Leicester 1 Ipswich 1

Slazenger England League

Premier Division

Leicester 1 Ipswich 1

IPSWICH'S hard work and never say die attitude was finally rewarded on Saturday as they registered their first point of the season in the Slazenger EHL Premier League. The fact it was against a Leicester side packed with current GB and England U21 stars made it even sweeter.

Ipswich travelled to the Midlands in good spirits and a good lengthy warm up ensured they started the game at a fast pace. Despite their good start the visitors found themselves a goal down within seven minutes. Hannah Smith firing home after Ipswich's outstanding keeper Mariëtte Rix had made three fantastic saves.

hether the home side thought Ipswich would now roll over was debatable but you could sense a real feeling of disbelief when the Suffolk team surged up the pitch three minutes later and equalized. A fantastic sweeping move started off from the back, culminated in Sarah Daley laying the ball into space for Ipswich's talented striker Chloe Hunnable to race onto.

The Under 16 England International's raw speed left the chasing defender in her wake and with a cool head she rounded the keeper and finished off the move with a firm strike into the bottom corner. It was Hunnable's first goal in the National League but it is very unlikely to be her last.

Back in the game Ipswich pushed forwards and with the entire team working fantastically hard it was the visitors that were looking the most likely team to score. With Rix in the Ipswich goal commanding her defensive area and dealing with any shots the home side were becoming more and more frustrated. Ipswich though did have to survive a flurry of short corers just before half time and were pleased to enter the break level.

Aware that the home side would step up the pressure in the second half Ipswich were determined to keep up their fantastic work rate.

With 15 minutes to go Ipswich lost striker Lizzy Aldous to a nasty looking knee injury and with defender Millie sharp also carrying a knock Ipswich were running out of fresh legs. The last 15 minutes saw some amazing defending by the Suffolk team, and a combination of fantastic saves by Rix in goal and player of the match Kirsten Spencer making several goal line clearances saw the score line remain unchanged.