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Ipswich Town 3-1 Southend United - Match Report
Tuesday, 26th Jul 2022 20:59

Tyreece John-Jules, Greg Leigh and Freddie Ladapo were on target as what was essentially a Town second XI beat Southend United 3-1 at Portman Road in the final friendly of pre-season. Arsenal loanee John-Jules gave the Blues the lead on seven, Leigh made it 2-0 on 58, then Ladapo completed the scoring two minutes from time after Callum Powell had pulled one back for the National League side in the 77th minute.

Town named an entirely changed XI with Vaclav Hladky in goal with a back four of, from the right, Kane Vincent-Young, Corrie Ndaba, Cameron Burgess and Leigh ahead of him in a 4-2-3-1 system.

Rekeem Harper and Cameron Humphreys were the central midfield pair with Kyle Edwards, Sone Aluko and John-Jules behind lone central striker Kayden Jackson.

There was no place for new signing Leif Davis, who only returned from Leeds United's pre-season tour of Australia at the weekend, while everyone else aside from Dominic Ball and Idris El Mizouni were on the bench.

National League Southend, whose players had no numbers on the back of their shirts, were skippered by former Town academy scholar Nathan Ralph.

In the seventh minute Shrimpers midfielder Cav Miley was shown a yellow card for a foul on Vincent-Young and from the resultant free-kick, the Blues, wearing their red and black away kit, went in front.

Aluko sent the ball to the near post and John-Jules volleyed his second goal of pre-season past visitors’ keeper Steve Arnold.

Town, with former loanee and local boy Macauley Bonne sitting in the crowd, went close to a second in the 11th minute when John-Jules sent Edwards away on the right and crossed low and Aluko diverted it past the far post with Jackson at the back of the box appearing to have been who the winger was trying to pick out.

The Blues had been completely dominant from the start and as the game passed the quarter-hour mark were camped permanently around the Southend box winning a succession of corners.

On 21 Edwards won the ball on the Town right, brought it forward and inside before hitting a low shot which keeper Arnold did well to push past his left post.

Four minutes later, another sharp move down the right ended with Vincent-Young crossing and the ball being cleared ahead of John-Jules.


The on-loan Arsenal man went close to his second of the evening in the 33rd minute with a shot across Arnold from the right of the box which the keeper push past his right post.

Three minutes later Edwards again brought the ball in from the right and hit a shot straight at Arnold which the Southend man almost allowed to squirm between his legs. On 39 Aluko struck a low 25-yard effort which was too close to the Shrimpers keeper.

Southend had their first chance of the match in the 41st minute. Ralph appeared to take a dive as Vincent-Young made a challenge and the loose ball ran to Jack Bridge whose effort was blocked by Hladky and in any case the linesman’s flag had been raised.

Bury St Edmunds-based referee Chris Pollard’s whistle ended the half without further incident with the Blues having been in complete control from virtually start to finish.

Town had passed the ball around confidently and at pace and had created enough chances to be more than the single goal in front with John-Jules finishing deftly and putting in an impressive 45 minutes.

The Blues swapped Jackson for Tawanda Chirewa at the break with the youngster moving to the left of the three behind John-Jules.

Southend made 11 changes at the break, although that wasn’t immediately obvious due to the lack of shirt numbers.

The second-half Shrimpers struck the period’s first shot, but Jack Wood’s effort flew well into the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand.

But Town soon restored the control they had shown in the second half and in the 56th minute Harper curled a shot over from the edge of the box after being teed-up by Edwards.

Moments later, Aluko burst through the middle but Southend sub keeper Collin Andeng Ndi was quickly off his line to clear.

And in the 58th minute, Town made it 2-0. John-Jules sent Edwards away down the right and the winger crossed low for the unmarked Leigh to slam his second goal of pre-season into the net.

On 62 Callum Powell hit a shot straight at Hladky for the visitors, then at the other end Aluko almost played in Harper after a lovely series of one-touch passes on the edge of the box.

The Blues made three substitutions in the 68th minute with Conor Chaplin, Marcus Harness and Ladapo taking over from Aluko, Chirewa and John-Jules.

Hladky saved from Wood as the game moved into its final 20 minutes and on 77 the Shrimpers pulled a goal back. Chris Wreh played the ball forward for Powell who beat Hladky to his left as a challenge came in from Burgess which injured the goalscorer.

Town immediately made more changes with former Southend loanee Christian Walton, Luke Woolfenden, George Edmundson, Matt Penney, Janoi Donacien, Wes Burns, Sam Morsy and Lee Evans replacing Hladky, Ndaba, Burgess, Leigh, Vincent-Young, Edwards, Harper and Humphreys.

Powell came close to levelling in the 81st minute, cutting in from the right and hitting a low shot which smashed against Walton’s left post and away. Moments later, Morsy was shown Town’s first yellow card for a shirt pull.

Town, unsettled by all the substitutions, quickly recovered their composure and in the 88th minute made it 3-1, Burns floating a cross from the right and Ladapo rising high and placing a header past Andeng Ndi to his right, the striker’s third goal of pre-season.

As the game entered injury time, Burns turned a corner from the right into the side-netting, then saw an effort from the right of the area blocked by Andeng Ndi having been played in by Morsy.

Penney shot through to the keeper from the resultant corner before referee Pollard’s whistle ended proceedings.

A comfortable win for Town who confidently controlled the game against the National League side and wouldn’t have been flattered by a greater margin of victory.

The lack of a clean sheet may be a minor irk, however, it came at a time when substitutions were being made en masse.

Few if any clubs in League One will be able to field a second XI as strong as Town this season, illustrating the strength in depth available to manager Kieran McKenna once the campaign proper gets under way on Saturday when Bolton Wanderers visit Portman Road.

Town: Hladky, Vincent-Young (Donacien 79), Burgess (Edmundson 79), Ndaba (Woolfenden 79), Leigh (Penney 79), Harper (Morsy 79), Humphreys (Evans 79), Edwards (Burns 79), Aluko (c) (Chaplin 68), John-Jules (Ladapo 68), Jackson (Chirewa 46 (Harness 68)).

Southend first half: Arnold, Ralph (c), Hobson, Kensale, Bridge, Husin, Dalby, Clifford, Taylor, Miley, Mooney.

Southend second half: Andeng Ndi, Crowhurst, Davis, Reeve, Demetriou, Fonguck, Benton, Coker, Wood, Powell, Wreh. Referee: Chris Pollard (Bury St Edmunds). Att: 4,616 (Southend: 278).


Photo: Matchday Images



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Saxonblue74 added 21:01 - Jul 26
Great to see a Burns assist and Ladapo finish. Hoping for many more of those!!
9

ipswich134 added 21:09 - Jul 26
Great to see our strikers scoring goals. Hopefully Jackson will get one soon.
6

Ebantiass added 21:12 - Jul 26
Three well taken goals.
8

BeattiesBackPocket added 21:23 - Jul 26
Brilliant volley from John jules on the turn
7

chepstowblue added 21:27 - Jul 26
Hate it being called a second Xl when I was lead to believe we have a first team squad ! Nobody has a clue what the best Xl is, and managers never pick their best Xl anyway. It just gives people an easy excuse to use when a certain player is out and a result goes against us. These little goal snippets look good. At 56 I no longer salivate, but this negative glass half empty kind of guy is enjoying what he's seeing. I'd still take the play offs though.
-5

RobsonWark added 21:30 - Jul 26
We've been scoring freely all preseason and yet people on here will still be screaming that we NEED to buy another striker. It's proved over so many years in the past that it's not the striker it's the system we play. I think we now have the perfect system to win games.
4

Suffolkboy added 21:38 - Jul 26
RW – great to see such positive assessment ,hope the players continue to respond to match for this will be really exciting
,
COYB
4

Bazza8564 added 21:52 - Jul 26
Loved watching that little cameo from Freddie, he seems to be settling just at the right time.
Pace everywhere going forward and some nice touches from Harper and Humphreys too.
Bring it on....
3

BromleyBloo added 22:30 - Jul 26
Looking good and feeling the vibe - COYB!!!
2

RobsonWark added 23:03 - Jul 26
Butcher you really need to get that broken nose fixed and maybe you wouldn't mark me down and maybe then you would have so much more confidence in the team!! I hate negative people like you!!
3

Europablue added 23:03 - Jul 26
chepstowblue It was a second 11 on what we have currently available, it doesn't mean that they are second rate, or that the players who started tonight couldn't force their way into the starting team.
3

Oldozblue added 01:19 - Jul 27
Pre-season and a B team but I thought it would be at least 5 nil against a mid-table National League side who are still sorting themselves out. Suspect their coach would be the better pleased. But pre-season and players wanting to avoid injury.
-1

dirtydingusmagee added 07:08 - Jul 27
getting pumped up for new season now, think we have a good squad of players now, still feel a prolific scorer would be the icing on the cake . Really think we should finally get out of this league now ,strong team , a good manager, owners interested in football and success. LETS DO IT , COYB
4

mathiemagic added 07:15 - Jul 27
If that had been a league match from last season it would have probably ended 2-2. Let's hope with the likes of Ladapo we have the firepower to cover up any mistakes made at the back and any “Off days” that all teams have. There really does seem to be a feel good factor around the club so roll on Saturday.
4

IpswichT62OldBoy added 09:13 - Jul 27
I wonder if we will score from a corner soon.
4

Nobbysnuts added 10:24 - Jul 27
Poor game...rubbish result.
-4

dirtydingusmagee added 11:15 - Jul 27
Nobbysnuts, hope you can get a ''happy transplant'' soon you've been waiting a long time .
1

runningout added 11:19 - Jul 27
ignore!
0

Nomore4 added 12:22 - Jul 27
The truth is nobby is correct in his assessment.
Southend really are dire….and another relegation battle ahead for them.
3.1 hardly flattering.
-1

KernewekBlue added 13:56 - Jul 27
Not much footage to go on to make sweeping statements one way or the other... it is what it is, a pre-season, easy warm up game against inferior opposition to give a lot of the lads a run out. Simple as that.

John Jules goal was well taken on the volley, Greg Leigh's was slid in on a plate and Ladapo's header was deftly guided in after a great dinked cross from Burns.

Team playing at 65 - 75% of what we can expect come the opener against Bolton... we owe them one and I'm sure all the lads will be up for it come Saturday.

A couple of games in earnest and we should see the sharpness improve significantly.

This ought to be the season we get back up to The Championship so keep the faith, be patient, trust that everyone at the club now pulls in the same direction and watch the results. It'll pay dividends, I'm sure.

Excited for Saturday?

Not 'alf!

COYB
1

Nobbysnuts added 14:35 - Jul 27
Could of easily been 2-2 ....then what would people be saying today??? Great performance...no... a run out....yes..... but come on Southend are p#ss poor..
1

Nomore4 added 18:05 - Jul 27
The bookies have Solihull Moors and Bromley to finish higher in the National league, so that's where Southend's level is.
The bookies also have Piggot and Norwood to out score any town current striker. Which is surprising…..
1

Positive_Vibes added 18:13 - Jul 27
When are they going to announce the squad numbers for the season? Or have I missed it?
0


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