England Hockey National Indoor Premier LeagueIpswich 4 Bowdon Hightown 2Ipswich 1 Clifton 2Ipswich 4 Chelmsford 3Ipswich 4 Sevenoaks 2Three wins out of four, including a derby win over Chelmsford, saw Ipswich finish 2007 on a high after the first batch of indoor hockey fixtures.

England Hockey National Indoor Premier League

Ipswich 4 Bowdon Hightown 2

Ipswich 1 Clifton 2

Ipswich 4 Chelmsford 3

Ipswich 4 Sevenoaks 2

THREE wins out of four, including a derby win over Chelmsford, saw Ipswich finish 2007 on a high after the first batch of indoor hockey fixtures.

The Suffolk club go into the Christmas break tied with Olton and Chelmsford on nine points, while they are just three points behind league leaders and defending champions Slough.

Ipswich started their weekend with a great 4-2 win over a Bowdon Hightown team that had knocked them out of the semi-finals last year.

With Emma Lee-Smith only able to play in this one game she made her presence count by scoring two goals, with her sister Becky Baker and Leisa King scoring the others.

Unfortunately for Ipswich, after a long gap of over three hours, the Suffolk side undid some of their good work by losing to newly promoted Clifton 2-1.

Despite creating bags of chances Ipswich just could not find their way past Clifton's inform goalkeeper who produced a string of last ditch saves. Leisa King scored Ipswich's only goal of the game.

After that loss, Sunday's early morning derby game against Chelmsford was crucial for Ipswich and the team showed great determination and control to run out 4-3 winners. Leisa King scored twice, with Lizzy Aldous and Jess Bloom bagging the other goals.

The last game of the weekend saw Ipswich play a Sevenoaks side that had yet to win a point and, despite not racking up the goals they wanted, a 4-2 win was satisfactory enough. Captain Becky Baker scored a brace, while leading scorer King and Bloom were on target again.

With the top four teams qualifying for finals night, Ipswich have given themselves a great chance to make a fourth consecutive appearance.

Last year they qualified in third place with 15 points, so a minimum of two wins out of the next four games should be enough to see the Suffolk team through.

However, there are no easy games in this league and Ipswich will have to play well to overcome any of their remaining opponents, Olton, Sutton, Slough and Canterbury.

Tickets for the finals day can be bought on line from www.englandhockey.co.uk, with U18s tickets only costing £1 for the whole day.