Town cruised into the first-round proper of the Women's FA Cup with an emphatic 6-1 East Anglian Derby victory over local rivals Norwich City at the Goldstar Ground, Felixstowe, on Sunday.
Teenage winger Anna Grey opened the scoring for the Blues after just three minutes before a brace from Natasha Thomas and goals from Maddie Biggs, Paige Peake and Sophie Peskett completed the rout. Aimee Durrant netted City's consolation goal early in the second-half.
The Tractor Girls got off to a perfect start and settled any derby day nerves as Grey netted her first senior goal for the club. After receiving the ball from Peskett, the England U18 international cut inside before firing into the top corner with a rasping effort. Town soon doubled their advantage with just their second attempt on goal. Grey was again at the centre of attention as she raced away down the left before delivering an inch perfect ball into the path of Thomas, who made no mistake by turning home from six-yards.
The chances continued to stack up for Town and it wasn't long before the inevitable third goal arrived. Peake sent a searching ball over the top for Thomas, who latched on to it, knocked the ball past Norwich goalkeeper Hope Armstrong under pressure and slotted into the net at the near-post. With the break approaching, a moment of controversy struck as Town were awarded penalty after Tigi Robson chopped down Eloise King. After initially striking the post with her spot-kick, Peake followed up at the second time of asking but questions were raised as to whether or not the goal should stand. Referee Alex Shipp subsequently consulted with his assistant before opting to stick with his original decision and award a goal.
Norwich started the second-half the better and soon got themselves on the scoresheet with their only attempt of the game as Millie Daviss picked out Durrant on the right, who volleyed into the far corner unchallenged. However, the goal was to be in vein as the Tractor Girls restored their four goal cushion. The influential Grey broke into the area and saw her shot spilled by Armstrong but Peskett was on hand to dispatch the rebound with a clinical side-footed effort.
Armstrong was soon called into action again but this time she denied Grey a second goal with terrific save. The Canaries goalkeeper would be busy for the remainder of the match and denied Thomas a hat-trick on three separate occasions with strong reactionary saves. However, her strong resistance was to be broken one final time as Biggs bullied her way into the area before firing home with the help of a deflection off the unlucky Robson.
The result sees Town claim a derby double over their big rivals and progress into the first-round proper of the Women's FA Cup. The draw for the next round will take place live on Talksport 2 at 6:15pm this evening (Monday 28 October).
The Tractor Girls return to league action this Sunday after a three-week hiatus with an away trip to fifth-placed Enfield Town.
Town: Jackson (GK), Peake (Pannifer), Cooper, Egan, Wilson, Lafayette, Crump (c), King (Biggs), Peskett (Cossey), Grey, Thomas.
Unused: Dunn, Hubbard, Stretch, Sutherland.
Att: 667
The Tractor Girls got off to a perfect start and settled any derby day nerves as Grey netted her first senior goal for the club. After receiving the ball from Peskett, the England U18 international cut inside before firing into the top corner with a rasping effort. Town soon doubled their advantage with just their second attempt on goal. Grey was again at the centre of attention as she raced away down the left before delivering an inch perfect ball into the path of Thomas, who made no mistake by turning home from six-yards.
The chances continued to stack up for Town and it wasn't long before the inevitable third goal arrived. Peake sent a searching ball over the top for Thomas, who latched on to it, knocked the ball past Norwich goalkeeper Hope Armstrong under pressure and slotted into the net at the near-post. With the break approaching, a moment of controversy struck as Town were awarded penalty after Tigi Robson chopped down Eloise King. After initially striking the post with her spot-kick, Peake followed up at the second time of asking but questions were raised as to whether or not the goal should stand. Referee Alex Shipp subsequently consulted with his assistant before opting to stick with his original decision and award a goal.
Norwich started the second-half the better and soon got themselves on the scoresheet with their only attempt of the game as Millie Daviss picked out Durrant on the right, who volleyed into the far corner unchallenged. However, the goal was to be in vein as the Tractor Girls restored their four goal cushion. The influential Grey broke into the area and saw her shot spilled by Armstrong but Peskett was on hand to dispatch the rebound with a clinical side-footed effort.
Armstrong was soon called into action again but this time she denied Grey a second goal with terrific save. The Canaries goalkeeper would be busy for the remainder of the match and denied Thomas a hat-trick on three separate occasions with strong reactionary saves. However, her strong resistance was to be broken one final time as Biggs bullied her way into the area before firing home with the help of a deflection off the unlucky Robson.
The result sees Town claim a derby double over their big rivals and progress into the first-round proper of the Women's FA Cup. The draw for the next round will take place live on Talksport 2 at 6:15pm this evening (Monday 28 October).
The Tractor Girls return to league action this Sunday after a three-week hiatus with an away trip to fifth-placed Enfield Town.
Town: Jackson (GK), Peake (Pannifer), Cooper, Egan, Wilson, Lafayette, Crump (c), King (Biggs), Peskett (Cossey), Grey, Thomas.
Unused: Dunn, Hubbard, Stretch, Sutherland.
Att: 667
