National Indoor EHL Premier LeagueIpswich 3 Canterbury 2Ipswich 3 Aldridge 2 Ipswich 8 Chelmsford 4Ipswich 1 Clifton Drew 1IPSWICH have given themselves a great chance of qualifying for the finals of the National Indoor Championships for the fifth year in a row following two wins at the weekend.

National Indoor EHL

Premier League

Ipswich 3 Canterbury 2

Ipswich 3 Aldridge 2

Ipswich 4 Chelmsford 8

Ipswich 1 Clifton 1

IPSWICH have given themselves a great chance of qualifying for the finals of the National Indoor Championships for the fifth year in a row following two wins and a draw at the weekend.

After the first round of competition at Whitgift School in Croydon, Ipswich lie in fifth place on seven points, but are only two points off the top spot held by Slough on goal difference from Olton & West Warwicks.

The weekend started well for the Suffolk club with a 3-2 win over Canterbury, Emma Lee-Smith scoring two goals, with Kirsten Spencer playing in a new forward role scoring the other.

Another 3-2 win over Aldridge, with Lee-Smith grabbing another brace, saw Ipswich end the day on maximum points but they were disappointed not to have finished off the newly prompted side earlier.

Sunday morning saw the eagerly awaited derby game with Chelmsford but Ipswich looked half asleep and were caught napping by a good start from the Essex side.

Ipswich felt some controversial umpiring decisions did not help their fight-back, but the overall performance did not deserve the win and the final score was 8-4 to Chelmsford.

With one game remaining and with all other teams having dropped points Ipswich knew it was vital to get a good result against Clifton.

It was a very tactical game with both sides playing some good hockey and some great saves by both goalkeepers but it was Ipswich that struck first through Charlotte Anderson, a great first time shot catching the keeper off guard.

Ipswich looked in control until, with three minutes to go, Clifton equalised through a penalty corner. However, the Suffolk side were awarded a penalty stroke one minute later as Vic Sandal's shot was deemed to have been stopped illegally on the line. Unfortunately Lee-Smith's shot hit the post and bounced away to safety.

The next round of games, to be played on January 10 and 11, will be a hard test for Ipswich as it includes three of the four teams above them in the table.