Despite the setback, there were a number of positives to take out of the game again, against a side that has still to lose in the league this season. After a cagey opening, both Barton and Baillie gained the upper hand in the middle of the park and on more than one occasion, provided the drive which saw us in the ascendancy. Ably supported by both Roots and Jackson in wider areas, both front men were getting supply and some joy in beating the high Stowmarket backline. Had it not been for 2 very tough calls on us for offside we would have taken an earlier lead than the one given to us by Baillie when he flicked home at the near post by a Hitter cross from the right. Both Smy and Baldry up top saw half chances go begging and a second looked on the cards when Roots did well down the left but the centre saw the advancing Barton stab it just wide of the right hand post rather nestling in the net. At the other end we kept Stowmarket at bay with U16 centre backs Hitter and Blackman complimenting each other well at the heart of the defence supported well by fullbacks Culf and Cage recovering from his long injury lay-off. In fact it was not until 41 minutes that Stowmarket got their 1st sight of goal with one of their long balls just eluding our pairing but the striker lifted his shot wide. However Stow levelled just before the break undeservedly when a dangerous cross from the right fell off the back of one of our defenders and although Beard saved the 1st shot, the rebound was put away.

Stow were better in the second half but even so, it was still Woodbridge playing the ball around nicely and the Stow keeper keeping out our shots albeit from slightly longer range than before. Midway through the half though Beard misjudged the bounce of an incoming ‘shell’ and the Stow forward was able to tuck away from close range. Within minutes they got a third when we failed to clear a corner convincingly and the return ball was finished from just yards out. This was extremely harsh on us but rather than cave in, we rolled our sleeves up and tried to get back into the game. After a period of good pressure we got our second when a nice move down the right saw Baillie ghost into the box and finish well but Stow clung on for their win and only left us with a real feeling of being hard done by on the night.

Beard, Culf (Seaman), Cage (Hammond), Baillie, Blackman, Hitter, Jackson (Smith), Barton, Baldry, Smy, Roots.