LONDON, CMC – Jamaica international Omari Hutchinson justified his decision to turn down a call to international duty with a Player-of-the-Match performance that enabled Ipswich Town to pound relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday 6-0 in the English League Championship on Saturday.
Fellow Jamaican international Jamal Lowe scored to allow Swansea City to take the bragging rights with a 2-0 win against Cardiff City in the south Wales derby in another Championship match, and Grenada international Kairo Mitchell netted a brace to help Rochdale extend their unbeaten run to three games in the National League with a 4-1 win against Eastleigh.
Hutchinson, an attacking midfielder, has been capped twice in friendlies by Jamaica, where his father Leon was born, against Catalonia in May 2022 and against Trinidad & Tobago in March last year.
But the 20-year-old – on loan from English Premier League club Chelsea – said he turned down recent calls from the Reggae Boyz and England, for whom he played at the youth level, to stay focussed on getting Ipswich promoted to the top tier of English football.
Hutchinson was one of three players who scored in the first half to give the Blues a significant advantage at the break at Portman Road. There was no letting up in the second half when he scored his second before Ali Al-Hamadi netted a brace, and Ipswich recorded their biggest win of the season to move back into second place in the table.
Town settled well and began to find their patterns of play, and they were having joy down the flanks from where a cutback from Wes Burns allowed Hutchinson to touch, turn, and fire a low shot into the bottom corner of the net in the 15th minute.
Cameron Burgess doubled the lead in the 37th minute after a corner, and Nathan Broadhead drove in an inch-perfect cross in first-half stoppage time to extend the Ipswich lead.
Ipswich did not wait long to get back on the scoring trail. A brilliant move started with goalkeeper Václav Hladky before Leif Davis and Massimo Luongo worked the ball up the left flank. Broadhead ran into the box and slipped the ball to Hutchinson, who fired past Wednesday netminder James Beadle in the 49th minute.
From there, the Blues continued to dominate and create chances, with substitute Al-Hamadi scoring twice in the final 10 minutes after significant build-ups in which Hutchinson was involved.
Lowe enabled Swansea to defy rare Cardiff pressure during the closing stages of the contest at the Swansea.com Stadium and strike deep in stoppage time, handing the Swans their fifth derby win in six matches.
The win ensured Swansea remained the only side to complete a league double in the fixture’s 112-year history, and it sparked scenes of celebration between players, staff, and the Jack Army at the full-time whistle.
The Swans dominated the first half and deservedly led when Liam Cullen adjusted smartly to guide a deep cross into the bottom corner in the 34th minute.
The striker missed a penalty after the break, and the hosts also passed up other opportunities to extend their lead. They had to wait until Lowe intervened in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Ollie Cooper freed Lowe, who showed great composure to draw Cardiff goalkeeper Ethan Horvath out of his net and fire home the clincher.
The result lifted Swansea to 14th in the 24-team table – seven points clear of the relegation zone – while Cardiff remain 11th, five points adrift of the play-off places.
Mitchell scored his 13th goal of the campaign to give Rochdale the lead in the 28th minute at the Silverlake Stadium. Devante Rodney won the ball high up the pitch and drove towards the area before finding him, and he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner.
The Dale lead was short-lived. Three minutes later, National League-leading goal scorer Paul McCallum headed a Scott Quigley cross into the net.
Jimmy Keohane restored Dale’s lead on the stroke of half-time, and Rodney scored his third goal in five matches to double the lead in the 72nd minute.
Mitchell added his second and 14th of the season when he latched onto a through ball from on-long winger Cian Hayes and sealed the rout with a rasping effort to which Eastleigh goalkeeper Joe McDonnell got a hand, but he failed to stop from looping in off the far post.
and then 