Ipswich Wanderers 1, Maldon & Tiiptree 2

Maldon & Tiptree made it three wins on the bounce as they overcame a stubborn Ipswich Wanderers side in Suffolk on Saturday (6 December) afternoon.

Liam Bailey's side showed just one change from the lineup that beat Grays on New Year's Day with Shane Temple coming into the eleven in place of Louis Britton. 

Maldon started well and nearly forced an error from Wanderers' goalkeeper Danny Cullum in the opening seconds when he was put under pressure by Louie Remi. Cullum's attempt to clear a back pass cannoned off Remi towards the Ipswich goal, but unfortunately for the Jammers' man, Ipswich just about cleared their lines.

The home side regained their composure and set about imposing themselves on the game. It nearly paid dividends with 5 minutes gone when they put the ball in the net, but the goal was chalked off courtesy of the Assistant's flag.

George Smith nearly gave Maldon the lead a couple of minutes later when he was played through by Milton Oni after he burst through the middle. Oni may well have taken the chance on himself, but opted to play in Smith who'd got free on the left, but the Jammers front man pulled his effort wide of the far post.

A couple of half chances that were missed by Byron Lawrence and Rashid Salau were all Ipswich had to show for their lively start.

Maldon gradually took control of proceedings as the game ticked past the half hour mark, a wonderful cross in from Alfie Mason was met by Remi in the middle, but under the close eye of Adam Dunnage, his header lacked power and Cullum gathered with ease.

Elsewhere, the battle between Terrell Egbri and Wanderers' right back Paulo Coehlo was starting to heat up and it's one that would become a theme of the game. 

Eventually Maldon made their dominance count through an unlikely scorer as Jayden Gipson popped up on the edge of the penalty box to give the Jammers the lead with a well placed finish after the referee had waved play on from what looked like a foul on Shane Temple. The appeals for a penalty soon turned to celebrations as Gipson took the loose ball and finished with aplomb .

It might've been more heading into halftime when Egbri was fouled. Again, the ref was unmoved, but showing the tenacity and hunger that has made him a fan's favourite, Terrell was quick to hassle the defence into giving up the ball. Cutting inside onto his right, he sat 2 defenders down before looking to guide the ball into the far corner, only for his shot to be deflected wide for a corner.

Going into the break, Maldon were good value for their 1-0 lead, but the disallowed Ipswich goal will have certainly served as a warning that the game was far from done.

The second half began with both sides trading early chances, Oni seeing his strike deflected into the goalkeeper's arms and Salau having an effort deflected away for a corner.

With seven minutes gone in the second half, Maldon had breathing space as Shane Temple took advantage of some uncertain defending from Ipswich to bundle home Louie Remi's cross in from the right hand side to the delight of the big contingent of travelling away fans.

The Jammers were in full flow now and Yassine El-Neyah- back from injury- created another opening for Egbri with 67 minutes gone as he drove through the middle before laying the ball to his left. Egbri took the ball in his stride, beat Coehlo and cut inside but his shot cleared the crossbar and landed in the trees.

The Maldon press continued to cause Ipswich all sorts of nightmares and again Cullum found himself quickly under pressure with a back pass from Smith. The goalkeeper's attempted clearance smashed off Smith and looped into the air only to be claimed by the grateful and very fortunate Cullum.

More of same from El-Neyah resulted in a carbon copy link up with Egbri from earlier in the second half, but unfortunately it was the same outcome as the latter failed to work the keeper with 13 minutes left.

The Jammers looked to be heading to a comfortable 2-0 win, but that comfort was shattered on 89 minutes when Zach Pedro's mishit cross floated in over Luca Collins to make it 2-1.

Cue whatever Suffolk's version of the Alamo is as Ipswich threw caution to the wind in search of an equaliser. It may have come if it hadn't been for Collins, who was at his brilliant best to deny Coehlo deep into injury time, tipping over the right back's stunning effort that was headed for the top corner before Collins sensationally intervened.

That led to a series of corners that Maldon had to deal with, the last of which flashed across the face of goal to leave Jammers' hearts in mouths.

That proved to be the last of the action as Maldon came away with another win. Next up, Jammers welcome Brentwood Town to Park Drive next Saturday.