By Vic Clement

IPSWICH 7 Ladies 3s v Felixstowe 2s

Ipswich 7 Ladies 3s braved the freezing temperatures to head over to the coast for their Suffolk Prem match against Felixstowe 2s. Ipswich sitting in 3rd place behind Fram 1s and 5 points ahead of IES 2s in fourth had everything to play for. This weeks 2s loanee was Minal Patel a very versatile players who can play in almost any position on the pitch. The match started exactly as Skipper Stens had hoped. Immediate pressure and confident passing and quick movement off the ball meant Ipswich troubled the Felixstowe defence from the start. It was a little while before the first goal arrived but it was never in doubt. A slip to the right from Min Patel at a short corner saw Vic Clement dribble the ball to the byline for her first pass back to be blocked by the keeper but she picked it up again and this time there was no mistake as she passed it back to Min Patel on the P spot who perfectly slotted it home. Completely against the run of play Felixstowe made a move into the Ipswich Defensive D and Sarah Logan making the perfect tackle was body blocked by the Felixstowe player. Expecting the game to be stopped for an Ipswich free hit everyone was hugely surprised to hear no whistle and Felixstowe crack the ball into the Ipswich goal. Unexpectedly the game was now level again. However pressure from Ipswich didn’t abate at all and within a short period of time Flavia passed the ball to Kiya Smith at the left post and Kiya expertly rolled out over her left shoulder to perfectly push the ball in the opposite corner of the goal. Shortly after Min Patel hit a great ball across goal which saw Vic Clement divert its angle straight into the goal between the Felixstowe keepers legs. Ipswich headed into half time 3-1 up.

The second half started as the first ended with non stop pressure from Ipswich. A few very near misses unfortunately meant Ipswich didn’t go further ahead until a welcome short corner saw Stens’ perfect injection reach Min Patel on the top of the D and with a sneaky left slip to Kiya it was swept home to take the score to 4-1 to Ipswich. A controversial late goal from Felixstowe which saw the umpires debate its validity for a good few minutes meant the game ended 4-2 to Ipswich. Wins for Fram and IES meant that the table hasn’t changed positionally with Ipswich still 3 points behind Fram and 5 ahead of IES 2s.

Man of the Match Kiya Smith, with close runner up Connie Shaw.