England Hockey League

Conference East

Ipswich 5 Cambridge City 0

THE first team delivered a near perfect performance on Saturday to beat Cambridge City 5-0, in the EHL East Conference. “I asked the team for hard work and a big turnaround during the week. And they reacted superbly and delivered the goods”, said Ipswich head coach James Kingston after the game.

Cambridge City made no secret about that fact that they were confident they could cause an upset against the league leaders on the weekend. But from the first whistle it was clear that Ipswich were the superior team. Ipswich came out playing very attacking hockey, putting the City defenders under maximum pressure and making full use of an extra number in the midfield. As early as the seventh minute Ipswich's aggressive approach was rewarded when Jess Bloom scored from an excellent solo effort.

Shortly after this Ipswich was reduced to 10 players when defender, Lizzy Aldous, got yellow carded for a professional foul. Ipswich however managed to adapt well and quickly to this, and it didn't break the team's momentum. On the 15th minute Anni Broster finished very well on the far post after some great build up play.

Ipswich remained in the driving seat. The defensive unit, including player of the match Mariette Rix, made sure that the Cambridge City attacks and penalty corners gave them no joy, while the team was creating numerous chances at the other end of the pitch. Leading up to half time it was again Anni Broster who gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about when she pounced on a wayward pass out of the City defence, and confidently slotted the ball in the back of the net.

The second half saw Cambridge City come out very hard in an attempt to put the Ipswich defenders under maximum pressure, and threatened the Ipswich goal on a few occasions. The Ipswich defence stayed composed and managed to weather the storm. As the half progressed Ipswich regained the majority of the possession and continued to control most of the game.

During the half City were also reduced to 10 players on two occasions, which didn't aide their cause. Ipswich's superior tactical and individual performances were further rewarded with two more goals in the second half, courtesy of the penalty corner team. The first of these was a cracking shot by Vanessa Roberts in the 46th minute. Millie McWhirter sealed a brilliant performance by the home team, deflecting the ball over the logging City keeper, to complete another perfectly executed penalty corner.

This performance gave team management, players and supporters much to smile about. “The team has shown massive commitment in preparing superbly for this match. We need to repeat this week after week to make sure we keep improving and perform at the level that is representative of the quality of Ipswich first teams of the past” said co-captain Emma Millar.

Ipswich have five matches remaining in the East Conference League and are currently four points clear of their closest rivals at the top of the table.

Next week the team travels to Northampton.