Stalemate At Eric Evans As Both Sides Rue Missed Chances

Ipswich Knights 2 (White 10’, 29’)

Rochedale Rovers 2 (Ortega 34’, Shizuno 73’)

HT: 2-1

Played at Eric Evans Oval

The proverbial game of (almost) two halves at Eric Evans Oval saw Ipswich Knights and Rochedale Rovers end all square after a tense match that had controversy aplenty. Rochedale made the early running with their first opportunity arriving in the fourth minute when a cross from the left was flicked on by Seiji Shizuno and reached Sam Fellows on the right but his shot was blocked by the Knights’ defence. Ipswich then started to take control of the match and it was no surprise when Luke Monaghan found Elliot White with a good through ball and White was able to round James Harkin in the Rochedale goal and slot the ball home on 10 minutes. Knights kept up the pressure after this, creating a number of half chances, but were unable to convert any of these. The best of these came in the 25th minute when Kazuki Nishimaki squared the ball from the left to White who completely mis-kicked the ball which went high and wide. Four minutes later, Knights doubled their lead when another good through ball found White one on one with Harkin and he placed the ball under the advancing keeper into the net. On 32 minutes, Ipswich should have made it three. Takuto Kakimoto crossed from the right to Emmanuel Peter at the back post and all that was required was firm contact to knock the ball home. Peter mis-hit the ball which resulted in a goalmouth scramble with the Rochedale defence eventually clearing. Knights were made to pay for their profligacy as Rochedale reduced the arrears through Erik Ortega who received a through ball on the left and rounded Knights’ keeper Declan Murphy. Although the angle was tight, Ortega stroked the ball home. This goal changed the complexion of the game which had been under Knights control and Rochedale made the running for the remainder of the half.

Rovers were lucky not to concede again when a mis-hit pass back by Jason Tobin to Harkin was lofted over the keeper but went wide of the goal. Rovers had the ball in the net for a second time in the 39th minute when a cross from the left by Tomas Ross was flicked on by Kado Aoci to Fellows whose shot was saved by Murphy. From the rebound, the ball was knocked home by Shizuno but he was denied by the Assistant's off-side flag. The second half continued with Rochedale in the ascendancy and their first real chance came on 53 minutes when Shizuno received the ball sixteen yards out, quickly turned and shot, but Murphy was equal to it and saved at the near post. Then the match turned even further in Rochedale’s favour. Knights were awarded a free kick for a foul on Murphy. In the ensuing altercation, Murphy was shown a Red Card for language. One minute later, further controversy arrived when Aoci made his way into the Knights’ area on the right and pushed the ball past onrushing replacement Knight's keeper Alex Finlayson, who had come on after Murphy’s dismissal. Aoci went down and it appeared as though Referee Joey Lee had awarded a penalty to Rochedale. However, after discussion with his assistant, he showed Aoci a Yellow Card for simulation. With the extra man, Rochedale pushed forward and were creating more chances, but they were almost made to pay on 62 minutes when Harkin came out of his area to head away a through ball which only reached White but his lobbed chance for a hat trick took a slight deflection and went away for a corner. Ortega hitting the bar in the 69th minute from twenty yards out was the closest Rochedale came to equalising until four minutes later when Shizuno was put through on goal and made no mistake, lifting the ball over Finlayson as he came out to block. Knights enjoyed the better of the last fifteen minutes and nearly got in front on 77 minutes when a well worked free kick on the right saw a ball squared across goal but Devon Munn put his effort just wide. With five minutes remaining, the last major opportunity was a footrace between Knights’ Francis Patricio and Rovers’ Joseph Fields for a through ball that looked to be in Patricio’s favour. But Fields recovered well to block the shot just inside Rovers penalty area. Knights should be happy with the point in the end but musing over what could have been a better result considering the opportunities they had in the first half-hour. Rochedale similarly should count themselves lucky they were still in it at the half, but then disappointed that they couldn’t make the extra man advantage pay off in the end.

Coaches Reactions:

Danny Wilson (Ipswich Knights): “It was a positive start as the boys finally decided to turn up for the game. We stuck to our game plan and didn’t over-complicate things, so I’m extremely happy with that part. Once Rochedale scored, the nerves sort of snuck in and they seemed to mentally switch off. We slowly started to pick it back up and at the end 2-2 was probably a fair result.” Scott MacNicol (Rochedale Rovers): “After half an hour we deserved to be behind and they deserved to be in front. We just weren’t good enough. Not happy with a point at all. Two weeks ago we were first and today we didn’t play like a team that were sitting first, we played like a team that was down the bottom. Not good enough for Rochedale.”

FB Media Match Stats:

Possession: 47% - 53% Shots on target: 4 - 11 Shots off target: 4 - 4 Corners: 4 - 7 Free Kicks: 10 - 18 Penalties: 0 - 0 Offside: 5 - 4 Yellow Cards: 2 - 2 Red Cards: 1 - 0