A well-drilled Grimsby scored their first-ever victory at Ipswich to dent the
promotion hopes of the Suffolk club.
The winner came in the 14th minute from Scottish defender Peter Handyside in
Grimsby's first attack.
Fodian Wilnis, Ipswich's £200,00 new right wing-back from Holland, fouled
David Smith near the touchline.
David Smith curled the free-kick into the goalmouth and Richard Wright punched
away.
However, the ball only reached Handyside whose spectacular overhead kick
ended in the net for his first goal of the season.
Apart from a long shot by Stacey Coldicott after 31 minutes little was seen of
Grimbsy as an attacking force before the interval when they had only Lee Nogan
up front.
Ipswich saw plenty of the ball but were unable to make much use of it.
A
couple of headers from David Johnson, in the 20th and 34th minutes, were easily
dealt with by Aidan Davison.
It was little better for Ipswich in the second half when Grimsby gained in
confidence.
A couple of misplaced passes out of defence by Mark Venus might have proved
costly for Ipswich.
First, he was saved by a splendid tackle by Manuel Thetis.
Then Kevin Donovan was clear but Wright left his line to dive and concede a
corner.
In the 57th minute Ipswich introduced Richard Logan who celebrated his 17th
birthday this week with a new contract.
The youngster found it just as difficult
as everyone else to find a way through the tight Grimsby defence.
Tony Gallimore sent a free-kick for Grimsby just over and then in the 64th
minute Thetis was booked for the 10th time this season for a foul on Donovan.
Ipswich switched Bobby Petta to the right to add variety to their attack but
Grimsby were in control of the central midfield where Paul Groves and Coldicott
marked tightly to deny space for Kieron Dyer and Matt Holland.
In the 85th minute Ipswich introduced another 17-year-old, defender Thetis
Bramble, who made an immediate impression as an attacker.
He won the ball in
midfield, surged forward and put a right-foot shot only just wide. It was
Ipswich's best attempt of the match.
The game marked the 500th league appearance for Ipswich captain Tony Mowbray
in a career that started with Middlesbrough and Celtic.
He was solid at the back
but up front Ipswich had little punch.
Teams
Ipswich: Wright, Wilnis (Bramble 85), Thetis, Clapham, Mowbray,
Venus, Dyer, Holland, Johnson, Naylor (Logan 57), Petta.
Subs Not Used: Holster.
Booked: Thetis.
Grimsby: Davison, McDermott, Gallimore, Handyside, R. Smith,
Coldicott, Donovan, D. Smith, Nogan (Widdrington 85),
Black (Clare 81), Groves.
Subs Not Used: Lever.
Booked: Coldicott, Groves.
Goals: Handyside 14.
Att: 15,575
Ref: L Cable (Woking).
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