In front of a crowd of 6,000 spectators a deflected Roman Pavlyuchenko goal on the hour mark was enough to give a Tottenham XI a 1-0 victory over Reggie Lambe and a young Ipswich Town team at Portman Road. Ipswich were second best for the most part against a Spurs side including Ledley King for the first 45 minutes.
Town named very much a second string side with Chris Kiwomya in charge and Roy Keane in the stands. Arran Lee-Barrett was in goal with Jack Ainsley skippering from right-back, Shane O’Connor on the left and Troy Brown and Tom Eastman in the centre.
Conor Hourihane took up the holding midfield role with Colin Healy and David Cawley ahead of him and Lee Martin on the left and Lambe on the right. Ronan Murray was the lone frontman.
Pablo Couñago and Jon Stead were named amongst the substitutes, while Gareth McAuley and Jon Walters were spotted chatting to Ben Thatcher by the Britannia Stand.
Tottenham’s similarly young side included three big names England man King, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Younes Kaboul. Former Town loanee Giovani Dos Santos was with the senior squad in Portugal.
The game’s first chance fell to Spurs in the fifth minute, Tom Carroll’s cross from the left flying just behind Jon Obika at the far post.
Three minutes later, Lee-Barrett parried Pavluychenko’s shot from the edge of the area with the visitors continuing to dominate the game.
Town’s first chance came in the 22nd but Lee Martin’s 20-yard freekick deflected harmlessly into Ben Alnwick’s arms with Troy Brown looking for any slip-up.
Ipswich were coming more and more into it with Colin Healy increasingly influential in midfield and in the 26th minute Cawley was unlucky to get too much on a pass which would have put Lambe in on goal.
In the 34rd minute Ronan Murray struck a strong shot from the right, which Alnwick pushed behind.
The Premier League side had had the better of the half and the opportunities, but the largely young Blues had done well to keep the game goalless and had created one or two half chances on the break.
Tottenham’s Ryan Mason shot into the sidenetting in the 55th minute, then soon after Obika won a corner, which Kaboul headed over.
N’Poku tried a cheeky effort from wide on the right but Lee-Barrett was alert and tipped the ball wide.
The visitors went ahead right on the hour mark when Pavlyuchenko struck a low shot which was easy for Lee-Barrett until it struck a Hourihane, completely wrong-footing him. Prior to the restart, the Blues swapped Hourihane, Murray and Martin for Dunbar, Couñago and Stead.
Jamie Griffiths replaced O’Connor, who had moved to left midfield after the earlier subs, before Parrett forced a save from Lee-Barrett. Then at the other end Lambe’s strike from the edge of the area was pushed wide by Alnwick.
Lambe went close again on 77 when a corner from the right reached him at the back of the box but his shot flew well wide.
Couñago almost threaded in Stead, then almost immediately played in Lambe on the left, Alnwick saving the Bermudian’s low strike with his foot. Town was coming back into the game in the latter stages after half largely run by the Premier League side.
It was Spurs who spent the final minutes pushing for a second, although Couñago had the chance to play Stead through on goal but the Spaniard took too long over his pass.
Town’s youngsters were second best for the most part but kept going and might have grabbed an equalizer, particularly once Couñago’s guile was introduced late on. The Spaniard and Colin Healy were the more impressive of the senior players with Lee Martin continuing to look very short on confidence.
|
