Town suffered a surprise second defeat of the season as Enfield Town stunned the Blues with a snatch and grab 2-0 victory at Playford Road on Sunday.
The Tractor Girls had completely dominated the vast majority of the game but the North Londoners made them rue their countless missed chances as Beth Lumsden and Tyra Mills secured the points for the visitors with their only two shots on target of the match.
Town started very well and put the visitors under serious pressure in the opening fifteen minutes. Anna Grey came closest to opening the scoring early on as she raced on to Lucy Egan's searching ball before forcing Sophy Stonehouse into a strong save at her near-post. Moments later, Sophie Peskett came inches away from giving the Tractor Girls the lead but Stonehouse denied her with a superb tip over the bar. Grey was continuing to cause havoc down the left and the influential winger looked set to have an assist to her name, only for Maddie Biggs to curl the subsequent cutback wide.
The Blues continued to dominate proceedings and nearly took a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time but Egan's stunning strike from 35-yards that looked bound for the top corner was excellently clawed away by Stonehouse. Then came the first sucker punch of the afternoon as Enfield scored completely against the run of play. After running on to a hooked pass from midfield that Town failed to clear, Mills shrugged off Paige Peake before rifling her shot into the top corner, giving Town stopper Leonie Jackson no chance.
The Tractor Girls were soon cursing their luck minutes after the restart as Eloise King saw her thunderous effort crash back off the crossbar. The search for a leveller went on with Biggs, Peake and Peskett all dragging shots wide of the post. The woodwork soon came to Enfield's aid again just after the hour-mark as this time Biggs' shot was fumbled and clawed onto the post by Stonehouse. Town boss Joe Sheehan soon introduced forward Zoe Barratt as his side searched desperately for an equaliser and the teenager almost made an instant impact but she smashed her low shot onto the outside of the post. Chance after chance was coming Town's way but the breakthrough continued to evade them as Molly Sutherland and Natasha Thomas both saw their efforts saved.
Despite being significantly under the cosh all game, Enfield soon found an unlikely second goal from nowhere. Mills again found herself on the end of a searching long-ball and held it up for the arriving Lumsden, who touched inside before firing past Jackson from just outside the area. The Tractor Girls continued to work hard to get themselves back into the game but time was simply against them as the North Londoners left Suffolk with an unlikely three points.
Town remain top of the Women's National League Division One South East table by four points, with the multiple teams in the chasing pack having games in hand on the Blues.
Town: Jackson (GK), Peake, Cooper (c), Egan, Wilson, Lafayette (Sutherland), King, Peskett, Grey (Hubbard), Biggs (Barratt), Thomas.
Unused: Dunn, Rossiter
Att: 130
Photo credit: Mikey The Towner
Town started very well and put the visitors under serious pressure in the opening fifteen minutes. Anna Grey came closest to opening the scoring early on as she raced on to Lucy Egan's searching ball before forcing Sophy Stonehouse into a strong save at her near-post. Moments later, Sophie Peskett came inches away from giving the Tractor Girls the lead but Stonehouse denied her with a superb tip over the bar. Grey was continuing to cause havoc down the left and the influential winger looked set to have an assist to her name, only for Maddie Biggs to curl the subsequent cutback wide.
The Blues continued to dominate proceedings and nearly took a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time but Egan's stunning strike from 35-yards that looked bound for the top corner was excellently clawed away by Stonehouse. Then came the first sucker punch of the afternoon as Enfield scored completely against the run of play. After running on to a hooked pass from midfield that Town failed to clear, Mills shrugged off Paige Peake before rifling her shot into the top corner, giving Town stopper Leonie Jackson no chance.
The Tractor Girls were soon cursing their luck minutes after the restart as Eloise King saw her thunderous effort crash back off the crossbar. The search for a leveller went on with Biggs, Peake and Peskett all dragging shots wide of the post. The woodwork soon came to Enfield's aid again just after the hour-mark as this time Biggs' shot was fumbled and clawed onto the post by Stonehouse. Town boss Joe Sheehan soon introduced forward Zoe Barratt as his side searched desperately for an equaliser and the teenager almost made an instant impact but she smashed her low shot onto the outside of the post. Chance after chance was coming Town's way but the breakthrough continued to evade them as Molly Sutherland and Natasha Thomas both saw their efforts saved.
Despite being significantly under the cosh all game, Enfield soon found an unlikely second goal from nowhere. Mills again found herself on the end of a searching long-ball and held it up for the arriving Lumsden, who touched inside before firing past Jackson from just outside the area. The Tractor Girls continued to work hard to get themselves back into the game but time was simply against them as the North Londoners left Suffolk with an unlikely three points.
Town remain top of the Women's National League Division One South East table by four points, with the multiple teams in the chasing pack having games in hand on the Blues.
Town: Jackson (GK), Peake, Cooper (c), Egan, Wilson, Lafayette (Sutherland), King, Peskett, Grey (Hubbard), Biggs (Barratt), Thomas.
Unused: Dunn, Rossiter
Att: 130
Photo credit: Mikey The Towner
