Witham Town beaten by Ipswich Wanderers in Isthmian League

It was a game of two halves at Ipswich where Town's second-half recovery was not enough to undo the damage caused by conceding two early goals.

It was a torrid start for Witham when the Wanderers went ahead in the third minute.

A long clearance from home goalkeeper Craig Brand found right winger Cameron Brown.

His pass put unmarked Charley Barker through on goal and he finished with ease.

Four minutes later, Andy Fennell came close to putting the hosts further ahead when after a determined run, Witham goalkeeper Amarildo Cekrezi saved at his feet.

It was a temporary reprieve for Witham who conceded the second goal in the 17th minute.

Cekrezi was adjudged to have committed a foul just inside the area and Tom Maycock scored from the penalty spot.

Witham pushed forward is search of an equaliser but were unable to play effectively through the midfield.

Ipswich were well-organised and muscular in midfield and played simple and fast passing football that paid dividends.

Isaac Skubich and Fennell were a handful on the counter-attack.

Witham played too many long balls that rarely found their target.

Ronnie Bates led the line for the visitors but had a thankless task as he chased errant passes across the final third of the pitch.

Cekrezi foiled Fennell again as the first half drew to a close.

Witham needed a much better second half and they took the initiative, straight after the break.

They began to assert themselves in midfield and caused problems for the Wanderers as they mixed determination with better build-up play.

A good shot from distance by Luke Ige went just wide three minutes after the break and signalled the start of pressure from the visitors.

After a Witham attack had broken down, Arnold Mengi collected a stray clearance and passed to Anton Matthews on the left.

The full-back’s cross into the penalty area found Jeff Cobblah, whose overhead kick put Bates into a good scoring position but the offside flag went up.

Ipswich goalkeeper Craig Brand had seen little significant action in the first half but was kept much busier by Witham’s recovery.

Cobblah shot just wide in the 67th minute and nine minutes later Brand dived to push a good shot by Bates around the post.

It was Witham’s best effort of the match so far and the goalkeeper saved well again from Arnold Mengi, in the 79th minute.

Mengi's free-kick went wide in the 88th minute but Ipswich almost sealed their win when Matt Blake hit the post, with almost the last kick of the match.

Witham can take consolation from their better second half but goalscoring remains a problem.

They have only scored three times in the last five matches and they will need to address this to pick up league points.