Sunday 5th February saw Chelmsford Men’s 1s travel away to Ipswich for the second of their two matches. After a disappointing result against Magpies the day before, Chelmsford knew they had something to prove. Traveling with just 12, Chelmsford knew it was going to be a tough battle, without taking into account the influence of the shut A12 disrupting preparations and warm up time.
Even considering this, with a quick start from Chelmsford, and some slick, high ball passing, Chelmsford took the lead after just 30 seconds, with Ollie Lane slapping the ball hard and low into the goal for his second of the weekend.
It wasn’t long though until some more sloppy man marking from Chelmsford saw the home team equalise from a short corner that was broken down and played in past the post man.
With some more silky passing and moving off of the ball, along came Chelmsford’s second, as the move started from the left back Snr Fox. However, this was cancelled out again through a quick free hot taken by Ipswich, which was fizzed into the ‘D’, with the forward running in ahead of the defender and deflecting it past the visitors.
With the scores tied at half time at 2-2 it was all to play for.
It was Ipswich who were sharper out of the block, with some lack lustre defending and mis-timed tackles meaning a short corner was conceded which was converted through a low drag flick to the keepers stick side. It wasn’t long until Ipswich went two ahead, with a number of diving tackles leaving a pass to the back post through to an unmarked attacker for a simple tap in.
Chelmsford’s third goal was something that dreams are made of, With veteran Vas picking the ball up between our 23 and half way line, launching a cross field, 50 yard aerial to the darting run of Luke Mepham, who picked the ball up on the move drove the ball into the ‘D’ from a tight angle finished in the opposite top corner of the goal. The quality of the goal left just about everyone speechless except for the umpire pointing to the centre spot.
This leaves Chelmsford low down in the table with a real battle on their hands, as they return to Chelmer Park next Saturday for their next encounter.