Coley’s apology

pswich 4-1 Accrington

SKY BET

LEAGUE ONE

IPSWICH TOWN .............. 4 STANLEY........................... 1

ACCRINGTON Stanley were handed a heavy defeat on their travels after they were beaten by Ipswich Town at Portman

Road. Goals from former Stanley player Kayden Jackson, James Norwood, Alan Judge and Will Keane condemned Accrington to defeat, despite a late penalty from Offrande Zanzala.

The defeat has left Accrington in 17th place in the League One table, and manager John Coleman was unhappy with the display from his players.

“We showed no energy, no fight, Ipswich wiped the floor with us. We didn’t pass, we didn’t close down, we didn’t challenge, we looked devoid of ideas, we were awful,” he said.

“I’m in charge of the team so I have to take the blame.

“We were a bit better in the second half. Even at 2-0 we could have gone in and regrouped for the second half but we gave them another one.

“We made a game of it in the second half, we pinned them back but it could have been six or seven in the first half. You have to take your hat off to Ipswich, they were very good.

“I’d just like to apologise to our fans who came. I thought we were absolutely diabolical in the first half. There’s no excuse for a lacklustre performance.”

It didn’t take Ipswich long to take the lead in the match, as the hosts made the breakthrough on 12 minutes. Emyr Huws, Luke Garbutt and Flynn Downes were all involved in the move, with the latter’s low cross turned home by Jackson to net against his former club.

Things didn’t get any easier for the Reds, as Ipswich doubled their lead just before the half hour mark. Huws was involved against as he sent a lofted pass into the path of Norwood, who lobbed the ball over Ipswich goalkeeper Joe Bursik to make it 2-0.

Accrington were keen to get in for half-time in order to re-group, but they were dealt a further blow when they conceded again on 44 minutes.

Judge was the man to get the goal, converting from close range following a smart one-two between Ipswich skipper Luke Chambers and Norwood, with Judge finishing off the move when he fired low under the goalkeeper to make it 3-0 at the interval.

Stanley had given themselves a mountain to climb in the second half, but they were slightly improved after the break, creating a few half chances as they looked to get back in the game.

Coleman turned to his substitutes bench as he tried to find a way back into the game for his team, with Zanzala and Aji Alese coming on in place on Wilson Carvalho and Joe Pritchard.

They were given an opportunity to get on the scoresheet when they were awarded a penalty