Ipswich Town Women produced another solid effort to gain a point against another promotion-chasing side, this time on the road, coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Newcastle United at the Gateshead Stadium.

Interim Town boss David Wright made two changes to the team that earned a hard-fought point at home to Bristol City last week with Charlotte Fleming and Colette Cavanagh replacing Jenna Dear and Rianna Dean.

Natalia Negri continued in goal with a back four of Maria Boswell, Paige Peake, Megan Wearing and Beth Roe in front of her. Fleming and Leah Mitchell were the central defensive midfield pairing.

New signing Cavanagh, who impressed from the bench last week, played in the 10 with Lucy O’Brien and Sophie Peskett either side of her, with Natasha Thomas in the striker role.

New signings Ava Baker, Kenzie Weir and Kit Graham all started on the bench, alongside Laura Hartley, Summer Hughes, Lucy Ashworth-Clifford and Dean. Dear, who started the previous match, missed out on the matchday squad.

The Magpies started with intensity, looking for an early goal and keeping Town penned into their own half. On four, Peake put in an important block after Molly Pike got on the end of Freya Godfrey’s cross.

A minute later, the ball was lofted into Ipswich’s area but was just out of Beth Lumsden’s reach. Shortly after, Newcastle had their first corner of the game but headed wide.

In the eighth minute, however, the home side took the lead. Lumsden, out on the right, sent in a long-range effort which may have been a cross but caught Negri off her line and looped over Town’s stopper and into the back of the net.

Newcastle continued to apply pressure after going ahead with the Blues’ defence looking shaky despite its numbers.

On 13, Jordan Nobbs played in Lumsden on the right who could only shoot high and wide. Two minutes later, Pike was booked for a bad foul on O’Brien.

In the 18th minute, the Magpies had another corner which was cleared. Play soon stopped for Boswell to receive treatment after the Town skipper clashed with defender Jemma Purfield. Boswell appeared to be bleeding profusely from her nose and after several minutes of treatment it was deemed she could not continue with Hughes coming on in her place. Newcastle made a quick move from the restart but Pike shot wide.

Three minutes before the half-hour mark, Emily Murphy went down in the box under pressure from Hughes with Newcastle then shooting wide. The forward protested towards the referee, but a replay showed that she had gone to ground very easily with minimal contact from the Town defender.

Shortly after, Murphy headed straight at Negri from an Aoife Mannion cross. On 31 Murphy was in again but Negri was able to make a brilliant stop with her feet.

There was the another stoppage of play after Fleming went down with a head injury, the midfielder leaving the pitch after several minutes of treatment. Peskett was subsequently brought down on the attack and also required treatment. Both players were able to return to the field soon after.

With the first half petering out and against the run of play, Ipswich got an equaliser. O’Brien got on the end of a long throw from Roe before driving down the pitch and cutting inside to pick out Peskett in the middle. Last season’s top scorer glided into the box and cut the ball back to sit down Kaitlyn Torpley, before smashing past Anna Tamminen at the left post.

If Newcastle were stunned by the equaliser it did not show from the restart as they instantly won a corner, but with Town’s confidence boosted by Peskett’s superb strike they were able to comfortably deal with the danger.

Given the number of stoppages, 10 minutes was added on to the first half. The Magpies piled on the pressure to restore their lead but Town’s tails were up and no longer purely on the defensive.

Five minutes into time added on, Torpey’s loose ball was found by O’Brien in the Newcastle box who whipped out to Peskett to send in a devastating cross, which Mitchell tried to take down but without time to get a decent shot away to get past Tamminen.

Ipswich continued to push forward and in the seventh additional minute Thomas, who had been isolated for much of the half, was able to send Peskett on an attack. The winger switched play to Hughes, who created a crossing opportunity for Fleming, the midfielder winning Town’s first corner of the game.

Cavanagh sent a deep delivery into the box, which was confidently headed away by Mannion shortly before the referee blew for half time.

Town had been rocked by the early goal and put under immense pressure from a high-intensity Newcastle side, but Peskett’s brilliant effort just before the break energised the visitors and they ended the first half in strong form.

Both teams made changes at half-time, Newcastle replacing Jasmine McQuade with Lois Joel and Fleming making way for Ashworth-Clifford, the former presumably departing as a precaution due to the earlier head injury.

Ipswich started the second half strongly with Newcastle struggling to string passes together. On 57 Torpey looked to break into the box but the ball was taken away from her at the last moment.

Just after the hour, a Town attack resulted in Torpey putting the ball out for a corner under no real pressure. The Blues’ set piece was easily cleared and the ball then hit the referee, which resulted in an uncontested restart for the home side.

Shortly after, Newcastle made a triple substitution, Torpey, Murphy and Gregory leaving the pitch for Demi Stokes, Shania Hayles and Oona Sevenius. Ashworth-Clifford received her first booking as a Blue for impeding the restart with the referee perhaps harshly not giving her enough time to retreat.

The momentum swung in Newcastle’s favour following the changes but Town were defending with much more confidence than they had in the first half and were keen to break on the counter. On 71 Ashworth-Clifford broke forward from the middle of the park but was taken down with the referee deeming it a fair challenge.

A minute later, Negri was forced to punch Pike’s cross clear, the ball falling to Stokes but her shot was easily held.

In the 73rd minute, Thomas, who after a spirited performance and goal last week had struggled to get into the game, was replaced by Dean and O’Brien made way to give Graham her debut. Two minutes later, Newcastle goalscorer Lumsden was replaced by Emilia Larsson.

As the game wound down it became a more attritional affair with both teams attacking and defending resolutely.

On 80 Ashworth-Clifford sent through Dean but her scuffed shot was claimed by Tamminen to recycle. Peskett then went forward on the right and played in Graham, who raised an apologetic hand after flashing a good opportunity wide. Peskett then came off for Baker, also making her debut for the club.

With three minutes of normal time remaining, the home side ramped up the pressure in search of a winner with Purfield and Pike both getting into promising positions which called Negri into action. On 89 Town’s keeper went down in discomfort and required treatment, much to the chagrin of both the home fans and Magpies manager Tanya Oxtoby.

With five minutes added on, the game hit a frenetic pace as both sides looked to claim all three points.

Three minutes into additional time, Town could have won the game after countering following a ping-pong moment in their own box, Baker playing through Dean but Tamminen making a vital save to deny Town’s leading scorer this season another goal. A minute later Newcastle had a corner but gave away a free kick when the referee spotted pushing in the box.

The last ball of the game was a deep free-kick from Town into the Newcastle box which bypassed Tamminen, but was cleared away as the referee blew for full-time.

After a spirited performance at home against Bristol City a week ago, this was another such display from the Blues and another vital point secured in their quest to avoid relegation from WSL2, even more so having gone behind early in the game and weathering pressure from a strong Newcastle side in the first half.

Town’s goal, albeit against the run of play, showcased the best of Peskett and gave the Blues the impetus to become more competitive against a side with ambitions of chasing down the top three.

The second half was a more sedate affair by comparison, but Town more than held their own against the Magpies and almost won the game deep into injury time.

The impact of losing their skipper early doors did not show and the new signings all made a positive contribution when introduced, especially Baker despite being brought on with only seven minutes of normal time remaining.

With Portsmouth falling to a 2-1 defeat away at Durham and Sheffield United recording a stalemate against Charlton, Town’s draw moves them to within three points of Pompey and safety and six points behind the Blades with a game in hand and matches against both sides their next two fixtures.

Town travel to the south coast next weekend to take on Portsmouth in what is a relegation six-pointer, before hosting Sheffield United in another vital fixture at Colchester’s Jobserve Community Stadium on 15th February.

Ipswich Town: Negri, Boswell (c) (Hughes 22), Peake, Wearing, Roe, Fleming (Ashworth-Clifford 46), Mitchell, Cavanagh, Peskett (Baker 83), O’Brien (Graham 73), Thomas (Dean 73). Unused: Hartley, Weir

Newcastle United: Tamminen, Wardlaw, Mannion (c), Purfield, Torpey (Stokes 62), McQuade (Joel 46), Pike, Lumsden (Larsson 75), Nobbs, Gregory (Sevenius 62), Murphy (Hayles 62)
Unused: Moan, Fox, Akpan, Grec. Att: 1,998.

Photo: ITFC/Matchday Images