Ipswich Town Women went out of the Women's FA Cup at the fourth-round stage, acquitting themselves superbly before eventually going down 3-0 to Women's Super League Manchester City on a ground where they had been humbled in a ten-goal defeat in February 2020.
Despite the match taking place immediately before the men's team took on Bristol Rovers at Portman Road, the women's side were not short of support. They received a pre-match message from Ed Sheeran on social media and were cheered on in the stadium by reality star GK Barry, forward Ella Rutherford's girlfriend,.
Town manager Joe Sheehan was able to welcome back summer signing Rutherford after a succession of niggling injuries as a substitute alongside new recruit Lucy Watson, signed on loan from Chelsea yesterday.
Opponents Manchester City demonstrated the quality in the squad by including one of the world's best players, Vivianne Miedema, as one of their substitutes.
City dominated the ball from the start, attempting to find gaps in the Town defence with over 80 per cent of the early possession.
In the 11th minute, a corner from Mary Fowler was met with a looping header by debutant Rebecca Knaak. The ball dropped onto the top of the crossbar.
Nine minutes later, stand-in City captain Jill Roord opened the scoring. After Knaak dispossessed Lucy O'Brien in the centre of the field, she fed Roord who advanced unchallenged before side-footing a skidding shot from 20 yards which eluded keeper Natalia Negri, whose right hand was unable to prevent the ball finding the bottom corner of the net.
Negri received treatment on the pitch soon after but Town continued to defend resolutely, limiting their celebrated opponents to just two other shots during the first half. City manager Gareth Taylor repeatedly switched wingers Chloe Kelly and Lily Murphy but his team were still unable to create chances for Australian forward Fowler.
Sheehan had told the media on Thursday that videos of their 10-0 defeat to Manchester City five years previously had played a large part in his preparations ahead of the game and his players seemed to have learned the lessons.
Town maintained their shape in a low block, accepting they would not be able to attack in the same way which has led the table-topping Blues to score 52 goals in 11 unbeaten FA Women's League Southern Division games this season. Despite having their backs to the ball for the entirety of the match, Town only committed five fouls.
It took more good work from Roord to create a second goal in the 55th minute. She outwitted Kyra Robertson on the left before crossing for Laura Coombs. The midfielder, who was one of three City players to score a hat-trick against Ipswich Town in 2020, hit the crossbar with her first effort but was quickest to react, side-footing the rebound into an unguarded net.
Miedema and Rutherford were introduced by their respective coaches with half an hour remaining as City continued to push for more goals. Negri saved superbly from Murphy and Coombs before Megan Wearing cleared another Knaak header off the line.
But the pressure eventually told after another turnover of possession. Kelly slid a ball through to Miedema who finished clinically into the bottom corner.
It took until the 84th minute for Town to create an opportunity when Sophie Peskett led a counter-attack, slipping through new signing Watson. The forward ran through but her left-footed shot was blocked by Kerstin Casparij at the expense of a corner.
Town can now focus their attentions on their league campaign where their Cup exploits have left them with three games in hand over Hashtag United and Exeter City, their nearest rivals for the single promotion place into the FA Women's Championship.
They return to action in two weeks' time with a long trip to Wales for a match away to Gwalia United.
Manchester City Women: 31 Ayaka Yamashita; 18. Kerstin Casparij, 28. Gracie Prior (4. Laia Aleixandri, 61), 27. Rebecca Knaak, 15. Leila Ouahabi; 7. Laura Coombs (16. Jess Park, 61), 19. Laura Blinkilde Brown; 9. Chloe Kelly, 10. Jill Roord (c), 46. Lily Murphy (6. Vivianne Miedema, 61) ; 8. Mary Fowler.
Ipswich Town Women: 1. Natalia Negri; 6 Leah Mitchell, 2. Maria Boswell (c), 20. Megan Wearing, 21 Maisy Barker; 8. Kyra Robertson, 5. Grace Garrard (10. Eloise King, 87); 17. Sophie Peskett (9. Izzy Fisher, 87), 11. Lucy O'Brien (19. Ella Rutherford, 62), 3. Summer Hughes (24. Angela Addison, 87); 7. Natasha Thomas (14. Lucy Watson, 71).