Suffolk News

Ipswich Town conceded a pair of goals in quick succession in both halves as they fell to a punishing 4-1 home Premier League defeat to a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur side on an afternoon that saw the gap to safety increase from two to effectively six points.

Kieran McKenna’s side could have been a few goals ahead before their failure to deal with the threat of Son Heung-Min and Brennan Johnson saw the two combine twice inside eight minutes for the latter to register twice for a 2-0 lead after 26 minutes.

The Blues did respond positively to the setback and got the crucial next goal to halve the deficit via the break with Omari Hutchinson finishing a flowing move with a fine finish in the 36th minute.

Town were pressing hard in the second half for an equaliser and had a far post header from substitute Luke Woolfenden ruled out for offside before two goals in seven minutes put the game well out of sight.

First, substitute James Maddison set up Djed Spence whose shot looped in off Luke Woolfenden on 77 before a breakaway run from Dejan Kulusevski saw the Swede provide a curling finish in off the far post.

It was a scoreline that in truth flattered the visitors as they brought up a trio of Premier League wins for the first time this season, having lost to Town in the reverse fixture in November.

And it was even more punishing for Town with the news of Wolverhampton Wanderers coming away from AFC Bournemouth, who played more than a half with 10 men, with a 1-0 victory that extended the gap to the Blues to five points but with a far superior goal difference.

Kieran McKenna made four changes to the side which drew 1-1 at Aston Villa last weekend with Ben Godfrey coming into a back three for the suspended Axel Tuanzebe and Jack Clarke for the injured Julio Enciso.

Leif Davis returned from illness for Conor Townsend while Jaden Philogene came in for his first start at Portman Road in place of Ben Johnson, as keeper Alex Palmer made his home debut.

Ange Postecoglou’s side showed three changes from the 1-0 home win against Manchester United on Sunday with goalscorer Maddison dropping to the bench for Johnson.

Destiny Udogie and Archie Gray come into the visitor’s defensive line in place of Pedro Porro and Ben Davies with the north London side including former Blues loanee Dane Scarlett among their bench.

A tale of two Sons

There was drama inside the opening minute as Town went desperately close to an opener. Liam Delap burst onto Jens Cajuste’s pass and after turning inside Archie Gray, saw his blocked shot come back out to Philogene whose follow-up effort was blocked on the line by Omari Hutchinson who was in an offside position.

Roared on by the home crowd, Delap went close again moments later, dragging his angled shot from inside the box wide of the far post after once again getting the better of Gray.

The frantic start continued with Dara O’Shea, captaining the side in Morsy’s absence, doing well to get his body across to put off Destiny Udogie’s run down the left as he went to pull the trigger, Palmer smothering the loose ball.

Delap then towered above everyone in the seventh minute to direct a header goalward from Kalvin Phillip’s right-wing free kick only to see it come back off the top of the far post. Philogene sent an overhead kick up into the sky following a head down on the edge of the box from the rebound.

Greaves made a crucial hooked clearance ahead of Johnson at the far post after Lucas Bergvall’s shot from Son Heung-Min’s square pass.

And it was Spurs who took the lead in the 18th minute when a raking pass out of the back on transition from Gray picked out Son down the left. The Spurs skipper managed to get half a yard on Godfrey down the left side of the area to put in a low cross that Johnson, who had got just ahead of Davis, poked home from close-range.

Town responded well with Hutchinson’s cross picking out Clarke whose header was easily held by Vicario while Delap saw an effort deflected wide before Philogene, following the corner coming back out, lashed over from outside the box, before Delap had a weak low effort saved.

But a lack of defensive solidity proved the home side’s undoing again in the 26th minute with the same combination combining to double Tottenham’s advantage.

Godfrey could not get close enough to Son again in the box, following another diagonal pass, this time from Rodrigo Bentacur, finding the South Korean before he slipped the ball across to an unmarked Johnson 10 yards out who stroked the ball home under Davis’ legs.

Attacking play clicks for Blues

Other than the finishing touch there had not been much wrong with Town’s attacking play and it eventually paid dividends with the crucial third goal nine minutes before half-time.

Phillips won the ball high up, following a loose header, before slipping Clarke in down the left side of the area with the former Tottenham player providing a perfect pull-back to find the run of Hutchinson who fired a first-time curling effort into the far corner.

Clarke soon found Hutchinson again inside the box but this time the former Chelsea man was unable to get a clean connection as he fell back, with his shot straight at Vicario.

Palmer had to come to the Blues’ rescue in the 42nd minute, making a low save to his right to deny Bentacur who was allowed to drive through the middle, with Greaves heading behind the loose ball.

Godrey made a block on a Son shot just after three additional minutes were signalled with the Blues having done enough to get themselves back into the game by the break after shoddy defending had left them seemingly floundering after such a promising start.

The equaliser that wasn’t

McKenna reacted at half-time by replacing Godfrey who had had a torrid time containing Son, with Luke Woolfenden, who took up a central position with O’Shea moving over to the right of the back three.

The second half, which had started far more low key, was six minutes in when the Town boss was forced into his second change with Cajuste unable to continue after Bentancur fell on his ankle, with Jack Taylor entering the fray.

Hutchinson and Phillips had shots blocked from a well-placed free kick before Woolfenden headed home the former’s cross at the far post only for the offside flag to halt his celebrations in front of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand, under a new sponsorship deal.

Spurs add late gloss

Davis did well to make up the ground to block a Johnson chance up the other end from Dejan Kulusevski’s pass as Spurs looked to restore their two-goal lead.

Former Norwich man Maddison’s entrance for goalscorer Johnson was roundly booed as Postecoglou made a double change, with Porro replacing Udogie.

Nathan Broadhead entered the action for Clarke in the 68th minute as McKenna went for a third change to spark another big moment.

The former Everton man was soon in the thick of the action, having an effort from a Philogene floated cross blocked in the area as he fell back.

With the Blues piling on the pressure, Postecoglu sent on Scarlett and Wilson Odobert for Mathys Tel and Son as the game went into the final 15 minutes.

And what was the visitors’ first non-blocked effort of the half, two minutes later, restored their two-goal advantage at a key time.

After picking up the ball deep on the left, sub Maddison managed to twist and turn his way out of a trio of swarming players, before laying back to Spence whose right-footed shot from the centre of the area looped in over Palmer to the top right corner via a deflection off Woolfenden’s heel.

McKenna reacted by bringing on George Hirst for Delap and Morsy for the injured Phillips.

But the Blues soon found themselves 4-1 behind in what was controversial fashion in the 84th minute.

With Greaves down clutching his head after losing out on an aerial challenge on a long ball to the half way line for Scarlett, referee Tim Robinson played on with Kulusevski picking up the flick-on and driving into the box before cutting inside and producing a curling finish that went in off the far post.

O’Shea headed into side netting from corner on right as the Blues looked for an unlikely way back into the contest.

Eight minutes of additional time were signalled with a VAR check on a Broadhead penalty appeal, going down under Kulusevski’s challenge three minutes in not yielding any joy for the home fans who remained to the bitter end.

The need for points from Old Trafford against Manchester United on Wednesday (7.30pm) has only increased with this result.

Ipswich Town: Palmer, Godfrey (Woolfenden 46’), O'Shea, Greaves, Davis, Phillips, Cajuste (Taylor 52’), Philogene, Hutchinson, Clarke (Broadhead 68’), Delap.

Unused subs: Muric, Johnson, Townsend, Morsy, Szmodics, Hirst.

Booked: Clarke (32’), Godfrey (40’).

Tottenham: Vicario, Spence, Danso, Gray, Udogie (Porro 64’), Bentancur, Bergvall, Johnson (Maddison 64’), Kulusevski, Son (Odobert 74’), Tel (Scarlett 74’) .

Unused subs: Kinsky, Reguilon, Sarr, Bissouma, Moore..

Booked: Johnson (15’)

Referee: Tim Robinson (west Sussex). VAR: Chris Kavanagh.

Attendance: 30,0003 (2,976)

Suffolk News Man of the Match: Kalvin Phillips. Another tenacious display in the centre of the park justified his manager keeping faith with him over bringing back his captain.

The latest book by a Haverhill author is not only a personal account of life as a Tottenham Hotspur fan but a tribute to two men who helped to shape his love of the team.

Hayden Gribble’s new book, Post Traumatic Spurs Disorder: Being a Tottenham Fan in the Premier League Years, was released on September 9, the ninth anniversary of the death of his dad Alan, 56 – the man who took him to his first Spurs match.

The 35-year-old is a prolific writer who, since publishing his debut novel in 2012, the crime thriller The Man in the Corner, has gone on to publish another nine, covering genres such as horror, science fiction, non-fiction and autobiography. His new offering is his first based on sport.

All of Hayden’s books are available to buy on Amazon and through his website.

Hayden, who is married to Sophie with whom he has a son, William, three, and a daughter, Isabelle, six months, began writing his latest book six weeks after her birth.

Just five months later it has been written, re-written, proofed numerous times and published – all while also having a full-time job.

“It was a book I had in mind for about 15 years,” said Hayden.

“It’s probably the oldest idea for a book I had, but I didn’t know how to write it. I didn’t have a clue.”

Having written the book, he said: “I suppose things have been a bit painful as a fan and personally as well because my dad passed.

“There’s a lot of bits which are quite hard to look at because I lost my dad in 2015 and obviously he played a big part in it; father and son going to a match and introducing me to the team.

“I used it [the book] as a bit of therapy because I published it on the [ninth anniversary of the] day he died and it’s a tribute to him and my grandad as well, because he was a Spurs fan too.”

As for his favourite Spurs player, Hayden plumped for winger Gareth Bale, partly because he was ‘living the dream I had when I was younger’. His favourite manager was the Dutchman Martin Jol.

Ipswich Town have reportedly agreed a fee with Sunderland for winger Jack Clarke, with his medical set to take place today (Friday).

The 23-year-old, as claimed by SuffolkNews’ media partners TWTD, as well as other outlets, is set to move to Portman Road in a deal worth £15 million up front, which could rise to £20 million with add-ons.

Clarke’s former employers, Tottenham Hotspur, will receive 25 per cent of the fee from a sell-on.

The attacker scored 15 goals and registered four assists for the Black Cats last term, which followed his 24 goal involvements in all competitions the season before.

York-born Leeds United academy graduate Clarke made his first senior appearance for the Whites in 2018, for whom he scored twice for, before earning a move to Tottenham in the summer of 2019.

Clarke struggled for gametime during his tenure at Spurs and was sent out on loan to QPR, Stoke City and Sunderland. He made his move to the Stadium of Light permanent in 2022 and has already contributed a goal and an assist in his first two matches of this season.

Meanwhile, the Blues, who travel to Manchester City tomorrow (3pm), are set to confirm the signing of Armando Broja on a season-long loan from Chelsea – which will take their tally of summer incomings to 10.

Ipswich Town are reportedly in a ‘three-way fight’ to secure the services of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Oliver Skipp.

The 23-year-old is, according to The Telegraph, attracting interest from the Blues and the Premier League’s two other newly-promoted sides, Leicester City and Southampton.

Skipp, who won the Sky Bet Championship title with Town’s East Anglian rivals Norwich City in the 2020/21 campaign, made 21 Premier League appearances for Spurs last term under Ange Postecoglou, starting five matches, but is likely to leave the Tottnham Hotspur Stadium this summer.

Since joining the north London outfit at eight years old, Skipp has gone onto make more than 100 appearances for the Lilywhites following his first-team debut against West Ham in the Carabao Cup in 2018.

The Welwyn Garden City-born player has also made 24 appearances for England’s Under-21s side and was in Spurs’ academy when Town boss Kieran McKenna was playing and coaching at the club.

Skipp has three years left on his contract after he signed a five-year deal in 2022.