Ipswich Town Ladies did a South East Combination double over Norwich City Ladies with a 4-1 win at Plantation Park, Blofield.

Manager Emma Fletcher said; “No one likes to lose a game, especially a local derby and we are all disappointed but we must put the game behind us and move on to our next fixture. With a good run of results we can finish in the top half of the table.”

City welcomed their derby opponents from Ipswich on Wednesday night to Plantation Park, hoping to put the record straight after losing away to Ipswich at the start of the season.

With weather having played havoc with fixtures since Christmas this fixture was only City’s third of 2013!

Due to illness City were required to make their first change just prior to kick off but this didn’t seem to hamper them at all as a frantic start by both sides resulted in City pressuring Ipswich high up at the pitch and creating several chances that they were unable to convert.

By not taking their chances it resulted in their down fall and with 26 minutes of the game gone, City were unable to clear their lines fully and Ipswich took the lead. This seemed to rock City and only 2 minutes later, Ipswich doubled their lead.

With City pushing hard to get their way back in to the game, they continued to create chances but once again the finishing was lacking and Ipswich took full advantage increasing their lead to three from a quick break.

Norwich made a change at half time taking off Gemma Farman and replacing her with Grace Parker, this change seemed to make a difference with Norwich starting the second half brightly, and were winning the midfield battle and dominating the early exchanges. Norwich’s had word paid off when Anna Larkins won a corner and Nadine Basson pounced in the box to put the ball in the back of the Ipswich net much to the delight of the home players and supporters.

However within minutes Ipswich found themselves with the opportunity to increase their lead to three again and a City clearance was closed down, with the resulting deflection falling kindly to an Ipswich striker who calmly slotted the ball home to make it Norwich 1 Ipswich 4.

Despite Norwich’s efforts and the introduction of Gabrielle Whitehurst and Vicki Stephens they just couldn’t make any really impact on the game.

Full time score: Norwich City 1-4 Ipswich Town.

Norwich Team: Coombes, Newcombe, Diston, Parsons, Cooper, Love, Farman, Collison, Clarke, Larkins, Basson. Subs: Parker, Whitehurst, Stephens.