Good Advert For Football

AFC’s last pre-season fixture saw Suffolk’s only Football league side, Ipswich Town visit The Wardale Williams Stadium, again in their final warm up game before the start of then 2014/15 season.

Ipswich Manager Mick McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor were in attendance to see his side run out winners in a very entertaining game. They were joined by 718 spectators who should have gone away happy to have seen a pretty good game.
The Ipswich side contained a lot of promising youngsters along with a couple of fringe first team players, while the AFC side was pretty much a full strength one.

Ipswich first real effort came in the thirteenth minute when Marriott and Taylor combined to feed McQueen whose shot struck the AFC post, from the rebounding shot Alex Archer saved. The AFC keeper was beaten four minutes later when Marriott shot was initially saved but McQueen followed up to shoot home.

It took AFC only two minutes to level when from a right sided corner taken by Lee Flynn Henshaw rose to head powerfully home.

On twenty-three minutes the home side suffered a blow when striker James Baker had to leave the field with a slight hamstring pull, Wesley Hause replaced him.

Both sides had chances, Taylor for Town and Lawrence Yiga for AFC before the break when the two teams went in level.
Town made a couple of changes at the break and kept Archer busy in the AFC goal, saving low done and coming out to fingertip the ball from the feet of the inrushing forward before Yiga cleared off the line.

Ipswich took the lead on fifty-six minutes when Marriott scored with a low shot into the corner of the net, and Taylor increased their lead when he fired home minutes later to increase their lead. They made it a three goal lead when their Captain Clarke added a fourth on sixty-five minutes.

AFC made a number of changes with Sam Clarke and Michael Shinn being replaced by Jack Guyton and Ayrton Coley and Ollie Hughes taking Jake Reed place. They made a further substitution with Payton Swatman leaving and Jordan Blackwell taking over.

The visitors also made substitutions, and still kept Archer busy in the AFC goal, before with fourteen minutes left AFC pulled a goal back. A Flynn free kick on the right found its way to Lawrence Yiga who got the final touch before the ball entered the Ipswich net.

One final change for AFC saw Stefano Mallardo take over from Flynn with thirteen minutes of play left. There was no more scoring but AFC had the best chance when from a Hughes cross after good work from Blackwell, somehow Hause failed to put the ball away. Just before the final whistle Mallardo did well bursting through to have a good shot saved.

All in all a good night when the club were able to entertain their much appreciated sponsors and guests and put on a good show both on and off the pitch.

Now onto the real stuff as the 2014/15 season starts in earnest.

Att 718