English National League Premier Division

 BTexact Ipswich v Chelmsford

Sat 22nd March 2003

Result Won :3-0

Scorers: K Hector, L Aldous, L King

Ipswich have propelled themselves up into fourth position in the National
League after two excellent victories over the weekend.

Kate Hector opened the scoring against Chelmsford as she broke down the right and remained unchallenged as she powerfully struck the ball into the far corner. Chelmsford seemed unable to cope with the attacking play and it was Ipswich who scored the second after a fine combination of passes between Jo Ellis and Leisa King to split the defence, King then crossed to Lizzie Aldous who deflected the ball over the diving keeper. Ipswich were now playing with great confidence and with Karla Waddleton and Hayley Spooner keeping the Chelmsford forwards at bay, it was obvious that Ipswich had the game under control. Chelmsford tried hard to get back into the game yet another combination of quick passes found the ball with King in the opposition’s ‘D’ and she made no mistake to make the final result 3-0 to
Ipswich.

English National League Premier Division

 BTexact Ipswich v Slough

Sun 23rd March 2003

Result Won :3-2

Scorers: L King (2), T Barnard

Sunday saw Ipswich take on the league leaders, Slough, for the second time in a week. With Slough only narrowly victorious at Bisham it was always going to be a battle which Ipswich stood every chance of winning. Coach Sandie Lister had set up an attacking forward line of King, Ellis and Barnard with the sole purpose of pressurising the weak Slough defence. The validity of the decision was upheld in the tenth minute when Leisa King deflected in a cross from Vicki Sandall to put Ipswich ahead. The game opened up as Slough tried to exploit the width and create gaps in Ipswich’s positioning but, with Emma Muir dominating over Mandy Nichollson in the midfield and captain Kirsten Spencer getting the better of Jane Smith it was
proving frustrating for the current league leaders to get any shots on target. It took until the 28th minute before Smith latched into a pass, Spencer forced her wide of the goal but even from the narrow angle the shot managed to beat Hannah Robinson and with 7 minutes to go the scores were level. Ipswich, who had been playing with great self-belief continued playing a passing game and patience was rewarded when Tanya Barnard wiggled her way through to slip the ball in and put Ipswich ahead at the break. 

The second half saw Slough continue to try to break the Ipswich back line but they were finding no way through. As Ipswich continued to press forward in numbers Slough began to get rattled with the umpires. A few stick tackles led to 2 green cards and the game became fairly frantic. Ipswich certainly looked the more composed side and kept their patterns of play going. A good through ball from Anli Kotze saw Ipswich awarded a penalty corner. Slough were unable to clear cleanly and when Vicki Sandall was fouled whilst shooting at goal Ipswich were awarded a flick. Leisa King put it top right to make it 3-1 to the home side. Slough reacted immediately from the whistle, pushed five people forward, Ipswich reacted slowly, and without the numbers in defence to cover effectively, Slough got an easy goal through Sam Archer. With 10 minutes remaining Slough hit the post and Ipswich had to defend a series of eight short corners. With Spencer and Ellis both clearing the ball off the line and Robinson in goal deflecting shots round the post Ipswich weathered the storm. As the final whistle went Ipswich knew that the 6 points from the weekend had put them back into a play-off position

Printwize East Premier

Sat 22^nd March 2003

Gravesend v Ipswich 2’s

Result: 5-1

Scorers: S Juggins (2),S Sheldrake, E Kenny and E Millar

Ipswich kept their Printwize East Premier League title ambitions alive with a 5-1 win at Gravesend. With Sevenoaks defeating Letchworth and replacing them as leaders Ipswich’s win sees them now only 1 point behind both teams with 2 games to go. 

Ipswich started slowly against the physical Kent team but soon got going breaking away to force a short corner. Captain Emma Millar put Ipswich in front with a neat touch at the far left post. Ipswich kept up the pressure and soon were 2 up. Player of the match Sophie Sheldrake tucking home a loose ball from an acute angle after a good run down the left. Ipswich were now totally dominant and Sarah juggins put them 3-0 up from a penalty stroke after good work by Lucy Philp.

Gravesend were not down heartened though and continued to battle hard and were rewarded by scoring through a one on one with keeper Laura Peskett.

The second half saw the home team continue the battling and keep up the pressure on Ipswich but a goal by Ella Kenny to make it 4-1 to Ipswich saw the game finally over as a contest.  A bizarre own goal that controversially stood and was credited to Juggins gave Ipswich their final and fifth goal and saw them record a well-deserved win.

They take on Cambridge City in their last home game of the season and know that again a win is the only result that will keep them in the hunt for the title.

Printwize East Premier

Sat 22^nd March 2003

 Ipswich v Croystx

Result: lost 5-1

Scorers: S Miller

Ipswich took on Printwize East Premier league champions, Crostyx on Saturday and felt the full force of a side determined to gain promotion to the EHL division two. The game started at a frantic pace and both sides were keen to draw first blood. 

The home side were unlucky not to take the lead in the first minute when a move down the left wing involving Andy Swindin and Richard Fox resulted in Simon Miller effort being cleared off the line. Miller was playing his first game for the team following a lengthy lay off after injuring his shoulder before Christmas. Veteran striker Andy Cook also made a welcome return to the side after some impressive performances for the clubs second team.

To their credit Crostyx soaked up much pressure and opened the scoring through Gareth Ingram with their first attack. Two minutes later Russell Pirie broke clear and a mistimed tackle by sweeper Asif Rais resulted in a penalty stroke being awarded. Peter Ware duly obliged from the penalty spot to take the Essex side into the break with a two goal advantage.

Despite increased efforts from the Suffolk side in the second half, Crostyx stood firm and the experienced Paul Dover marshalled the midfield and was always a danger. Two goals in the space of six minutes put pay to any hope of an Ipswich victory mid-way through the second half. Ingram scored his second of the game from close range and completed his hat-trick after pouncing on a loose ball following a defensive mix-up between Chris Palmer and Matt Walker. 

Ipswich still showed they are able to compete with the best the league can offer and pulled back a goal back following a well worked counter attack. A surging run by Swindin split the Crostyx rear guard and his pass found Miller at the top of the circle. Miller shrugged off the attentions of two defenders before unleashing a powerful strike into the corner of Neal Lofthouse's goal.

Games between these two sides are notoriously feisty affairs and this was to be no exception. The match came to a somewhat unsavoury end with Dover and Rais both spending time in the sin bin for violent conduct. Adding to Ipswich's problems was Matt Stainthorpe who picked up his third yellow card of the season and will now miss next week's fixture, as will the suspended Rais. 

Whilst Rais was observing from behind the goal, Crostyx scored their fifth and final goal through the lively Dean Richardson despite Matt Walkers best efforts on the line. Ipswich skipper Richard Fox can take many positives from this match but will be disappointed that his side could not repeat another remarkable victory of this season's champions.

Ipswich v Cambridge City

Result: Won 4-2

Scorers: Glading (3), Sebborn

Ipswich were determined to gain revenge for their first defeat of the season against a strong Cambridge side who have only lost 1 match this season and scored well over a 100 goals in the process. Ipswich started brightly pinning back the Cambridge defence, appeals for a penalty flick went unrewarded before Glading managed to scrammble the ball over the line. Wingers Girling and Hauxwell were finding plenty of room to operate and the Ipswich defence were rarely troubled. Ipswich increased their lead when Girlings cross was deflected by Glading past the Cambridge keeper who perhaps should have done better. Shortly before half time Cambridge brought themselves back into contention.

The second half again started with Ipswich looking the most likely side and but it was midway through the half before a carbon copy effort by the Girling/Glading combination increased the lead. Ipswich began to create numerous opportunities to seal victory but Cambridge came back into contention when a high deflection came out of the sun and avoided a blinded Steward. Cambridge were back in the game but a fast counter attack resulted in the best goal of the game, when Sebborn struck a superb effort from the top of the cirle.