UEA 1 Ipswich III 4

NE14Hockey East Women's League

Division 2NE

UEA 1 Ipswich III 4

A SKETCHY start was to characterise the whole game, with Ipswich panicking unnecessarily on the ball and all too often giving away possession without good reason. Regardless of this, Ipswich were first to score with Vickey Dixon taking an usual straight strike from a short corner early in the game. An absolutely cracking goal relieved some of the pressure brought on by the panicky play, although disappointingly, not for long. A break on goal caught Ipswich players asleep everywhere on the field and not marking too well. A straightforward through ball followed by a cross to a forward waiting on the back post saw a simple but effective goal even the scores.

After a return to the centre, there was a continuation of the aforementioned patchy play, but there was plenty of excitement still left in this half. The press was working well and Ipswich had most (although by no means all) of the pressure, which eventually paid off again.

Next to score was the lovely Charlotte McWhirter who was perfectly positioned on the P spot, just waiting to sweep Vickey's precision pass into the goal, catching both UEA defenders and keeper off-guard. Ipswich were back in the lead, a position they somehow managed to maintain and strengthen throughout the rest of the game, despite some suspect play from most people at one point or another.

Half time came and went. The general message was to work harder, mark more closely and keep possession.

The second half brought with it two more Ipswich goals. The first goal was as a result of some hard work from Fran Tew who managed to scramble through a fistful of defenders and pass across the D to Amanda waiting back post who lifted the ball past the keeper from the tightest of angles.

A more comfortable margin, but still not enough for an increasingly frustrated UEA side who continued to battle hard and force the Ipswich defence to do the same.

The last goal of the game was an absolute scorcher as Amanda tucked a trademark top D strike into a cheeky three inch gap by the right post.