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.

Photo: Ross Halls

grinch added 15:29 - Mar 20 Well done ladies
3

Edmundo added 15:32 - Mar 20 10-0 two years ago, now just 1-0 versus full time WSL opposition. Proud to be a Blue.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 15:36 - Mar 20 Spirited display. The girls can hold their heads high. In two years, we'll beat the likes of Wet Spam if this team stays together. Well, done! COYBW!
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mightyhorse added 15:52 - Mar 20 Watched it on Iplayer and was really impressed by the team. They physically stood up well to everything that was thrown at them. Only conceding one goal to a team so far above is huge and shows how far they have come so far. Well done ladies and keep pushing on. COYB
2

Freddies_Ears added 16:10 - Mar 20 Really strong, resilient performance. The team must surely feel so positive. Our progress is remarkable - let's see how close we can get to promotion!
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johnwarksshorts added 16:52 - Mar 20 You can be proud of your performance against top flight side.
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NthQldITFC added 16:53 - Mar 20 Really impressive performance against a fully professional team. The girls gave so much effort physically and yet were able to maintain shape and confident patterns of play throughout. Really well done.
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RobsonWark added 18:04 - Mar 20 Great to see Ashton, Burns, Chaplin, Edmundson and Walton at the game, supporting the ITFC women.
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midastouch added 19:17 - Mar 20 Fantastic effort, they should be very proud of how far they went. They look like they belong at that level too.
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ArnieM added 19:30 - Mar 20 RobsonWark: well you nearly got it right didn't you. Ever considered that, yes it was “the biggest game” of her life, but instead of playing in front of the usual 100 people today. Even the best of us, would be nervous. So she was probably dealing with nerves due to the biggest game in her life and playing in front of over 2k people? No of course you hadn't . Even the best professional at some point in their careers will suffer from nerves and freeze when under the spotlight. It's the effect of too much adrenaline washing around the body . It's called , fight or flight…….but then You've probably never taken part anything remotely close to what these girls have just achieved this season. So how about cutting her some slack.

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Generic added 19:39 - Mar 20 Well done superblues! Could well be playing in the WSL as soon as 2023. Looked every bit a solid Championship side already. Oh, and grow up FFS, RobsonWark.
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RobsonWark added 21:53 - Mar 20 OMG Generic! How woke are you are??? Maybe we should pat her on the back and say well played (to not hurt her feelings). How is that going to benefit her career? People need to be able to take criticism and use it to improve their game.
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RobsonWark added 21:59 - Mar 20 Arnie did you watch the game? She wasn't interested at all. When the keeper was taking a kick all the other Town players were running up the pitch and turning and facing the ball. She just walked back with her back to the ball every time. She walked round the pitch most of the time never looking for the ball. I'm just surprised it took Jo Sheeran 60 minutes to take her off. I only support Ipswich and England and I can't watch any other team on TV as I have no interest in them. I want my teams to win and I can't stand when people are not putting 100% effort in. She barely put 10% effort in.

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Edmundo added 08:36 - Mar 21 Personal attacks on this page about a player. FFS
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