Ipswich 2 Poynton 1

Slazenger Women's EHL

Premier Division

Ipswich 2 Poynton 1

Ipswich's new Spanish signing Miriam Fabregas opened her goal scoring account to set the Suffolk side towards victory in their opening home game of the season.

Boosted by the inclusion of Jo Ellis, who fought off a wrist injury, Ipswich once again had to do without defender Kirsten Spencer who is still struggling with a calf injury.

Starting well, Poynton were unlucky to see a good reverse stick shot hit the crossbar early on. Ipswich too had clear chances but found ex-Great Britain and Wales goalkeeper Michele Thomas in good form.

Ipswich took the lead in the 26th minute. a superb shot from a short corner by Fabregas marking the debutants first goal for the club.

Two minutes later and it was captain Becky Baker adding to the score line, a well rehearsed move from another corner seeing her shot fly into the top of the net to make it 2-0.

To their credit Poynton continued to work hard and only a goal line diving clearance from player-of-the-match Millie Sharp saw the score line remain the same.

The second half though was all one-way traffic for Ipswich and with a mounting short corner total it was disappointing that the home side could not convert their chances.

Thomas was in inspired form though and a quick break away saw the visitors awarded a controversial penalty stroke which they converted with six minutes left on the clock.