? Only a friendly maybe but an excellent performance - nice to see the interplay between JET , Luongo & Martin. Back to our passing game today for the first time in ages. How PJ must regret persisting with Leadbitter for so long when we all knew he was useless. Kourouma looked class & I hope we can finalise his signing before the word gets round. Only disappointment was Carson who did very little right apart from tackling back a couple of times. I'm more optimistic than I've been for a long time.
Town really did turn up today and some of the new signings really stood out especially Massimo Luongo who was excellent. He was always offering an option, looking for the ball. The defence looked very good with Smith and Chambers at the heart of it. Carson and JET were lively while Martin seemed like he had recovered from his injury. Thought Loach could have done better for their goal but good stop at the end from Vaz Te. First half was excellent, sat back further in the second half. Have to say well done to Jase, great goal. You put him in that area there are not many in the league more deadly than him. He scores goals for fun from those positions. The issue is his mobility and actually getting the ball to him. We need another striker to support them, I really think we should chip in with a bid for Baldock who is pacey, moves well and would compliment our others. Davies is also a good option if we can afford him. Possibly another left back because I don't know what we'd do without Cresswell.Where's Bullard by the way?
In the same way losing to Luton and Southend was disappointing, today was encouraging, to beat a premier league team that comfortably, but then maybe we've just got the rub on the dirty hammers? 1-0, 5-1 and 3-1...chin up Sam.
Martin looked very good, buzzed about, made things happen and is our main attacking threat. We'd be pretty stuck without him if you ask me, and if you want us to sell him if he doesn't sign a new contract in this window I cannot understand you.
Hyam and Luongo very good in midfield. Luongo in particular, you can tell why he's at Tottenham, keeps the ball very well and always tackled back if he lost it and won it again most times.
Fantastic header by Chambers and an even better goal by Scotland who played well while quite isolated I thought. I didn't expect him to bend it in the far corner.
JET played well first half and Carson better second half when on the left for me. Both can be satisfied.
Good work out all round.
Looking forward to Colchester now. Let's make some noise!
As already has been mentioned many times over during the last week or so regarding these warm-up matches we shouldn't read too much into the result but focus more on the performance and competitiveness of the display. From this perspective we can be very pleased with the fluent first half display lead by Loungo who looks a player several years above his age, quite outstanding, crisp tackler, great distribution and great awareness of what's going on around him and making space as well as making himself always available. Lee Martin's contribution in defending and hassling from the front not allowing defenders to settle was a significant one.
Loach look assured to me, Chambers had a confident shift as did Tommy Smith. Cresswell did the simple things well. Carlos again put in a consistent performance to match those of last year. Hyam looked very good first half alongside Loungo and looked the perfect partner to the Spurs youngster but drifted out of the game second half before being subbed. JET drifted in and out but looked to offer a potential threat. Chopra looked fit and busy but not a man ready to bag 20+ goals this season although he did take his penalty well.
All in all take nothing away from Town's very good first half performance but Wet Sham were poor and we must remember they are probably a week behind in the pre-season preparations and they could only get better in the second half plus with substitutions on both sides it was unlikely that Town would keep their crisp first half display going for the full duration.
Stevenson started the second half up front just behind Jason Scotland and then later dropped back deeper into midfield when Murray was brought on, for me the former Hearts man fails to impress and I can't see him seriously challenging for a first team start this campaign.
Jewell last year showed no faith in using Ainsley as a back-up right back and I have to say Jack did himself no favours today when he replaced Carlos, his distribution was poor and was being caught by pace.
Nice to see Byron Lawrence get a decent half hour and the youngster struggled to get in to the game however, at 16 his time will come and will be better for having had the experience of the run out.
Damien Delaney is capable of some great displays but sloppiness is too so often is evident in his demeanour and distribution, I think it will be a season on the bench this year for Damo and has to show much more commanding performances for me to displace Tommy Smith.
Joe Wight's cameo appearance wasn't enough to form any real judgement of the youngster's progress to push on for a first team place.
Kourama whilst not as slick as Loungo showed tenacity and an ability to want to get on the ball and make himself available - could be a good signing if the red tape is sorted out.
Another good battling performance from Jason Scotland and great goal but great play from Murray in the build up. We know Jason is more than likely to make most of his appearances from the bench and if he can keep potting them like that then it will prove a really good move to have kept him at PR for another year.
Finally Ronan Murray showed how much more effective a forward line and team can be with real pace in the side and almost added an explosive extra dimension to our game the short period of time he was on. I was expecting to see something like this from Josh Carson but quite honestly I was a little disappointed in Josh today, not to say the lad didn't work hard but he really didn't make much of an impact. Now I am not suggesting young Ronan is the answer but I would like to see more of him or somebody else with more pace upfront being brought in.
West Ham as expected did start to get more of a grip on the game in the second half but all in all an enjoyable and entertaining friendly and well done to t5he loads for a very decent display with good signs of the "hunger" we are looking forward to on a regular basis.
Oh my goodness, was i impressed with the first half or what. That is what i call a superb performance from everyone, front to back (admittedly the standard did drop in the second half after all the subs, but to be expected). I did say to the missus before the game that Martin coming back into the team would make a difference and i was proved right. But i must do this, i owe every Ipswich Town supporter an apology. I put on here a week or so back that i wasnt excited about Luongo coming to Town and how wrong was i proved "totally id say" he was outstanding today. Definitely in the mound of a young Magilton, and if we play anywhere near to this standard for the part of the season we will be in for a gooden id say.
I was very impressed in what I saw today but by he far the biggest plus is the fact the average age was so low! Played really well first half with Martin outstanding and good that pj is keen to sort his contract out earlier than the usual day before it runs out!
Luongo looked good as well so a really positive workout and glad to hear us linked to the boy from celtic as still think were a tad short at the back.
Went to the game but wasn't expecting this sort of result after reading the reports of the other pre-season games, but thought we played well for much of the match.
Partnerships in midfield with Hyam & Luongo and defence Smith and Chambers worked well, looking settled and all had sound games!
My only concern was the cover and depth in the squad. Scotland aside, thought we looked a little short of experience and cover on the bench, which showed at times once we made the substitutions!
Andy32cracknell...apoiogy accepted :) i hope all the negative posters have the humility to apologize, its a big man who can put his hand up, respect to those who do. I really suspect those who have written the town off b4 a ball is kicked in anger will disapear without trace should we have a good season..COYB
Although results mean little in pre-season, its still nice to put one over the Spammers!! Also will be nice for the more negative posters to be sayings its only a friendly rather than the positive ones after the previous 2 poor results!! I couldn't make the game but it sounded like a decent performance which is encouraging. Now comes the hard bit, to put in performances like that on a regular basis over next 8 months! Suddenly the gloom seems to have lifted just a bit
Went to the game. A Very very good 1st half (Look dominant) 2nd half was ok.
Starting 11-Chopra Martin Edwards Chambers Cresswell Longo Hyam Smith Played Really well & good passing football. Loach Was very good (Except for the Crosses). Jet-Carson Played well for some of the match could of played a bit better.
Subs-Kourouma Stevenson Murray played really well. Scotland did a good Job (Looks like he has got off the Pies) Lawrence did a very good Job for someone at 16 (Good enough for odd game or 2) Need a season long loan to League 2 or Blue Square Prem Team next season-When he turns 17 to gain 1st team experience & will be good for ITFC One day. Ainsley Needs a season long loan (When we have bought another CB). Whight had a good game but was only on for 6 mins or so. Delaney (Donkey) is ok for back up that's it. So all in all a good game & we will do better than last season so 1st-13th will do me.
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