Natasha Thomas scored both goals as Ipswich Town Women beat Aston Villa’s U21s 2-0 in a friendly at the Martello Ground, Felixstowe this afternoon.
All-time top scorer and appearance-maker Thomas put the Blues in front five minutes after the restart.
The Jamaica international added the second in the 72nd minute after good work from Sophie Peskett.
Joe Sheehan’s side get their first ever WSL2 campaign under way when they face Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday 6th September.
Sheehan felt the fixture with the WSL club’s youngsters was a worthwhile exercise: "It was another important game in our pre-season cycle against a really good Aston Villa team.
"They put in a decent shift and made us work really hard for it, which is exactly what we wanted from the match.
"I thought there were also signs of improvements for us and we are happy with the progress we are making.
"There were periods to start with where we could’ve been a bit more ruthless in the final third. I was pleased that we increased the intensity in the second half and managed to score a couple of goals as well.
"We are certainly looking to ramp things up over the next couple of weeks with the players who have been able to fulfil more minutes.
"We're really excited for the next couple of weeks as we get closer to that first game of the season at Southampton on 6th September.”
Town: Negri (Hartley 60), Mitchell, Boswell (Wearing 60), Peake, Roe (Dear 75), Robertson, Doe (Neville 46), O’Brien (Seaby 46), Hughes, Peskett, Thomas. Att: 273.