Mauro Lustrinelli looked for all the world like he was on his holidays from a distance, at least until he sprinted down the tunnel at the break having seen his side go 3-1 down with the last kick of the half against a willing and clinical Ipswich Town. White T-shirt, black shorts, white trainers. Though he is often ablur, bobbing and weaving, pacing and hopping, dropping into a crouch and springing to his feet again, he is not a man given to unnecessary shows of emotion. Indeed, when Jacob Greaves barged over Wooyeong Jeong as he chased up the blessedly shaded right-hand touchline, earning a yellow card for the Ipswich player – a rarity this early in a friendly, after all - he barely reacted, just clapping his hands together.

Then, when his centre-back, Zeno Van den Bosch, opened the scoring, just a moment later from Union’s first real foray into the Town box, he turned back to his coaching team, having briefly clapped again, to continue his conversation.

Van den Bosch had snuck into a pocket of space to the right of the Ipswich box, but he still seemed somewhat surprised at the laissez-faire reaction of the guest’s defence when their clever free kick routine saw Jeong slip him the simplest of passes. The ball slunk over the line at the near post, stabbed by the Dutchman as if he didn’t really think he deserved a goal at all. Not that stopped his own, nor his team-mates’ celebrations.

The sun was blazing down, well over 35 degrees in the stands, so God only knows what it was hitting down on the pitch. The shower of sweat that sprayed of Ipswich’s Issa Diop’s forehead when he beat Emmanuel Lathe Lath to an early high ball told that story alone. As did the halftime choice of “Ring of Fire” played through the PA.

Maybe the heat had more than a little to do with the scoreline. Ipswich drew level after 15 minutes after Leif Davis’ charge up the left, finding Jack Clarke in front of Van den Bosch. Both sides had moments when their players seemed lulled by it, but Clarke was alert here. He made light work of the finish.

Always positive, Lustrinelli’s applause would come regularly, sometimes with his hands low like a praying mantis, sometimes above his head, such as the extended burst when Latte Lath bent his effort just over the bar following a lightning break, all sprung after Carl Klaus’s uncertain punch clear that spun off his fist like he had ice on his gloves. He did better from Daizen Maeda later on, this time saving with his knees, then from Walle-Egeli on the stroke of half an hour, diving to his right. But he wouldn’t make it past the break.

Ipswich were dominating possession by the time of the necessary drinks break – though booed, panto-style, no adverts had been sold for this brief pause – so Lustrinelli did the rounds, having a word with every one of his players, touching them on the shoulders as he went about his business, emanating his sense of preternatural calm. But the restart brought no specific new impetus as his men held their positions behind the ball, seemingly content to let their guests do most of the running. They came closer to breaking the deadlock too, as Walle-Egeli drove his shot wide of the back post, past Klaus’s outstretched fingers.

It was part engaging spectacle, part soporific display though, especially as the first half trundled into the 35^th minute, with Josip Juranović floored by Davis’s shot to the head. The fans tried to rouse themselves; a ripple of applause for a Van den Bosch clearance; a stilted cry when Maeda robbed Latte Lath; the beginning of a roar at a piece of typical Burcu magic as he left Dara O’Shea for dead on the left with a single flick of his boot. Ilyas Ansah was Union’s greatest threat, looking to run at the Ipswich defence, head up, back straight, every time he had the ball.

But Emersonn finished all too easily to give the guests the lead after a cross from the right was flicked into his path. He couldn’t really miss. O’Shea’s goal for 3-1 was better, a fine strike, hit hard with his right, bending away from Klaus’s despairing dive and nestling inside the back post at the stroke of halftime.

The pace had to raise at some point, and Union stepped up immediately after the break, with Burcu crashing a shot just over the bar a minute in. He had shifted the ball neatly onto his right, setting himself, and cursed as he saw it fly towards the Waldseite.

But though Ipswich would again have the next effort - Emersonn driving wide of Klaus’s half time replacement, Mattheo Raab’s near post - the game again settled quickly enough, enlivened mainly by Ansah and Sasa Lukic coming together after the Ipswich youngster almost disrobed Union’s striker, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as he tried to get him under control, once more.

Much improved, Union were soon back in it. Josip Juranović scored with a delicate volley, lifted over the 6’9” keeper, Kjell Scherpen, having carried on his run to meet Khedira’s wonderful cross-field ball. It was a gorgeous finish, added to his goal against Mainz at the end of last season, itself his first for Union in three years.

Lustrinelli made four changes with the hour up. Jeong, Latte Lath, Rothe and Van den Bosch made way for Marin Ljubicic, Derrick Köhn, Andras Schäfer and Leopold Querfeld, and they continued to attack, twice through Khedira, then Schäfer. Burcu showed another lovely touch as he killed the ball stone dead, before undermining it with a slack pass out. He sprung to make up for the mistake, not dissimilarly to the way Anis Mehmeti flew through the air before being called for a dive by the referee a few minutes later on.

Town’s lead was extended to 4-2 with 12 minutes of normal time to play when Casey McAteer volleyed home a cross the went the full width of the box from the left.

There was another pair of changes, with Tim Skarke and Linus Güther replacing the standout pair of Burcu and Ansah (Skarke would put his hands to his temples when side -footing wide with a minute to go), but by now the away fans were singing “please don’t take me home” as one while the Unioner were starting to think the opposite, their minds drifting already in the heat to next week’s far more crucial DFB pokal first round tie in Braunschweig.

After the final whistle, Lustrinelli showed similar unflappability as he had during the preceding 90 minutes, his fingers now touching at the tips, smiling beatifically, as he batted away questions about his goalkeepers and his team for next week and the chance of additions to his squad. “We’ll see” and “it’s too early” and “maybe”, he said.

The bigger test, he knows, is after all just around the corner. 

“We started well in the game but then conceded two goals too easily. Some mistakes can be forgiven, after all we haven’t played together in this formation too often yet. In Braunschweig, it’s now about conceding fewer goals,” is the conclusion of Zeno Van den Bosch after the final whistle. 

“It was actually a good game with an early lead. Then we made a few mistakes and often left the opponent alone or gave them too much space. We need to analyze that and then hopefully we will be ready for the Cup game,” added Josip Juranović afterwards. 

“The game today was a friendly to see where we stand in our development. At some moments it was really good, and the concept mostly worked well. The problem is that we’re conceding goals too easily at the back,” is the analysis of head coach Mauro Lustrinelli after the match.