Ipswich Wanderers Reserves 3 v. Leiston Reserves 1

Ridgeons Reserves League (North)

Saturday 15th April 2006

With this the penultimate game of the season everybody was looking for a win to take us into our last game against Needham on Saturday for the right to finish second from bottom in the league table.

The sun was shining and the pitch was in a reasonable state considering the amount of football that has been played on it this season.

Due to the defensive frailities of late, Goffers decided to come out of retirement and play himself at centre half to try and steady the ship from the heart of defence; there was also a recall for Mark Francis who slotted into the middle of the park to try and bring some extra steal and experience to the Wanderers young guns.

The game started brightly with both teams looking to force their way, Jorrell Hurd was giving his opposing defenders the runaround which resulted in at least 3 yellow cards for the opposition due to some untimely tackles trying to stop his excellent wing play.

Leiston took an undeserved lead when a shot out wide from the Leiston forward was deemed to have struck Ricky Ward on the arm.  The only person to see it was the referee but he had no hesitation in awarding a penalty and a card to the unlucky Ward.  The Leiston forward struck the pen confidently past Robbie Stannard to take the lead 1-0.

The equalizer was not too long away however when Neil Hayward shot from the edge of the box which the Leiston keeper failed to hold; top scorer Adam potter was on hand to nudge the rebound over the line to give Wanderers a deserved equalizer.

The tails were up and Wanderers were looking for the important second goal, Dave Kenyon had an opportunity but the keeper made a good save to send the teams in at the break level 1-1.

Now, in previous weeks the team talk at half time has been heated and difficult due to being behind and having to play catch up, Pop Hodge gave the troops words of encouragement and, after Goffers caught his breath, sent the Wanderers team out for the second half with the belief that the game was their’s for the taking.

This week you could see that the belief was there as everybody was playing well and confidence was running through their veins.  The opportunity came for the lead to be taken when Dave Kenyon was put through from an acute angle which he duly finished with aplomb by drawing the keeper and sticking it in the top corner of the net. 

This was a fantastic team goal and it was nice to see Dave score a goal of such quality. As he’ll tell you himself goal scoring is all about confidence and he certainly showed it here with this finish.

Wanderers could sense that if they kept playing the way they were, with Burgess, Hayward and Francis driving them on from the middle of the park plus the mazy wing play of Hurd, then the 3rd Wanderers goal wouldn’t be too far away.

The home supporters were duly rewarded for their loyal support when a shot from the edge of the area was again scrambled by the Leiston keeper into the path of Dave Kenyon who was on hand to knock it into the net to make the score 3-1 Wanderers.

With minutes running out Wanderers introduced three substitutes to the game to give them experience and enjoy the atmosphere of a good all round performance from the Wanderers squad and management team.

With one game to go, lets enjoy the result but make sure we are ready for Needham this Saturday where local pride is at stake and also the wooden spoon.