Ipswich 2 Olton & West Warwicks 5

Premier League

Ipswich 2 Olton & West Warwicks 5

RELEGATION threatened Ipswich put in a much-improved display against second-place Olton & West Warwicks.

Buoyed by the availability and inclusion of ex-Great Britain international Leisa King, Ipswich went into this match with a new mindset. And when 16-year-old Chloe Hunnable scored with only three minutes on the clock a shock result was on the cards.

Ipswich continued to play some good hockey, with the midfield trio of Mille Sharp, Vic Sandall and Emma Lee-Smith linking well with the Ipswich front line, as the home side created another few chances that probably should have been converted.

Olton are not second in the table for nothing though and their GB trio started to come more into the game. In the 18th minute they finally combined to equalise, Lisa Hunter with a reverse stick shot.

Olton took the lead two minutes later through a short corner that Ipswich would have expected to keep out.

Showing a strong mental strength the Suffolk side refused to buckle to the extreme Olton pressure and some good saves by Claire Gould in goal kept the scoreline at 2-1. Frustratingly though, with only four minutes to go to half-time, Olton struck again through another short corner to make it 3-1.

A reinforcement of tactics and a few tweaks by coach James Kingstone saw Ipswich score within seven minutes of the re-start, Emma Lee-Smith scoring via a short corner move.

With the score back to 3-2 Ipswich could sense that they could get something out of this game. With King on and adding a different dimension to the team, the home side were playing some great hockey and looked the most likely to score, with Vic Sandall unlucky to see her shot saved on the line.

Some great defending by Ipswich, especially by player-of-the-match Charlotte Anderson, kept any Olton attacks at bay. However, it was the visitors that controversially struck again, scoring their fourth goal in the 54th minute. Ipswich had stopped for the umpire's whistle, but Olton took a free hit and touched it over the line. Ipswich protested but were waved away.

The home side were now left with a mountain to climb and, despite some hard work, Olton saw out the game and scored their fifth goal in the 70th minute to give the scoreline a more than flattering look for the visitors.

Ipswich will need to reproduce a similar display on Sunday if they are to get anything out of a match at unbeaten league-leaders Bowdon Hightown in Manchester.