Ipswich left to rue early goals in defeat to Horsham

Despite a good start Ipswich were a goal behind on the sixth minute, miscommunication led to an overload and then dismay as a shot deflected off an Ipswich stick to squeeze past Ali Barham in goal.

Visitors Horsham then added to their lead five minutes later again after the home side had a chance to clear the ball.

Ipswich, to their credit, gathered themselves and finally started to move the ball, putting the Horsham defence under pressure. But Despite starting to dominate Ipswich were not able to get the ball over the line and half-time arrived with them still 2-0 down.

Some motivational words from coach Mariette Rix saw Ipswich ready to turn their possession into goals but they were once more frustrated with an error that cost them another goal.

However, the Suffolk side knew they were playing well and sure enough a minute later they scored. A great ball up the line found Lizzy Wheelhouse and she played the perfect pass to a diving Chloe Williams, who fired the ball into the goal.

Ipswich were aware that a second goal would see them right back in the match and some great play through the midfield of Lucy Dunnett and Micha Knowles led to some good chances.

With Ipswich pushing hard they were leaving themselves open to a counter attack, but player of the match Kat Blake was reading the danger well and making some superb tackles.

Despite Blake’s heroics Horsham extended their lead from a penalty corner as it took a nasty deflection of an Ipswich stick.

Ipswich though weren’t done yet and six minutes later they were awarded a penalty stroke. Wheelhouse stepped up and converted to make it 4-2 with 13 minutes left to play.

But the final whistle saw the score line unchanged and left Ipswich rueing the soft two goals at the start of the game.

The team now take a two-month break from outdoor for National League indoor and will be back outdoors in February.