AFC Sudbury hit 11 past Ipswich Wanderers in ruthless display in Suffolk Boys' U18s Midweek Cup semi-final

russell.claydon@iliffepublishing.co.uk

Published: 23:03, 18 May 2021

| Updated: 23:09, 18 May 2021

AFC Sudbury showed no mercy on Ipswich Wanderers tonight firing five goals in the first half and six in the second in a landslide 11-0 Blue Square Solutions Boys' U18s Midweek Cup semi-final at Needham Market.

Shane Temple, fresh from his goalscoring trial at Sunderland, underlined why he is catching the eye of professional clubs by completing his hat-trick early in the second half.

Josh Ambrose, Alfie Adams and Luke Hipkin all weighed in with two goals each while Jesper Laurence's stoppage-time header also added his name on the scoresheet.

Shane Temple scores on his way to claiming his hat-trick for AFC Sudbury, following his trials at Sunderland, Glasgow Rangers, Oldham Athletic, Doncaster Rovers and Southend United Picture: Mecha Morton

Sudbury, who have won the competition for the last four years it has been completed, will now face Lieston – 6-0 winners against Felixstowe & Walton Unuted at Framlingham Town tonight – in the final on the same 3G pitch at Needham Market on Thursday.

It was Ipswich Wanderers who actually fashioned the first chance of the match on a slippery surface, but Brosnan Jarrett scuffed his shot from the edge of the box wide.

But the full-time academy side did not take long to hit their stride with Hipkin's low shot, which clipped the outside of the post in the sixth minute providing a warning sign.

AFC Sudbury U18s captain Tedd Penn congratulates Luke Hipkins on his free kick to make it 10-0 Picture: Mecha Morton

Temple put a one-one-one chance wide in the 12th minute but made no mistake less than a minute later when he coolly finished after taking on Josh Stokes' clever throughball.

Wanderers had a chance to level in the 19th minute when AFC keeper Josh Blunkell failed to hold a deep free kick but he managed to get his body in the way of Cale Jones' effort.

After Stokes sent a volley over the bar Sudbury's second arrived in the 20th minute with an unmarked Ambrose fired a rising angled shot past Alfie Godbold.

Two minutes later Blunkell made a good save at his near post to deny Krystian Syzlo halving the deficit.

It was the first time a crowd was allowed back into a stadium for a Suffolk county cup match, since Covid restrictions were eased on Monday Picture: Mecha Morton

But it was 3-0 in the 27th minute as a breakaway move started by Jake Banyard's right-wing run ended with Ambrose taking the ball on before firing in for his second. Adams' effort after cutting in from the left was beaten away by Godbold before the lively Temple made it four in the 36th minuter with a precise unchallenged header when picked out by Banyard's right-sided cross.

Number five came up in the 40th minute when Adams strode forward unchallenged before firing beyond Godbold's dive from 20 yards out.

Josh Ambrose fires in a shot for Sudbury Picture: Mecha Morton

There continued to be no let up in the chances for the Yellows as Ambrose thought he had a sixth only for it to be ruled out for offside while Temple's fierce long-range strike was beaten away.

The second half was much of the same with Godbold's diving save pushing away Adams' low effort before the busy keeper turned Ambrose's effort over via his crossbar.

Sudbury players celebrate Shane Temple's (no10) hat-trick goal early in the second half Picture: Mecha Morton

But within five minutes of the restart he was picking the ball out of his net once again. Temple jinked his way past a series of defenders before firing low into the bottom left-hand corner from the edge of the area.

With the tie done as a contest both sides made use of the rolling substitutes but the hunger for more goals was still there from Sudbury with Godbold pushing away efforts from Hipkin and Adams.

But he was beaten again in the 65th minute with Banyard converting into the roof of the net from close range after Jack Palmer's effort had been blocked on the line by a covering defender.

A perfectly executed training ground free kick routine, which was Adams curl in a square pass from Banyard into the bottom right-hand corner from the edge of the box, made it 8-0 in the 734th minute.

Sudbury's Jack Palmer runs through two Ipswich Wanderers players Picture: Mecha Morton

But they were still far from done with Hipkin getting in on the act with a low long-range shot to the bottom left-hand corner in 84th minute. The same player brought up his second and AFC's double figures with a superb curling free kick into the top right-hand corner from an angle on the left five minutes later.

A minute into stoppage-time Laurence completed the rout by heading home a lofted cross from the right-hand byline.

But despite the emphatic one-sided scoreline, Sudbury cannot even claim it is their most lethal display of the competition so far, having thumped Mildenhall Town 14-2 in the opening round.

With Leiston having found their scoring boots to hit six past Felixstowe & Walton United in the other semi-final, it promises to be an intriguing final a week on Thursday.

AFC Sudbury: Blunkell, Long, Laurence, Penn (c), Adams, Stokes, Palmer, Banyard, Hipkin, Ambrose, Temple. Rolling used subs: Craigie, Lennie, Harvey, Kirk, Smith.

Ipswich: Godbold, Chidlow, Cracknell, Kerry, Crowe, Moore (c) (, Jones, Ablett, Jarrett, Turner, Syzlo. Rolling used subs: Stuart, Poole, Berry, Barnsley-Sadasuiar, Wright.

Suffolk News Man of the Match: It was certainly a team performance but Shane Temple's masterclass of forward play showed just why he deserves to be on a professional contract next season.

Football Ipswich Sport Sudbury Sport Russell Claydon