Suffolk FA Women’s Cup Final Ipswich Town 8 Needham Market 0 Ipswich Town Women strolled to their fifth successive Suffolk FA Women’s Cup with a convincing 8-0 victory over Needham Market at Portman Road, writes Kieren Standley.
Captain Amanda Crump and leading scorer Natasha Thomas both hit braces, with Charlotte Kellett, Amy Nash, Toni-Anne Wayne and Sophie Welton completing the scoring in front of a bumper crowd of 769.
Ipswich had the better of the early chances but to their credit, Needham were holding their own and looked a threat on the counter-attack. However, the resistance was soon broken as Kellett opened the scoring.
Thomas beat the full-back before delivering a dangerous ball into the six-yard box and Kellett applied the simplest of finishes to put the Blues in front. The Marketwomen continued to show great character as they looked for a response but Town would head into the break two goals to the good. Skipper Crump split the Needham defence with a killer through ball into the path of Thomas, who powered through uncontested and fired into the far corner.
Despite a closely contested first-half, the floodgates opened after the restart as Town hit a quick-fire double. First, Thomas received the ball on the edge of the area before finding the bottom corner with an excellent outside of the foot finish before Crump made it 4-0 as she was played in by Zoe Cossey and found the net through the legs of the unfortunate Needham 'keeper Amber Leeks.
Nash soon made it five with an excellent solo goal. After springing a break, she carried the ball from her own half before recovering from a slight stumble and found the far corner with a sweet strike.
Goal number six arrived not long after as Wayne got in on the action, latching on to a long ball and keeping her composure to slot past the helpless Leeks. Just three minutes later Ipswich had a seventh as Welton's long wait for a goal was finally over.
After some excellent football, Kellett teed the ball up for the Town winger, who took a touch and smashed it low into the far corner. Finally, the eighth and final goal arrived as Wayne held the ball up in the area before finding the unmarked Crump for a tap in.
Despite a valiant effort from Needham Market, the Tractor Girls simply had too much for them, with Joe Sheehan's side concluding an up and down season with another County Cup trophy.
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