Report | Ipswich Town 3-1 Argyle Women
Argyle Women suffered defeat on Sunday afternoon, losing 3-1 to Ipswich Town at Portman Road in FAWNL Southern Premier Division action.
Nearly 11,000 fans were in attendance to see the league-leading Tractor Girls pick up the three points Argyle, despite Charlotte Whitmore’s consolation goal in the final minutes of the game.
The hosts started on the front foot, taking the lead within the opening two minutes thanks to Lucy O’Brien. The Ipswich number 11 found herself in the right place at the right time to tap home Sophie Peskett’s cross, which was not dealt with by Lily Felgate and the Greens' defence.
The energy and excitement from the full lower bowl of Portman Road rallied the home side, with continuous waves of attacking threats battering the Argyle defensive line. However, the Greens held strong, blocking passes and clearing balls away from the final third and danger area.
However, this was only possible for a certain period. Just before the half-hour mark, Natasha Thomas headed home Ipswich’s second goal, but with some discussion from players in Green and Argyle staff on the sideline. Felgate seemed to punch the ball and be bundled into, but the goal was given and play waved on, doubling Ipswich’s advantage.
More attacking phases highlighted the host’s start to the second 45 minutes of action, but just after Argyle’s first change of the tie, they found a third. A tackle from behind on Ava Kuyken caught all the attention of the Argyle players, but not Peskett, who picked up the ball and fired home before rearing off in celebration with the excited crowd.
Argyle had Felgate to thank for keeping the game at 3-0; as the game entered the final 15 minutes, the Argyle keeper made a particular good stop, diving low to her right and pushing a close-range effort from Peskett onto the post and away from the goal.
The Greens seemed to have some momentum to end the tie but were soon hit with a sending-off, for Giota Papaioannou. The defender gave away a free-kick near the corner flag, turned away to walk back towards goal to defend and saw the referee brandishing a second yellow card, followed by a red.
Argyle defended valiantly and were soon rewarded with a goal of their own. Ipswich’s goalkeeper Natalia Negri’s pass was cut out by Whitmore, before the Pilgrims’ number seven unleashed a vicious left-footed effort into the top left corner.
Head Coach James Bradley said: “They're [Ipswich] a really good outfit. I thought we competed well for large spells of the game and our possession work was fantastic. The effort and application from everyone was excellent and Char's goal at the end was a nice moment for us, and we deserved it.
“The character from the team to concede after one minute, in front of nearly 11,000 people in a first-team stadium, and then to stand up to that test for the remainder of that half, and then the second half as well, takes a lot, so full credit to them.
“It's a shame we couldn't get something from the game in terms of points, but in terms of work rate, endeavour and desire, absolutely faultless from every single one of them.”
Ipswich Town: 1 Natalia Negri, 3 Summer Hughes (21 Maisy Barker, 65), 5 Grace Garrad (22 Evie Williams, 90+2), 6 Leah Mitchell, 7 Natasha Thomas (14 Lucy Watson, 74), 8 Kyra Robertson, 11 Lucy O’Brien, 17 Sophie Peskett, 18 Ruby Doe (16 Elkie Bowyer, 79), 19 Ella Rutherford (15 Ruby Seaby, 74), 20 Megan Wearing. Substitutes: 31 Laura Hartley (gk), 30 Kaci-Jai Bonwick.
Goals: O’Brien 2, Thomas 26, Peskett 57.
Argyle: 1 Lily Felgate, 2 Katie Dickson (19 Erin O’Shea, 85), 3 Roxy Thomas (22 Lois Edwards, 76), 5 Giota Papaioannou (capt), 6 Taya Pomfret, 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 9 Ellie Sara (17 Lulu Jarvis, 56), 10 Georgia Wilson, 16 Ella Stephens (8 Imy Crawford, 71), 24 Ava Kuyken (15 Georgie Knott, 61), 26 Caitlin Smith. Substitutes: 23 Freya Weeks (gk), 20 Fern Orchard.
Goal: Whitmore 83
Sent-off: Papaioannou 80
Yellow card: Papaioannou 33
Attendance: 10,807
