Town step things up with second half goals.
The U’s were beaten 3-0 by Ipswich Town in the latest friendly.
The final scoreline didn’t reflect the game in general though, with Joe Dunne’s side having at least an equal share of possession and territorial control.
They were especially efficient in the first half and only an end product was missing from the first forty five minute spell.
Ipswich stepped things up at the start of the second and two goals from Frank Nouble took them clear, before Marriott added a third after coming on as a substitute.
The first half started with both teams wanting to get the ball down and it only took the visitors a minute to get a dangerous ball into the box.
Craig Eastmond was on hand to head clear, with Tom Eastman completing the clearance.
Two minutes later, Alex Gilbey was fouled just outside the box and Freddie Sears clipped his free kick just over the bar.
The U’s had settled well in the early stages and Alex Gilbey and Holman had efforts from distance after good build up play.
On fifteen minutes, another fluid U’s move ended up with Sean Clohessy putting a dangerous cross into the box that whistled past everyone.
Murphy flicked a header just over the bar halfway through the half but it was a rare Ipswich excursion into the U’s half.
An Ambrose cross almost found Sears in the box on the half hour mark, before the same player was unlucky not to get on the end of another dangerous ball into the area.
When the first half did come to an end, neither keeper had really been tested but it was the U’s who had controlled things better.
Gilbey and Holman had picked up injuries in the first forty five minutes and were replaced at the break by Macauley Bonne and George Moncur.
At the start of the second half, Eastman was alert to block a Murphy shot and the ball ran through for Henshall, who dragged his shot wide of the target.
The visitors were starting to get a foothold in the game and on fifty four minutes, they opened the scoring through Frank Nouble.
Murphy beat Frankie kent to the ball on the goal line, pulled it back to Nouble, who took a touch and calmly sidefooted home.
Two minutes later, Nouble doubled his and Ipswich’s tally, heading home powerfully at the far post from Paul Anderson’s deep cross.
IT could have been three in a minute for the Town striker, but he hit his near post shot just wide from another right wing cross.
The best U’s chance of the game came just after the hour, when Ambrose was denied by a great save after Clohessy’s cross had found the trialist at the far post.
Drey Wright replaced Ambrose on sixty four minutes, before Dunne made wholesale changes on seventy minutes.
David Wright, Magnus Okuonghae, Sammie Szmodics, Sam Walker, Michael O’Donoghue, Josh Thompson, Gavin Massey and Dion Sembie-Ferris all came into action.
The men replaced were Chris Lewington, Dominic Vose, Freddie Seras, Frankie Kent, Sean Clohessy, Tom Eastman, Ben Gordon and Craig Eastmond.
The changes had an inpact on the flow of the game but it was Ipswich now looking the side more likely to add to the score.
Tabb’s diving header ended up well wide in the end a minute after all the substitutions as the visitors got used to their changes.
Bonne did have a great chance to reduce the arrears, but he dragged his shot wide when well placed to receive a great ball from Moncur.
With fourteen minutes remaining, the visitors made it three, as sub Jack Marriott drilled home into the bottom corner from just outside the box.
Bonne robbed the Ipswich keeper at the corner of his box but couldn’t find the target from an acute angle.
Ipswich were denied a fourth by the flag, with Bajner heading home from an offside position after Tommy Smith’s header came back off the post.
The whistle went on a defeat for the U’s but the scoreline certainly didn’t reflect the good work Dunne’s squad had put in over the course of the game.
Weekend games against Dover Athletic and Dagenham & Redbridge are next, with the season now only seventeen days away.