Ipswich 1 Leicester 4

Premier Division

Ipswich 1 Leicester 4

Ipswich have been left nervously looking over their shoulders in the league following defeat to Leicester.

The Suffolk side have been dragged into the relegation battle after taking just one point from six games in the second half of the outdoor season.

With two games to play, Ipswich are one point clear of eighth placed Chelmsford and four points clear of Poynton who currently sit in the relegation play-off spot.

Leicester may have been less of a force this season, the defending champions currently in fourth place, but they are still an extremely talented side.

In a hectic opening period, the first clear chance of the game fell to Ipswich's Lizzy Aldous who was denied in a one-on-one situation.

The Suffolk side continued to apply the pressure and, after a succession of short corners, they deservedly found the net through a trademark Emma Millar scoop after seven minutes.

The pace of the game lifted after the strike and, following another quick break from Leicester, the visitors converted a well-worked short corner routine with a diving deflection a minute later.

In a feisty, end-to-end game the tempers were close to boiling over in the 12th minute when a Leicester player was shown a green card.

The tide was turning in Ipswich's favour, the scores only staying level thanks to a brave stop from the Leicester keeper from another Lizzy Aldous one-on-one.

The visitors weathered the storm well though and left the dominant hosts deflated just before half time, breaking away to go in front.

There was further heartache for Ipswich after the break when they fell further behind to a freak goal. Keeper Charlotte Lee-Smith looked to have cleared the ball away from the oncoming attackers only for it to hit a defenders foot and fall to a Leicester player who fired the shot into the empty goal.

That blow was almost too hard for the Ipswich players to take and this showed as Leicester began to take control of the game.

Ipswich refused to give in though and, when a Leicester player was dismissed with a yellow card for persistent stick tackling and breaking down the play, the Suffolk side sensed their chance.

Jenny Hall starting to create some openings but, despite balls flying across the face of the goal, Ipswich could not quite find a finishing touch.

It was to be a frustrating day for Ipswich though and all hopes of a fight back were effectively ended when Miriam Fabregas was shown a yellow card following an altercation, which was soon upgraded to a red after the Spaniard was provoked into a verbal bout with her opponent.

With Leicester now holding the player advantage, they rounded off an unreflective score line in the 66th minute with a controversial goal. A deflected short corner shot was seemingly about to be saved by Kirsten Spencer until she was put off by an oncoming Leicester stick at head height.

Defeat now puts more emphasis on Ipswich's derby game against Chelmsford in a couple of weeks.