Another glorious sunny day greeted the spectators to Maitlands for this Ridgeons League First Division match. The pitch took a stud and looked firm and even as the Hornets lined up without Rob Kemp who is still nursing a strained groin, Kevin Barker who has a knee problem to get sorted and Adam Rickwood has still not recovered from his ingrown toenail. Manager Dale Vince shuffled his pack for this game with Nathan Vincent starting at number 4 and Nathan Smith at number 10 with Marc Wake on the bench. Ben Bowler kept his place in midfield and Liam Smith led the forward line with James Heathcote playing wide. Ben Green passed a fitness test before the game and was also on the bench beside George Johnson who had another afternoon with the senior squad.
The opening exchanges saw both teams make progress up the pitch but no clear openings were created. Debenham were having the major part of the play as they engineered free kicks and corner kicks but the closest they came was a corner that was headed over the bar by Nathan Vincent after 9 minutes before the Wanderers attacked and Lee Bloom had to make a saving tackle as the visitors’ number 9 Stefan Garrett was running into the penalty area. Liam Smith was looking particularly lively as he picked up the ball and ran at the Wanderers’ defence on a number of occasions but the visitors defended in numbers and Liam was often crowded out. Nathan Smith looked confident in possession as he carried the ball towards the opposition and on one occasion he managed to get to the by-line but his cross was cleared.
On 25 minutes a free kick from Liam Bevis was headed towards goal by Nathan Vincent and we all thought that he had done the trick but the ball scraped past the right hand post with the keeper beaten and then a nice move involved James Heathcote who controlled a goal kick before interchanging passes with Nathan Smith and having a long range shot at goal that cleared the bar. James Heathcote then sent a pass into the penalty area after 30 minutes that Liam Smith looked like connecting with but a defender’s outstretched boot just managed to intercept and from the clearance upfield the ball ended up at the feet of STEFAN GARRETT who brushed off a weak challenge and planted a shot beyond Sam Chilvers in the Hornets’ goal and just inside the left hand post to give the visitors the lead at 1-0.
Debenham were shocked into action as we didn’t want our lowly visitors to do another smash and grab and after 32 minutes a first time clearance from Tom Hardwick in defence landed at the feet of James Heathcote who controlled the ball well before sliding a nicely weighted pass through to Nathan Smith whose pass to LIAM SMITH was controlled with one touch and hit a shot at goal with the next and we were all delighted to see the net ripple as the ball beat Aaron Reed in the Ipswich Wanderers goal to score the equaliser. A nicely taken goal by a player who was enjoying a good lively game and worrying the visiting defence each time he took control of the ball.
Debenham continued to press with James Heathcote prominent and Liam Smith looking dangerous but the closest the home team came to scoring followed a corner kick that was not cleared and Nathan Vincent was first to the loose ball and his shot beat the keeper but a defender was positioned perfectly on the goal line to head the ball away and the half ended with Liam Smith making a nice run that took him past two or three defenders before a tackled halted his progress.

Half Time    Debenham LC FC   1            Ipswich Wanderers    1
                  Smith  32                               Garrett 30

Deben ham started the second half strongly with James Heathcote feeding the ball to Liam Smith whose shot was blocked and after just five minutes of the half Nathan Smith was replaced by Ben Green as the home team continued to press but Ipswich Wanderers were looking dangerous as they played on the break. A period of Debenham pressure saw James Heathcote have a number of runs at the visitor’s defence without the final product and Nathan Vincent was adjudged to be marginally offside as he took control of the ball in the penalty area. The 60th minute saw the Hornets score a deserved second goal as Liam Smith took a pass and ran at the defence before slipping the ball to JAMES HEATHCOTE who slipped past a defender and cut inside to the edge of the penalty area where he shot for the far post and his aim was good as the ball sped across the turf past the keeper’s outstretched left arm and settled into the corner of the net to give Debenham the lead at 2-1. This was more like it and the spectators (those in yellow and black) looked forward to more enterprising attacking play to finish the game off but we all know how these things just don’t happen as you would like and just two minutes later Ipswich Wanderers attacked and their forwards were left in acres of space as a shot at goal was parried by Sam Chilvers and the ball fell very kindly to MATT WILSON who had the simplest of tasks to score into an open net. Thing didn’t get any better however as the visitors gained possession from the restart and sent in a cross that was headed forward into the Debenham goalmouth and the defence failed to clear the ball as BEN SPARROW knocked the ball into the net to stun the home team and their supporters. 2-1 up to 3-2 down in the space of a couple of minutes must say something about the home defence and the need to just clear the ball into row Z without playing yourself into trouble.
Wanderers were buoyed up by the goals and made a couple of rash tackles as Debenham tried to get back into the game. First Liam Smith was brought down by a tackle from behind and after a period of pressure by the home team Tom Hardwick was carrying the ball through the centre circle when Sam Gordon launched himself into a tackle that was late and high with both feet off the ground and saw Tom laid out for a while and prompted the referee to show a straight red card for what was a blatantly dangerous tackle.
As play restarted we all hoped for some results from having a one man advantage but that proved not to be the case as the Wanderers defended stoutly and managed to repel everything that the Hornets could throw at them. Debenham played some nice football with clever interplay and energetic running but from every situation the ball just would not fall kindly for a yellow shirt. Shots went in from all angles from nearly all of the outfield players as the home team strived to earn at least a point but all that they did get was a dubious caution for Nathan Vincent who challenged the goalkeeper for a high ball and saw the Wanderers number 1 fall to the ground as if he’d been hit by a train!
So the game dribbled to a close with the visitors taking the points and once again the Hornets lack of scoring being their downfall after a game full of good passing moves but a severe lack of goal scoring chances.

Final Score               Debenham LC FC   2            Ipswich Wanderers    3
                               Smith  32                               Garrett 30
                               Heathcote  60                        Wilson  62
                                                                             Sparrow 64

Referee                    Mr G Allan              Assistant Referees   Mr J Buda     Mr D Mason

Attendance               68

Debenham LC FC    Chilvers, Gedney, Cussons, Vincent, Hardwick, Bloom, Bevis, Bowler, L Smith,
                               N Smith, Heathcote   Substitutes   Wake, Green, Johnson
Cautioned                 N Vincent

Ipswich Wanderers   Reid, Welton, Francis, Frost, Wilson, Horsfall, Haynes, Hall, Garrett, Russell, Tynan
                               Substitutes   Sparrow, Primus, Gordon
Cautioned                Wilson, Garrett, Sparrow
Dismissed                Gordon