Ipswich Town Women came out second best in a feisty encounter on Wearside this afternoon, two goals in two minutes from the Black Cats in the second half wiping out the Blues’ early lead to claim a 2-1 victory at the Eppleton Colliery Football Ground.
After rotating the squad for last weekend’s FA Cup third round tie against AFC Portchester, a 5-0 win on the road, manager Joe Sheehan named a full-strength side for his team’s return to WSL2 action.
Natalia Negri came back in as keeper with Grace Neville, Paige Peake, Megan Wearing and Beth Roe in front of her as the back four.
Lucy O’Brien, Leah Mitchell and former Black Cat Jenna Dear made up the midfield three, with Rianna Dean in the striker role flanked by Natasha Thomas on the left and Sophie Peskett on the right.
Sheehan also named an eight-player bench with Laura Hartley, Maria Boswell, Summer Hughes, Kyra Robertson, Kaci-Jai Bonwick, Shauna Guyatt, Maddy Earl and Ruby Seaby all subs. With Boswell and Robertson, captain and vice-captain, both on the bench the armband was given to Beth Roe.
Ipswich started the game brightly and looked to impose themselves on their hosts straight away, Peskett getting in a crossing position in the first minute only to see her effort float out for a goal-kick. Soon after, Neville was able to get down on the right flank and put an inviting ball in towards Dean, who headed just wide of the post.
Sunderland, starting the day one place and four points above the Blues, soon began to push back and won their first corner of the game on six.
Two minutes later, the hosts broke again and Katie Kitching looked almost certain to slide in an effort towards goal, but couldn’t stay on her feet to connect with the ball. On 12, the Black Cats had a free kick into the Town box which was headed wide.
Four minutes later, Peskett latched on to a loose ball on the right and drove forward to cross it into the box towards an on-rushing O’Brien, whose first-time effort was blocked by a resolute Sunderland defence.
In the 19th minute, the Blues took the lead. O’Brien won the ball in the middle of the park and drove forward before making a perfectly weighted pass to Thomas on the left, who in turn was able to find Dean inside the six-yard box. Under pressure, the Town number nine was able to turn on the spot and fire home from close range to give the Blues a well-deserved lead.
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Ipswich continued to press their advantage after going ahead, but Sunderland were able to fashion chances of their own.
On 27 Negri’s blushes were spared after she dropped a tame Sunderland free-kick under no pressure, the ball almost bouncing out for a corner before the stopper was able to recover and gather. Three minutes later, Dear had a speculative effort from range which was well wide.
Sunderland probed the Town defence in the last 15 minutes of the first half, with the Blues spending a period of time in their own half. On 41 Mitchell pounced on a loose pass out from the back by Sunderland goalie Grace Moloney and pinged the ball out to Thomas, who mistimed her kick, allowing Moloney to recover the ball.
Ipswich piled on the pressure in the dying moments of the half but Sunderland created the last meaningful effort of the period, Peake doing well to put in a vital block after Kitching shot for goal from the edge of the box.
The Blues were good for the lead at the interval, having dominated periods of the first half, but Sunderland had defended well in spells and Town perhaps should have made more of some of the chances created.
Thomas, despite getting the assist for Dean’s goal, appeared to be low on confidence when in promising positions where Town fans would expect her to get a shot away.
Sunderland coach Melanie Copeland made a double change at the break, Natasha Fenton and Eleanor Dale replacing Jamie Finn and Katy Watson.
The changes seemed to buoy the Black Cats and they appeared to be able to find more space in the opening stages of the second half.
On 49, Negri was at the double, rising through a crowd to punch away a dangerous ball before getting back in to position to make a vital save moments later. Shortly after, Emily Scarr went in the book for a poor challenge on Peskett.
Town appeared to be more stretched as the second half went on, the game becoming increasingly physical with Peskett in particular on the end of some bad challenges when looking to start an attack.
Just before the hour, Sheehan made his first change of the game with Guyatt replacing O’Brien, the forward having struggled since picking up a knock soon after the restart.
In the 63rd minute, Thomas looked to get on the end of Peake’s deep free-kick into the Sunderland box but went down under pressure, the Town forward appealing towards the referee for a penalty. Four minutes later, Kitching made way for Izzy Atkinson. Soon after, Dear went in the book for a late challenge.
As the game entered the last 20 minutes, Sunderland upped their intensity and on 75 minutes won a corner with Roe appearing to be bundled over as she attempted to shepherd the ball out of play.
After the initial ball in was cleared, it was swung back into the middle and following a goalmouth scramble Jessica Brown was able to bundle home to level the score.
Sunderland, back in the game, naturally had their tails up. Shortly after the restart Guyatt received a yellow card for a trip on Fenton as she looked to break away.
From the resulting free-kick the Black Cats were able to get forward again and Keira Barry was able to roll the ball out to Atkinson on the left, who drove home from range to complete the turnaround and put the home side ahead.
On 85 it looked like the Blues might get back on terms after Peskett ran onto a long ball and went one on one with Moloney, but the forward could not quite lift the ball over the onrushing stopper who got enough on it for the ball to be cleared before it squirmed towards goal.
A minute later, Sheehan made a further change, replacing Neville with Earl. Within a minute, Town then had a corner but despite Earl picking it up and holding it in the opposite corner, the Blues couldn’t fashion a threatening chance.
In the final minute of normal time Dear was teed-up on the edge of the box but blasted the ball high and over.
With a minimum of eight minutes added on, Copeland made a final change in the first minute of the additional period, replacing Barry with Ellen Jones.
Sunderland were able to manage the game over the period, restricting Town’s opportunities to get forward. In the 98th minute, Dear made another attempt from distance which went straight to Moloney, that turned out to be the last meaningful effort of the game.
The result was a hard one for Town fans to take with the Blues looking good over large swathes of the first half.
The second half, however, was a much more physical encounter and Sunderland were able to battle their way back into contention, equalising after a potentially contentious corner decision and then taking the lead two minutes later with a brilliant strike from Atkinson.
Sheehan will perhaps be ruing the opportunities squandered to increase the lead in the first half when his side were in the ascendancy.
The result sees the Black Cats jump up to eight in the table, now seven points ahead of the Blues, who at one point looked to close the gap to safety to a single point.
Town are now five points from safety, although with Portsmouth and Durham also losing today the gap is not as large as it could have been.
Ipswich Town Women return to action in 2026, hosting league leaders Charlton Athletic at the Jobserve Colchester Community Stadium.
Town: Negri, Neville (Earl 86), Peake, Wearing, Roe (C), Dear, Mitchell, Peskett, Dean, O’Brien (Guyatt 59), Thomas. Unused: Hartley, Boswell, Hughes, Robertson, Bonwick, Seaby
Sunderland: Moloney, Brown, Westrup (C), Greenwood, Griffiths, Finn (Fenton 46), Sheva, Scarr, Watson (Dale 46), Barry (Jones 91), Kitching (Atkinson 67). Unused: Cassap, Rabjohn, McInnes, Blench, O’Hanlon. Attendance: 403.
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