Ipswich Town Women’s Vitality Women's FA Cup run came to an end at the quarter-final stage after a 1-0 defeat to Super League West Ham United at the Goldstar Ground, Felixstowe. The Hammers netted the only goal through Lisa Evans in the 32nd minute, one of only a handful of chances the top flight side were able to create against the resolute Blues, who could be proud of their display.
Town boss Joe Sheehan made two changes from the team which won 3-0 at Cardiff a week ago with Lucy O’Brien and Olivia Smith coming into the team for Eva Hubbard and Eloise King, who dropped to the bench.
Abbie Lafayette was making her 50th appearance for the Blues, while Silvana Flores, who joined the club on Friday from Tottenham, was among the subs.
Men’s first-teamers Wes Burns, George Edmundson, Conor Chaplin and Christian Walton, as well as club CEO Mark Ashton and academy duo Bryan Klug and Lee O’Neill, were among the 2,000-strong sell-out Goldstar Ground crowd.
The visitors, two divisions above the Blues, went close in the opening minute, a cross from the left finding Claudia Walker at the near post, but under pressure she bundled the ball wide.
As had been expected, the Super League side dominated the ball but with the Blues hassling, harrying and preventing the Hammers from finding another early opening.
Town had opportunities to threaten when on the ball in the West Ham half but either a pass went astray or the visitors snuffed out the danger.
The Blues prevented the top flight side from creating another chance until the half hour when keeper Sarah Quantrill did well to get across to her left to palm Halle Houssein’s awkwardly-bouncing shot past the post.
From the resultant corner, Lucy Parker headed downwards and towards the top corner but Quantrill reacted quickly to turn it onto the underside of the bar and the danger was cleared.
However, two minutes later, the East Londoners scored what would prove to be the game's decisive goal. Melisa Filis played in Lisa Evans inside the area from where she slipped the ball past the advancing Quantrill.
Two minutes before the break, Lois Joel crossed from the right following a short corner and Quantrill flicked it past the post.
Town were forced into a change ahead of the start of the second half with Anna Grey having picked up a knock just before the break. Lucy Egan took over.
The Hammers weren’t too far away from a second six minutes after the restart when Claudia Walker hit a shot on the turn which Quantrill reacted quickly to save one-handed down to her right.
The Tractor Girls made a double change on the hour with debutant Flores and Eloise King taking over from skipper Bonnie Horwood and Kyra Robertson.
The game continued in a similar pattern with West Ham seeing most of the ball but with the determined Town backline preventing them from creating chances from which to score their second goal.
At the other end, the Blues were looking more of a threat than in the first half and won a couple of corners.
Striker Natasha Thomas was forced off by a knock in the 73rd minute, Sarah Brasero-Carreira taking over, Town’s all-time top scorer having put in an industrious display but without having an opportunity in front of goal. Six minutes later, Maddy Biggs replaced Zoe Barratt.
As the game moved into its final 10 minutes, Brasero-Carreira briefly appeared in a position where she might get behind the West Ham defence but but Gilly Flaherty came across to take the ball away from her, although her backpass almost sold keeper Mackenzie Arnold short.
On 87, Evans’s right-sided cross was headed onto the roof of the net by Hammers’ sub Dagny Brynjarsdottir.
Chances continued to be infrequent in the closing stages before the referee’s whistle confirmed West Ham’s place in the semi-final draw.
A battling performance from the Blues, leading to a more than creditable 1-0 defeat to Super League opposition, who they limited to very few chances, and they can be proud of the manner in which they acquitted themselves, and of their cup run as a whole.
The way in which they competed with a top division side will hopefully give the table-topping Tractor Girls a boost as they go into the final weeks of their FA National League Southern Premier Division promotion challenge.
Town: Quantrill, Hughes, Peake, Smith, Lafayette, Grey (Egan 46), Horwood (c) (Flores 60), Robertson (King 60), O’Brien, Barratt (Biggs 79), Thomas (Brasero-Carreira 73). Unused: L Jackson, Boswell, Hubbard, Bryant.
West Ham: Arnold, Cissoko (Flaherty 75), Parker, Fisk (c), Wyne, Joel (Brynjarsdottir 67), Stringer, Filis (Hasegawa 67), Houssein (Yallop 74), Walker, Evans (Longhurst 90). Unused: Leat, Svitkova, Leon, Garrad.