OLD BOY BRACE FELLS IPSWICH
Darren Ambrose netted a brace for Charlton against his former club Ipswich – but he badly wanted the first hat-trick of his career. The 23-year-old thought he would have the chance when referee Neil Swarbrick pointed to the spot in the second half.
While the Charlton forward went to grab the ball from regular penalty taker Andy Reid in order that he would have a chance of his third goal, the referee consulted his linesman, who deemed that Fabian Wilnis had in fact chested the ball rather than handled it in the box.
No penalty was awarded, but Ambrose was pleased at the 3-1 result – especially as Charlton had lost four of their previous five home games. Ipswich have still not won away from home in the Championship – they now have gained only four points from a possible 33 on their travels.
Ambrose, who was given a central role by manager Alan Pardew on Saturday, said: “The boss changed the formation a bit – he put Andy Reid on the left and put me in the hole. I like to get forward, and I’m glad I popped up with a couple of goals.
“The referee pointed to the spot – I don’t think it was handball as it hit him on the chest – and Andy said: ‘Go on, get your hat-trick’, and I was delighted.
“I’ve never scored a hat-trick before – I’ve never scored two in a game before, so I was begging for it. But it wasn’t to be.”
When asked whether he would have given Ambrose the attacker the chance to score his third goal, Pardew said: “He doesn't take them. I would have been shouting to get him off it. Reidy takes the penalties.”
To which Ambrose said: “He wouldn’t have had a choice! He was on the sidelines and Andy and I agreed that I should go for my hat-trick, and I was confident at the time that I would have stuck it in. Andy does take the penalties but I would have kept the match ball.”
Ambrose opened the scoring with a simple header in only the fifth minute, after ‘keeper Neil Alexander failed to punch away the cross of Matt Holland – another former Ipswich player.
November’s Championship player of the month, Chris Iwelumo, scored his side’s second in the 30th minute with his shoulder from captain Reid’s corner.
Ambrose then struck his second six minutes before the interval. Danny Mills’ long ball was controlled by Reid perfectly. The Republic of Ireland midfielder laid it off for Ambrose on the edge of the area and he laced it home, first time.
For Ipswich manager, Jim Magilton, going into the break at 3-0 down was too much. He rang the changes at half time and his team scored a consolation goal through Pablo Counago’s neat back heal with 20 minutes to go.
It could have been worse for Charlton – Alan Lee had a penalty saved by Nicky Weaver, and Counago hit the post.
Jonathan Fortune was sent off at the final whistle after an aerial challenge on Lee, much to Pardew’s frustration – he, along with Mills, will be suspended for next week’s game against WBA.
The Charlton manager said: “The ball was travelling to them in the air and Jon's done something stupid. Unfortunately, he will be disciplined and find himself out of the team, which I'm sure is the last thing he wanted after a good day's work.”
But Magilton vowed to use the money from Marcus Evans’ takeover, which will be cemented on December 17, on many new players in the January transfer window.
He said: “It’ll be nice when we have investment in the football club and I can go out and buy players. I certainly want quality, characters, people who are going to stand up and be counted. At the moment, we haven’t got an awful lot of them.”
Darren Ambrose netted a brace for Charlton against his former club Ipswich – but he badly wanted the first hat-trick of his career. The 23-year-old thought he would have the chance when referee Neil Swarbrick pointed to the spot in the second half.
While the Charlton forward went to grab the ball from regular penalty taker Andy Reid in order that he would have a chance of his third goal, the referee consulted his linesman, who deemed that Fabian Wilnis had in fact chested the ball rather than handled it in the box.
No penalty was awarded, but Ambrose was pleased at the 3-1 result – especially as Charlton had lost four of their previous five home games. Ipswich have still not won away from home in the Championship – they now have gained only four points from a possible 33 on their travels.
Ambrose, who was given a central role by manager Alan Pardew on Saturday, said: “The boss changed the formation a bit – he put Andy Reid on the left and put me in the hole. I like to get forward, and I’m glad I popped up with a couple of goals.
“The referee pointed to the spot – I don’t think it was handball as it hit him on the chest – and Andy said: ‘Go on, get your hat-trick’, and I was delighted.
“I’ve never scored a hat-trick before – I’ve never scored two in a game before, so I was begging for it. But it wasn’t to be.”
When asked whether he would have given Ambrose the attacker the chance to score his third goal, Pardew said: “He doesn't take them. I would have been shouting to get him off it. Reidy takes the penalties.”
To which Ambrose said: “He wouldn’t have had a choice! He was on the sidelines and Andy and I agreed that I should go for my hat-trick, and I was confident at the time that I would have stuck it in. Andy does take the penalties but I would have kept the match ball.”
Ambrose opened the scoring with a simple header in only the fifth minute, after ‘keeper Neil Alexander failed to punch away the cross of Matt Holland – another former Ipswich player.
November’s Championship player of the month, Chris Iwelumo, scored his side’s second in the 30th minute with his shoulder from captain Reid’s corner.
Ambrose then struck his second six minutes before the interval. Danny Mills’ long ball was controlled by Reid perfectly. The Republic of Ireland midfielder laid it off for Ambrose on the edge of the area and he laced it home, first time.
For Ipswich manager, Jim Magilton, going into the break at 3-0 down was too much. He rang the changes at half time and his team scored a consolation goal through Pablo Counago’s neat back heal with 20 minutes to go.
It could have been worse for Charlton – Alan Lee had a penalty saved by Nicky Weaver, and Counago hit the post.
Jonathan Fortune was sent off at the final whistle after an aerial challenge on Lee, much to Pardew’s frustration – he, along with Mills, will be suspended for next week’s game against WBA.
The Charlton manager said: “The ball was travelling to them in the air and Jon's done something stupid. Unfortunately, he will be disciplined and find himself out of the team, which I'm sure is the last thing he wanted after a good day's work.”
But Magilton vowed to use the money from Marcus Evans’ takeover, which will be cemented on December 17, on many new players in the January transfer window.
He said: “It’ll be nice when we have investment in the football club and I can go out and buy players. I certainly want quality, characters, people who are going to stand up and be counted. At the moment, we haven’t got an awful lot of them.”
Labels: Alan Pardew, Championship, Charlton, Ipswich
