England Indoor Hockey

Premier League

Sat 12-January-08 

Ipswich v Olton won 5-4 (E Lee-Smith, J Bloom, L Aldous (2), M Fabregas)

Ipswich v Canterbury Won 2-1 (L Aldous, J Bloom)

Sun 13th January 08

Ipswich v Slough Lost 4-2 (L King, E Lee-Smith)

Ipswich v Sutton Coldfield Won 4-1 (E Lee-Smith (2), B Baker, L King)

A great weekend of Indoor hockey saw Ipswich finish 3rd in the National indoor Premier League and secure their fourth consecutive trip to the Indoor Finals on Sunday 27th January at the NIA in Birmingham. With the event live on Sky Sports and a place representing Europe up for grabs this is a massive event for Ipswich who also are the only representative from the East Region to go through.

The Suffolk Club started the final 4 games in 4th place on goal difference and along with 6 other clubs were fighting for just 4 places.  Despite missing Indoor star Leisa King, who had work commitments, Ipswich could not have started the weekend better with a 5-4 win over 3rd placed Olton. Lizzy Aldous firing in a brace and the winner on the 37th minute.  The second game saw Ipswich battle relegation threatened Canterbury and whilst not happy with their standard of play the Suffolk team ground out a vital 2-1 victory, Jess Bloom and Aldous again on the score sheet.

With leaders Slough losing to a resurgent Bowdon Hightown Ipswich finished Saturdays fixtures in second place tied on 15 points with the Berkshire team and both sides knew their game on Sunday morning would decide the destination of the title. With King back in the squad Ipswich felt confident that they could take the win.

Ipswich started the game at a cracking speed putting Slough under enormous and with Kirsten Spencer, King and Charlotte Lee-Smith in Goal dealing with any attacks it was the 2nd placed side that opened the scoring. Kings shot from a narrow angle just trickling over the line as the bemused Slough keeper made a hash of the save.  With Ipswich working hard coach Royce Waters rotated his squad to make sure the work rate was kept high and the Slough defence  looked decidedly uncomfortable as Jess Bloom and Aldous closed them down.  Despite the extra pressure Ipswich could not find a second goal and Slough drew level in the 11th minute, with a deflected shot. With both teams evenly matched the game swung from end to end but on the half time whistle Ipswich gained a penalty corner. A slick routine saw Emma Lee-Smith fire it into the roof of the net and Ipswich led once more.

Emma Lee-Smith on the ball

Aware that the second half would see Slough try and step up the pressure Ipswich kept up their player rotations and they were furious when a short corner was awarded for a dubious foul. Slough however took their chance, aided by a large slice of luck, as the initial shot hit Lee-Smith in goal and looped over her into the net to make it 2-2.The game now was finely balanced and both sides created chances but once again Ipswich saw an umpiring decision go against them as another corner was awarded after the ball had gone out of play.  Slough though were not complaining and Alex Scott fired home to make it 3-2 to the defending Champions.  Ipswich now had to chase the game and were unlucky on several occasions not to draw level but as individuals began to resort to more dribbling Slough began to find it easier to defend. With 2 minutes to go Ipswich gave it one more chance and withdrew their keeper for an outfield player. Unfortunately the gamble did not pay off and Slough scored their fourth goal from a penalty corner to win 4-2.  Ipswich while initially frustrated with the result, reflected on their good first half performance and look forward to the possibility of facing Slough again in the Finals.

With the race for the top four going down to the wire Ipswich knew that they had to draw their last game to make completely sure of their place. Last up were already relegated opponents Sutton Coldfield. With nothing to play for but pride Sutton put up a great fight and Ipswich despite running out 4-1 winners will know that they can perform better.  However the 3 points ensured the Suffolk team 3rd place and in fact they only missed out on claiming second place from Bowdon Hightown on a goals for count back.

Ipswich defend v Sutton

With Olton beating fellow East club Chelmsford to take 4th spot the semi-final line up is as follows:-

Sunday 27th January 

13.10 Slough v Olton

14.20 Bowdon v Ipswich

Final 18.00

The final will be shown live on Sky Sports 3 16.30 to 20.30, with the winners taking the coveted European place for the 2009 season.

 NE14HOCKEY East League

Div 2C

Ipswich 3's v Cambridge City 2's

Drew 2-2

Scorers:  S Brown, B Christie

Ipswich 3s took on Cambridge City 2s at Tuddenham Rd and were disappointed to come away with just 1 point. Ipswich took control of the game from the start and had most of the early pressure, playing a much more "connected" game than they had before the Christmas break. The youngsters in midfield, Annabelle Driver & Mich Chidgey linked well with the experience of Kat Higgins, Vickey Dixon and Jenny Ellis to control the centre of the pitch and Ipswich looked likely to grab an early lead.

A wake up call came mid way through the first half when Cambridge, on a break, picked up a rebound from keeper, Lorna Hassell's, clearance kick and put it straight back into the goal. Ipswich responded immediately and pressure from the front runners forced an error in the visitor's defence. Cambridge conceded a penalty corner which was calmly slotted home by Sarah Brown.

Lorna Hassell put in a brave performance as stand in goalkeeper and, despite being more comfortable playing "outfield" she made some fine saves. Unfortunately though, a goal mouth scramble resulted in Cambridge taking the lead again early in the second half. However, Ipswich quickly regained their grip on the game. Bex Christie, in particular, was having an outstanding game and fittingly scored the equaliser with a cracking undercut shot fired impressively into the roof of the net.

Despite continued pressure Ipswich were unable to clinch a winner, but it was a strong performance from the 3s for their first game of 2008.

Suffolk Premier League

Suffolk Div 1

EH 2nd Team Cup

Semi Finals

Sheffield Hallam v Ipswich

Lost 4-3

Scorers: K Dixon, A Cook (2)

NE14HOCKEY East League 

Div 4NE 

NE14HOCKEY East League

Div 6NE

NE14HOCKEY East League

Vets

Ipswich v Norwich exiles

Result: Won 5-0

Scorers: Curzon (2), Glading, Gall, Fletton

This was a potentially tricky fixture against a much improved Exiles squad, but as it turned out the Vets returned to Ipswich with a convincing victory, Ipswich took control of the play from the start, reducing the Exiles attacks to occasion forays. Despite this dominance it was sometime before any clear cut chances were created, the best coming when Glading's reverse stick effort was narrowly wide after picking up Swindin's superb pass. In the latter part of the half however, the visitors scored three in six minutes; Glading neatly converted after a run by Cutting, man of the match, Gall hit a screamer from the top of the circle, and Curzon poached Swindin's effort on the post.

The second half was more even by Steward in goal was rarely called upon, and the only way he could get in the game was to make spectacular saves from shots that were well wide. Curzon added his second and late in the game, Fletton converted a one two with Glading to give a better reflection of the dominace Ipswich enjoyed.

Next week Ipswich entertain Peterborough and will be keen to gain revenge for their only defeat this season.