Chelmsford 2 Ipswich 2

Slazenger Women's EHL

Premier Division

Chelmsford 2 Ipswich 2

Ipswich shrugged off injury worries on Saturday to claim a point in this Essex/Suffolk derby game. The Suffolk side recorded their fourth 2-2 draw in a row as they came back from 2-1 down to share the points with hosts Chelmsford, whose weekend went rapidly downhill on Sunday when they were dumped out of the EH Cup by Division One side Poynton.

The game started superbly for Ipswich as they pressed and harried Chelmsford into several forced errors. In fact it was so much one-way traffic that the uneducated spectator would think the Ipswich defensive half was out of bounds to the home team.

In previous games Ipswich had been guilty of not pressing home territorial advantage but some good play by Jo Ellis and Jenny Hall saw the visitors gain a run of short corners and it was no surprise when South African international Kate Hector fired the Suffolk side into the lead. Hector claimed her sixth goal of the season in the 13th minute, her fierce shot taking a deflection off a Chelmsford stick to leave keeper Katy Roberts stranded.

Finally, spurred into action, the home side began to push forward and they gained a short corner which was converted by Chole Rogers to make the score 1-1. Despite the setback Ipswich regrouped and poured forward once more, causing Chelmsford no end of problems as they struggled to contain the superb play of Emma Lee-Smith, Kate Hector and Jo Ellis. Despite having the upper hand, Ipswich could not find a second goal and half time saw the score line remain at 1-1.

The second half saw Chelmsford begin to create a few more chances, but some good marshalling by Ipswich defenders Mille Sharp and Becky Baker saw any potential danger dealt with. At the other end of the pitch Ipswich were creating some good chances but could not quite finish them off.

Chelmsford then delivered the sucker punch as Tracy Wilmore fired the Essex side into the lead in the 48th minute. Chelmsford now sensed the win could be theirs and only a glaring miss from the unmarked Lynn Bollington saved Ipswich from conceding another goal minutes later.

Having regained their composure Ipswich began to control the game once more and eleven minutes later they were back on level terms. A superb effort by top scorer Jenny Hall was smothered by Roberts in the Chelmsford goal but Ipswich striker Sarah Tallent was on hand to coolly lift the ball over the keeper to score her third goal of the season. Confidence renewed, Ipswich went looking for the winner and they were only inches away as Tallent saw her reaction deflection fly agonisingly wide.