Worcester Norton v BTexact Ipswich

Sunday 2nd February 2003

EHL Cup Round 5

Result won 5-1

BTexact Ipswich travelled to Worcester to defend the English Hockey Cup. On the back of two defeats the Suffolk side knew that they had to start performing to their potential.
Strong words from coach Sandie Lister had put the team in an attacking frame of mind and the Worcester team were backpedalling from the opening whistle. King and Barnard took the game by the scruff of the neck and it was only a few minutes before Ipswich took the lead. Ellis struck the ball fiercely past the Worcester keeper.

Continued pressure led to the first of many short corner, Ellis again getting involved and after the initial shot was saved she made sure of getting to the ball first and this time flicked the ball into the corner. Ipswich were back to their best and the flowing style of hockey made it difficult for Worcester to get the ball. Kenny and Sheldrake combined well
as a strike force and showed greater confidence and composure on the ball in the attacking zone. Vicki Sandal, Colleen Adcock and Leisa King dominated the midfield and kept switching the angle of the Ipswich attack to create further opportunities. Two more short corner goals from captain Kirsten Spencer made the score 4-0 at the break.
Worcester persevered and when the Suffolk side lost possession in the second half they capitalised on the error and to the cheers of the crowd scored a goal. Yet with new forwards Emma Millar and Lucy Philp Ipswich continued to press forwards and eventually Aldous made it five with a reverse tap past the wrong-footed keeper.
Ipswich were a different team to last week and they played a passing game and were very quick at transforming defence into attack.

 Women’s Printwize East Premier League

Sat 8^th February 2002

Ipswich 2^nd’s v Letchworth

Result: 1-3

Scorers (L Philp)

Ipswich finally surrendered their unbeaten record in the Printwize East Premier League against fellow title contenders Letchworth at home on Saturday. A 3-1 loss does not reflect the match that Ipswich dominated but does highlight the problem when chances are created but not taken.  Ipswich had Letchworth on the ropes on several occasions but could not find the final ball that in previous games had come so naturally.

Ipswich boosted by the presence of Jo Thompson in goal started the stronger and within 10 minutes were 1-0 up, Fiona Shaw and Lucy Philp combining well to give Philp the opportunity to score from an acute angle. Philp took the chance and Ipswich looked good for a home win.  

More home pressure saw 2 chances cleared off the line by desperate Letchworth defending but Ipswich could not convert them into goals and as Ipswich became more frustrated Letchworth began to find their rhythm. A well worked short corner routine saw Letchworth equalise and the visitors began to dominate the midfield. Within 10 minutes Letchworth took the lead, an identical short corner catching the Ipswich defence out.  

A stern half time talk seemed to lift the Suffolk side and they started the 2^nd half with a renewed purpose. Some excellent defending by player of the match Beck Lawrence kept any Letchworth attacks at bay and it was all Ipswich pressure. However the visitors were determined to hang on and despite continued attacks on their goal Ipswich could not break through. Ipswich continued battling hard but when Letchworth scored their third, from another short corner with 10 minutes to go, the match was finally out of reach.

Ipswich were left to rue their missed chances and will be fully aware that they will need to bounce back quickly to make sure they keep themselves in the title hunt with a home win against Canterbury 2^nd’s on Saturday.

Suffolk League

Div 1

Stour Valley v Ipswich Ladies 5's

 Result: lost 4-0

Our one and only game on grass, and for a side who have never trained on grass let alone played on grass stood up to the task very well.  For all of the balls bobbling and bouncing, we did manage to get into their D quite a lot, with Anna Taylor hitting the post twice.  Stour were very quick on the attack and obviously very used to playing on grass.  New signing Ceri David gave an outstanding performance and to her credit got 'man of the match'. Yet another unlucky loss for Ipswich Ladies who just can't seem to score at

the moment.

Printwize East Premier League

Premier A

Ipswich Men 1^st’s v Cambridge City

Result: 4-2

Scorers (C Palmer (2) J Smith (2))

Ipswich recorded their fifth win on the bounce in the Printwize East Premier A division on Saturday with a hard fought victory over Cambridge City.  Ipswich, attempting to avenge defeat inflicted on them by Cambridge when they last met in the league back in October, started confidently and were soon creating chances.

The first clear-cut opportunity fell to Richard Fox but his shot was deflected for a corner off the stick of Mark Moffatt.  From the resulting corner, Fox linked up well with Richard Stainthorpe to break through the home side's defence and lay on an inviting ball to James smith at the top of the circle.  Smith's first touch took the ball away from the last defender and his powerful strike beat the City keeper Nick Clarey with ease.

Cambridge City responded positively to going a goal behind and enjoyed long periods of possession up until half time.  Chances fell to Andy Knight and John Gordon but the Ipswich rear guard held firm with Matthew Stainthorpe and Andy Swindin thwarting many strong runs down the wing. 

On the stroke of half time the visitors once again proved how deadly they are on the counter attack when Richard Stainthorpe picked up a clearance by Asif Rais deep inside the City half.  The pacey forward outran his marker and his pass found Chris Palmer at the top of the circle.  Whilst attempting to bring the ball under control, Palmer evaded the tackles of two defenders before shrugging off the attentions of veteran sweeper Nigel Gadsby.  With only the keeper to beat Palmer was cynically fouled and the umpire showed no hesitation in awarding a penalty stroke.  Palmer stepped up and converted the stroke past Clarey to take the visitors into the break with a somewhat fortunate two-goal cushion.

Despite the deficit, Cambridge City started the second half with more determination and played some lovely attacking hockey.  Ipswich struggled to find the form of late that has seen them rocket up the division and they were on the back foot for much of the half.  The constant pressure eventually paid off when striker Nick Willingham finished from close range after Ipswich had failed to clear.

Just as Cambridge were beginning to get a real grip on the game, Ipswich restored their two-goal advantage.  Richard Fox intercepted a weak pass out of the City defence and moved the ball quickly to Ivan Smith.  Smith in turn found Palmer in the circle with time, space and only the keeper to beat.  Once again Palmer was fouled before being able to shoot and a second penalty stroke was awarded.  Palmer hasn't missed any of the five stokes he has taken this season and he made no mistake once again to claim his tenth goal of his campaign.

With still twenty minutes of the game remaining Cambridge pressed higher up the pitch and cracks started appearing in the Ipswich resistance.  Superb covering by Darren Bosher prevented City from breaking through and the defensive duo of James Walker and Asif Rais frustrated the home sides attacking efforts. 

As often happens in games of this ilk, a controversial umpiring decision could have changed the course of the match.  With less than ten minutes remaining Andy Knight broke through and had a clear sight of the Ipswich goal.  A last gasp tackle by Walker prevented knight from scoring but umpire Neil Cherrill adjudged the Ipswich sweeper to have 'played the man' before the tackle and awarded the third stroke of the game.  John Gordon flicked the ball low past Hendy in the Ipswich goal to the delight of the home side supporters to make it 3-2.

Despite having a number of short corners towards the end of the game, Cambridge couldn't beat the impressive Hendy for a third time as he pulled off a string of excellent saves to deny Gadsby from the direct strike.  As the home side looked for the equaliser, gaps were left in the City defence that the Ipswich forwards exploited to the full.  With seconds left, Ipswich were awarded a short corner that was switched to the right for James Smith to fire home for his second of the game to cap another fine team performance.

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