Comfortable Victory For Tractor Girls Sunday, 2nd Oct 2022 16:58 by Matt Makin Ipswich Town Women continued their recent good run of form, securing a 3-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Crawley Wasps at the AGL Arena this afternoon, their third consecutive league win. Manager Joe Sheehan made several changes from the side which comfortably dispatched QPR 7-0 in the FA WNL Cup last weekend with first choice keeper Sarah Quantrill returning to the starting XI alongside Maria Boswell, Olivia Smith and Natasha Thomas, with Freya Godfrey making both her home and league debut since signing on a dual registration deal from Arsenal. The Tractor Girls started the game brightly, forcing an early succession of chances. On six minutes, striker Thomas looked almost certain to score but her header cannoned off the deck in front of Crawley keeper Hope Smith and over the bar for a goal kick, and on nine Abbie Lafayette’s free-kick into the box was hooked over by Godfrey following a goalmouth scramble. However, Crawley Wasps counter-attacked in the 12th minute with Tash Stephens breaking through on the right-hand side before putting her shot well wide. Town then dominated play and won a penalty on 19 minutes after Sarah Brasero-Carreira was bundled over in the box. Skipper Bonnie Horwood stepped up to the spot and confidently smashed the ball into the top-left corner to make it 1-0 to Ipswich. The Blues continued to impose themselves on the opposition and almost doubled their lead on 23 minutes, Anna Grey and Lafayette linking up well on the left to play the ball into the box only for Brasero-Carreira’s shot to be blocked on the line by a Crawley defender. Four minutes later, Eloise King’s shot from range stung Smith’s gloves with the keeper forced to parry the ball out for a corner. Ipswich’s pressure soon paid off, however, and a minute later they went 2-0 up, Godfrey rushing on to a through ball and breezing through the Wasps’ defence before coolly slotting the ball low past Smith. It was nothing less than Town deserved having controlled the game and with Crawley looking suspect when defending the ball in their own box. The second goal woke up the visitors with the last 15 minutes of the first half a slightly more even affair, although Crawley created little threat in the Blues' half. Town were forced into a change on 33 minutes with Maddie Biggs coming on to replace Brasero-Carreira, who had picked up a knock earlier in the game. The second half was a scrappier affair with Crawley maintaining a good energy and pushing slightly higher up the pitch, restricting Town’s chances on goal. On 50, Quantrill was called into her first real action of the game, tipping a long-range Crawley shot around the post for a corner, which was comfortably seen away by Town’s defence. Ipswich, although not as dominant as they had been in the first half, still looked the better side and in the 53rd minute Godfrey switched the play across the park to Biggs, who was able to thread through a through ball for Grey who, despite rounding the keeper, was not able to find an option in the box. Three minutes after the hour mark, Town looked certain to be awarded a penalty when Biggs was pushed over from behind in the box, only for their appeals to be waved away by the referee. Sheehan made his second change on 71 minutes with youngster Megan Wearing replacing Godfrey, who had picked up a knock and limped back to the Ipswich bench. Town received their first yellow card of the game four minutes later, Biggs going into the book for dissent after blasting the ball into the net after being flagged for offside. The Blues started to impose themselves again in the last 10 minutes, winning a dangerous free-kick in the Crawley half on 83. Four minutes later, Town wrapped up the game and secured the three points with their third goal, Summer Hughes recycling Grey’s initial cross to whip the ball across the six-yard box with Thomas rising and heading the ball past Smith at point-blank range. After a sluggish start to the season, Town looked more confident and assured than in previous league games, recording a routine win against weaker opposition. Ipswich now go into next week’s away fixture against Oxford United with real momentum, looking to take points from the team that beat them twice last season and pipped them to second place in the league. Town: Quantrill, Boswell (Evans 90+1), O Smith, Lafayette, Hughes, Horwood, King, Grey (A Smith 90+1), Brasero-Carreira (Biggs 33), Godfrey (Wearing 71), Thomas. Unused: Meollo. Att: 302
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