Report: Ipswich Town U23s 2-1 Bristol City U23s

Monday, March 6th 2017

City Under-23s slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Ipswich Town this afternoon.

Goals at the start of both halves from Ben Morris did the damage, despite a goal back from Joe McNulty on the hour mark.

Morris grabbed the opener after just two minutes, slotting home from James Blanchfield’s pass.

Things could have been a whole lot worse moments later but Shane McLoughlin’s driven attempt was pushed against the crossbar by Jojo Wollacott.

City responded well though and James Morton almost levelled on 12 minutes, only for Adam McDonnell to clear his goal-bound header off the line.

Diego De Girolamo peppered the home goal with efforts as the first half wore on, with City in the ascendancy in the possession statistics.

However, the Tractor Boys were the quickest out of the blocks after half-time and made it 2-0 almost immediately.

Morris was the scorer once more, finding time and space to pick his spot, beating Wollacott with a precise finish.

City pulled one back on 63 minutes as a clever corner kick routine saw De Girolamo cut the set-piece back to the onrushing McNulty, who found the net via a slight deflection.

The game became an open affair after that, with City pressing for an equaliser and Ipswich attacking quickly on the break.

Osagi Bascome and Freddie Hinds both came close to finding a late equaliser, but it wasn’t to be for the development group.

The club's Under-23s return to action on Thursday against Swansea City at Ashton Gate in the Premier League Cup. The match kicks off at 2pm.

City Under-23s: Wollacott, Harper, Challis, Kelly, Pring (Bascome 82), Morton (Lyons-Foster 46), Edwards (Nurse 46), McNulty, De Girolamo, J.Smith, Hinds.