Dale's winless start to the season continued as they were beaten 2-0 at Portman Road.

BBM told us about the injury situation yesterday so I was intrigued by how we were going to line up today. Jake Beesley made his debut for the club having signed from Solihull Moors on Thursday which was handy given we were going to be without Stephen Humphrys for the next 6-8 weeks. We were also without City loannee Yeboah Amankwah, Kwadwo Baah and Ryan McLaughlin. So Dale lined up with Gavin Bazunu in net, Jimmy Keohane in a more comfortable right back position with Matty Done going to left back and Eoghan O'Connell and Paul McShane at centre back. In midfield were Jimmy Ryan, Aaron Morley, Matty Lund and Ollie Rathbone with Alex Newby playing off Jake Beesley. On the bench were Jay Lynch, Jim McNulty, Joe Dunne, Harrison Hopper, Ethan Brierley, Stephen Dooley and Fabio Tavares.

I'll be honest, I missed the start of the game as I was hanging up the washing. A line I never thought I'd ever say in a match report. When I did get to log on, it took a few minutes for the stream to load so before I got anything on my screen, six minutes had already elapsed.

Dale looked to start the game quite well and were causing Ipswich some problems with their pressing and several opportunities came for Aaron Morley to get the ball into the box but his ball was lacking quality every time and he struggled to beat the first man time and again.

Morley did have Dale's first real attempt on goal though with just over 10 minutes players as he received the ball about twenty yards out from Done but his shot went wide of the left hand post when the keeper seemed to have it covered anyway.

As we approached the quarter of an hour mark, Ipswich must have thought they had scored. I thought it was sailing in for a start. A great ball came in from Teddy Bishop and found Hawkins who forced Bazunu into an absolutely stunning save. He seemed to have no right to keep it out but he did, phenomenal from the young keeper.

Hawkins again was causing Dale problems and he hit a shot from the edge of the box that Bazunu couldn't get near this time and his shot struck the post fortunately for Dale.

Jake Beesley was certainly not looking out of place in the early going and was putting himself about a bit and he had a great chance to open the scoring when he just about got to a dangerous ball in from the right hand side but he couldn't steer it goalwards.

Dale went close again with half an hour gone with their closest effort of the match. A short corner from Morley found Rathbone on the edge of the box and he curled the ball goalwards and was inches away from it hitting the top right hand corner but his effort went narrowly over the bar.

Nolan had a shot for the home side that was well held by Bazunu but Ipswich certainly weren't having this all their own way which I suspect many Dale fans were expecting as well.

The home side did go close again with five minutes of the half left as a looping ball from the right went over Bazunu but Jimmy Keohane cleared brilliantly off the line to keep the score level.

At the other end, Alex Newby glanced a header wide of the target and the two teams went in level at the break.

Dale could be happy with their efforts thought in the first half but would need to carry that on in the second half and hopefully create a few more chances.

Dale started the second half poorly. It was almost predictable, we always seem to turn up to the second half 15 minutes after the opposition.

Eoghan O'Connell gave away a foul 20 yards out with a poor challenge which earned him a yellow card. Freddie Sears' freekick was poor and hit Beesley in the Dale wall.

With just 7 minutes of the second half gone, Dale went 1-0 down. Hawkins I think it was who put the ball in the box and McShane for some reason, let it come across him and Teddy Bishop was on hand to poke the ball past Bazunu to give Ipswich the lead.

And, as usual with Dale, when there's one, there's another not long after and more sloppy play from the visitors allowed Ipswich to break and a tackle from O'Connell deflected across the box to Edwards who was left with a simple finish. Matt Done didn't react at all when the ball came across and more poor defending cost Dale again.

Game over at that point and heads clearly dropped for a bit after that.

Jimmy Ryan, who was on a yellow card from the first half was taken off for Stephen Dooley with an hour of the game gone.

Dale began chasing shadows with Ipswich never looking threatened.

With 25 minutes left, Dale thought they'd got one back when an Aaron Morley ball found it's way to Alex Newby in the box and he finished well but was adjudged to have been offside.

More decent play from Dale resulted in Rathbone trying his luck from wide on the left but his effort flew over the bar.

It was nearly 3-0 when Matt Done deflected a cross towards his own net and the ball narrowly went over and onto the roof of the net with 10 minutes of normal time left.

New striker Jake Beesley then had a great opportunity to grab a debut goal but he just didn't connect properly. Done's cross was a good one and Beesley just needed a better connection.

With time ticking down, Dale took off Aaron Morley and Jake Beesley and brought on 16 year old Ethan Brierley for his league debut and Fabio Tavares. Brierley saw a lot of the ball in those final few minutes and looked like he could certainly pass a ball. Tavares had a half chance that was harmless.

The final whisle went and Dale had gone down 2-0. We played fairly well in the first half and for the last 15-20 minutes of the second half but there's almost an expectancy that we'll have a poor spell in the game that will always cost us.

A very difficult start has seen us pick up a single point from three games, its a point more than I expected but we're gonna have to pick up points against the teams who will be around us and at present, I'm not convinced we'll do that often enough.

The games don't exactly get easier either as we host Fleetwood Town next week.

Player Ratings:

Gavin Bazunu - 7 (Pulled off a stunning save in the first half but had no chance with the goals)

Jimmy Keohane - 7 (Seemed to look more comfortable on the right but we missed McLaughlin)

Eoghan O'Connell - 6 (Looked a little off the pace but not surprising given his knock last week, weak challenge led to the second goal)

Paul McShane - 6 (Poor for the first Ipswich goal and got caught out a couple of times)

Matt Done - 7 (Much better today at left back but certainly need a better option there)

Aaron Morley - 5 (Passing was poor again, couldn't beat the first man and expected more from the youngster)

Jimmy Ryan - 7 (Played well but was always on eggshells after an early yellow card)

MATT LUND - 8 (Superb from Lund and easily out best player. Didn't give the ball away and got stuck in a lot)

Ollie Rathbone - 7 (Worked his socks off to get the ball in the opposition half but without much luck)

Alex Newby - 6 (Not much came off for Newby and there were a couple of attacks where he slowed momentum down)

Jake Beesley - 7 (Put himself about and with a bit more sharpness, could have had a couple of goals today but a decent debut I thought)

Subs:

Stephen Dooley - 7 (Did quite well when he came on and we improved as a team I thought)
Ethan Brierley - 7 (Not scared of getting the ball and looks to have a decent passing range)
Fabio Tavares - 6 (Not that involved when he came on)

Photo: Action Images

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