A young Town XI drew 1-1 at Coggeshall Town in a pre-season friendly on Friday evening. Ben Morris opened the scoring for Town but the Essex side, who introduced pop star Olly Murs during the second half, equalised through Nnamdi Nwachuku.

Town fielded Joe Robinson, who has returned to the club following a recent trial spell at Bromley, at left-back and young England U17 striker Morris started up front. Alongside Murs, Coggeshall named former Blues schoolboy Henry Okosi on their bench.

The hosts started well in front of a large crowd and they came within inches of taking the lead early on. Nwachuku cut in from the left and hit a powerful effort which Town keeper Jacob Marsden partly blocked which allowed Robinson to get back and hook the ball off the line.

However, the Blues, with new U21s coach Gerard Nash in the dugout, took the lead midway through the half with their first real chance of the game. Kundai Benyu drove at the home side's defence and eventually the ball fell back to him again and his low cross was turned in by Morris from close range.

Ten minutes later Marsden got down well at his near post to keep Tom Kemp's fierce drive out, and soon after the stopper was grateful to see Nwachuku's equally powerful effort cannon off his crossbar and over.

Both sides came close to scoring within minutes of the half-time whistle; Monty Patterson's low cross was blazed over by Conor McKendry and then Kemp struck the woodwork for the home side, who could count themselves unfortunate to not at least be level at the interval.

Marsden again did well to keep Town's lead intact moments after the restart when he spread himself at the feet of Jordan Palmer, who was bearing down on goal.

Morris again looked lively for Town and he came close to netting his second, but his attempted lob over the advancing Matt Walker was kept out.

The flow of the second half was disrupted with various substitutions taking place, and the biggest cheer of the night was saved for Murs' arrival on 65 minutes.

The one-time X Factor runner-up was clearly delighted when his side levelled the scores six minutes after he entered the fray. The impressive Nwachuku, who troubled the Town backline throughout, hit a 25-yard effort which crept just inside Marsden's far post.

Although Town had more of the ball they failed to create any more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities and a draw was probably a fair result overall.

Benyu caught the eye in midfield and McKendry showed some impressive trickery, but neither could find their way through a stubborn Coggeshall defence.

Town XI: Marsden, Fowler, Robinson, Benyu (Webber 80), Cole (Salaudeen 48), C Smith, McKendry, Downes, Morris (Meldrum 65), Nydam, Patterson (Daniels 80). Unused: Wright.

Photo: Action Images

lightingblue added 22:54 - Jul 22 Good game, good BBQ, kids playing behind the main pitch, meet Adam tanner, youngest meet the legend olly murs and I was the luckiest by meeting terry butcher. True gent as always. O how times have changed. If only he was playing. O but a dream.
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midastouch added 23:31 - Jul 22 Is Nwachuku worth giving a trial? Maybe he just played out of his skin but if he regularly puts in such impressive displays he could be worth having a proper looking at. I imagine he'd be hungry to impress if given the opportunity of a trial.
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midastouch added 23:38 - Jul 22 Looked him up on YouTube and he does look lively. He likes to get at people which is just what we need. Yes he's been playing at a much lower level but as we all know there are plenty of players have made the grade from non-league. He was in the Colchester youth setup by the looks of it. From just what little I've seen of him on YouTube I'd say he looks an exciting prospect and it wouldn't hurt to at least give him a trial.

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lightingblue added 00:43 - Jul 23 I've got a strange feeling that there is some kind of relationship between the 2 clubs. I think the guy who runs and manages the 1st team sponers one of the you g academy teams at ipswich. Aswell I no some of the academy part time coaches coach my lads team from time to time. In all,fairness there a nice club coggeshall and they obviously use olly murs as a marketing ploy. Must've had around a thousand plus peaple turn up. Also the way simon Milton was going on on the microphone and going on how well the club is run etc. The kids teams are also well run and organised as well. If your kid is intreasted in a friendly club, it maybe worth a look. With murs they clearly no how to try alternative ys of getting umps on seats I think there could be a lesson learnt here!!!

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lightingblue added 00:45 - Jul 23 Forgot to say jimmy. Olly won't turn up at ipswich. He only enjoys playing where his aprriciated and to a happy audiance where there is an atmosphere
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alfromcol added 00:46 - Jul 23 The Coggeshall manager and OM are related.
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lightingblue added 00:56 - Jul 23 That be the answer then. Think between um there worth a few quid then!! His still a good sales pitch for the club and gets the youngsters turning up. Think it's called marketing somehow. I don't know.
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BrettenhamBlue added 05:38 - Jul 23 Very competitive match game between two evenly matched sides. Nwachuku was the main difference and Coggeshall should probably have won the game given his performance. Palmer also asked our young defence plenty of questions. Olly also played well by running the ball into space which gave our defenders lots to think about. Many of these youngsters will (most likely) be playing for us in the Championship this season so it was an important test for them. Coggeshall did shade this game but it was good to see some solid performances from Morris, Benyu and Nydam. I felt Coggeshalls off the ball movement was superior at times and some of their one touch football caused us a lot of problems. Should also mention Marsden who had a great game in goal.

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lightingblue added 07:34 - Jul 23 In all fairness to marsden he gave,y lad his gloves
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12th_Man added 08:28 - Jul 23 Still no transfer activity
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GiveusaWave added 09:57 - Jul 23 Nwachuku isn't the answer as he failed to impress at Witham Town or Leiston. Sorry but he isn't going to cause the defences of Barnsley, Rotherham etc any issues. I didn't see the game, but it's just a friendly so the result is really nothing to be concerned about. I am positive that if this had been a competition fixture we would have won it. It's important we have no fresh injuries or concerns. I am aware that the friendly results so far haven't exactly been great but it's purely an opportunity for MM and TC to experiment with different squad members and tactics. I am sure that we will be back to the football we play best (long ball) against Barnsley in August.

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Seasider added 10:20 - Jul 23 Impressed with enthusiasm expressed by all at Coggeshall,both on and off the field. Must remember that basically an Under 21 side;but then think Coggeshall were only promoted last season(was it Essex& Suffolk Border league?)and are now in Div 1 of Eastern Counties. I was also impressed with Nwachuku who unlike most Ipswich players always looked to get forward whilst the Town lads kept playing it around in front of Coggeshall defence.

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Pilgrimblue added 11:22 - Jul 23 It seems that Town were shown how to play and while some have said that Nmachuku has had chances elsewhereI'm sure that could also have been said about Vardy! If he shines against players we've signed then it shows how poor some are.
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BroskiBeen added 11:45 - Jul 23 People saying give that Nnamdi Nwachuku a trial, he got released by Colchester academy, he clearly has some ability and has played regularly at levels higher than Coggeshall but one game doesn't make him a world beater, reasons why he's slipped lower and lower must be
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blues1 added 11:46 - Jul 23 Guentchev, are u on a different planet? At least we have no new injuries before the start of the season? Well, we wouldn't have would we, as there wasn't a 1st team player newhere in sight of this game.
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GiveusaWave added 11:57 - Jul 23 Blues1 Expect to see Pattersen, Morris, Benyu in the first team this year.
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midastouch added 14:47 - Jul 23 The defences of Barnsley and Rotherham!? Who have they signed pre-season, Giorgio Chiellini? Just joking. I know what you are saying, it's a big jump but then I remember last season that young lad Lookman for Charlton looking lively against us and he was already attracting interest from elsewhere following his successful step up from non-league. Some players become a lot better when they have better players around them. I like players that have the confidence to get at a defence and cause problems. And a trial would be no-obligation. If he came in and looked out of his depth no big deal. But if he came in and staked a real claim we could sign him for peanuts and we might have a bargain on our hands. I know it's a long shot but it a low risk option and I expect we'd get more bang for our buck than the 10k on the Polish defender who seems to have gone into hiding since Old Trafford!

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midastouch added 15:05 - Jul 23 what i like about non-league players is they are so hungry! when given the opportunity it's a like a fairy tale story and they'd mostly give their back teeth for the team. moreover, you don't always have to be the most talented to play at the highest level. look at gary neville, he wasn't exactly bobby moore or nesta but he still went on to become utd captain. there are gems waiting to be found at non-league, vardy and ian wright are amongst the most famous, but there will be more to follow. i'm not for one minute comparing nwachuku to either of those, but i already reckon he'd have more to offer than the likes of other recent tried-tested (and failed) loan signings such as conor sammon and luke varney, certainly in terms of skill and pace. ideally we'd like to see marcus go out and spend 1 million or 2 million on a new striker but realistically, it's not going to happen, so we may need to look beyond the obvious. give him a couple of games for the reserves and see how he does, surely no harm in that.

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blues1 added 17:30 - Jul 23 Guentchev. It's possible but they aren't actually 1st team players. And from what McCarthy has said benyu unlikely to be in unless he changes his attitude. Doubt Morris is ready yet neither.
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BrettenhamBlue added 12:04 - Jul 24 Sorry but we should be beating Coggeshall especially when Nydam, Benyu and co are going to be fringe players this season and will see plenty of football. Not good enough imo.
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