National League South East Division One AFC Wimbledon 1 Ipswich Town 1 Ipswich Town came from a goal down to earn a well deserved point away to AFC Wimbledon at Carshalton Athletic FC on Sunday, writes Kieren Standley.
Caroline Bisson had given the hosts the lead in the first-half but Town drew level through an own-goal just moments later.
The opening stages of the game were very bitty, with neither side creating any clear-cut chances. Wimbledon however, dominated the early possession and made Town work incredibly hard to cover every blade of artificial turf.
With the hosts in the ascendancy, it wasn’t long before the Dons took the lead as Katie Stanley got away from Ipswich full-back Harriet Petley and laid the ball across for the arriving Bisson to tap in for the simplest of goals.
The lead was short lived and Town were level just three minutes later with a slice of fortune. Natalie Richardson’s dangerous deep free-kick made its way through a host of bodies before being turned into the Wimbledon net by an unfortunate Dons defender.
The equaliser spurred Ipswich on, with Sophie Welton and Richardson both having chances to put Town in front before Paige Wakefield sent a free-kick narrowly over the bar.
Ipswich started the second-half well, with Welton a constant threat down the right flank. The winger was unlucky to have not given Town the lead not long after the restart when she was played in behind after a lovely passage of play, but was denied by a terrific diving save from Wimbledon keeper’ Chanell Yardley.
The Dons themselves would have two great chances to retake the lead through the influential Stanley as the winger first fired her shot across the six-yard box and wide of the post.
Stanley was then cursing her luck as she burst through one-on-one and looked certain to score before Town defender Laken Duchar-Clark denied her chance with a heroic last-ditch tackle.
Despite one final chance for Wimbledon that was averted by Fagg, Ipswich would hang on to earn a deserved point in an incredibly exhausting affair.
The Tractor Girls return to action on Sunday away to New London Lionesses in the preliminary round of the FA Cup.
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