Town progressed into the third round of the Women's FA Cup after a sensational second-half display saw the Tractor Girls to a 4-0 victory over Crawley Wasps at the Goldstar Ground on Sunday.
Natasha Thomas opened the scoring just after half-time, before goals from Lucy Egan, Zoe Barratt and an own-goal from Crawley defender Nicola Gibson saw Town to a comfortable victory.
The Blues started bright and had a couple of early half-chances before Egan went very close with a thunderous volley inside the opening twenty minutes. Moments later, Town were denied by the woodwork as Maddie Biggs drove towards goal and struck the post with a driven effort after beating her defender. Ipswich continued to push for an opener but were unable to carve out any remaining clearcut chances before the break, with Crawley also unable to break down the Blues defence.
Five minutes after the restart, the Tractor Girls took the lead as Summer Hughes galloped forward and delivered a pinpoint cross for Thomas to turn the ball past Megan Lynch with a neat finish. The Blues were buoyed by the opener and found a second shortly after the hour-mark as Egan netted her first goal for the club since September 2020. After Crawley failed to clear their lines, Thomas played the ball across the area to Egan, who rifled a low shot in off the post to double Town's lead. Two minutes later and it was three as Thomas pressured the Wasps into a defensive error before crossing into the centre, and Gibson was unfortunate to turn the ball into her own net.
The Tractor Girls weren't done there and continued to pile on the pressure. Substitute Sarah Brasero-Carreira carved out an unbelievable opportunity for Town as her ball over-the-top found Thomas but after racing through on goal, the Town forward opted to square for Barratt, giving Crawley an opportunity to recover and thwart the chance. Seconds later, Barratt went close to adding a fourth but her header was saved before being fumbled by Lynch, winning Town a corner. Crawley had rarely threatened throughout the game but did have a good chance in the final minutes of the game but after breaking into the Town area, Iesha Swaby saw her shot blocked by Paige Peake.
Barratt then capped off a marvellous second-half display as she received the ball from Thomas before skipping past her defender and slotting the ball past Lynch with a cool finish.
The Tractor Girls will now travel to The Cherry Red Records Stadium this Sunday to face AFC Wimbledon in the third round.
Town: Quantrill, Hughes, Smith, Peake, Hubbard, Horwood (c), Robertson (A. Jackson), Egan, King (Brasero-Carreira), Biggs (Barratt), Thomas.
Unused: Smith-Walter, Grey, Bryant
Att: 194
The Blues started bright and had a couple of early half-chances before Egan went very close with a thunderous volley inside the opening twenty minutes. Moments later, Town were denied by the woodwork as Maddie Biggs drove towards goal and struck the post with a driven effort after beating her defender. Ipswich continued to push for an opener but were unable to carve out any remaining clearcut chances before the break, with Crawley also unable to break down the Blues defence.
Five minutes after the restart, the Tractor Girls took the lead as Summer Hughes galloped forward and delivered a pinpoint cross for Thomas to turn the ball past Megan Lynch with a neat finish. The Blues were buoyed by the opener and found a second shortly after the hour-mark as Egan netted her first goal for the club since September 2020. After Crawley failed to clear their lines, Thomas played the ball across the area to Egan, who rifled a low shot in off the post to double Town's lead. Two minutes later and it was three as Thomas pressured the Wasps into a defensive error before crossing into the centre, and Gibson was unfortunate to turn the ball into her own net.
The Tractor Girls weren't done there and continued to pile on the pressure. Substitute Sarah Brasero-Carreira carved out an unbelievable opportunity for Town as her ball over-the-top found Thomas but after racing through on goal, the Town forward opted to square for Barratt, giving Crawley an opportunity to recover and thwart the chance. Seconds later, Barratt went close to adding a fourth but her header was saved before being fumbled by Lynch, winning Town a corner. Crawley had rarely threatened throughout the game but did have a good chance in the final minutes of the game but after breaking into the Town area, Iesha Swaby saw her shot blocked by Paige Peake.
Barratt then capped off a marvellous second-half display as she received the ball from Thomas before skipping past her defender and slotting the ball past Lynch with a cool finish.
The Tractor Girls will now travel to The Cherry Red Records Stadium this Sunday to face AFC Wimbledon in the third round.
Town: Quantrill, Hughes, Smith, Peake, Hubbard, Horwood (c), Robertson (A. Jackson), Egan, King (Brasero-Carreira), Biggs (Barratt), Thomas.
Unused: Smith-Walter, Grey, Bryant
Att: 194
