ipswich: Two football teams are today preparing to face each other to raise money in memory of an inspiring teenage player.

Sian Ryan was killed when the car she was travelling in crashed on the A14 at Nacton, hitting a road sign, in August 2009.

The 16-year-old Copleston High School student was killed instantly but today her memory lives on with the first Sian Ryan Memorial Match taking place on Sunday.

Organised by Sian’s older sister Annalise, now 21, the match is taking place at Woodbridge Town Football Club.

The team, with Annalise on side, will go head-to-head with Sudbury Ladies, a team chosen by Sian’s family after they learnt of the death of one of the club’s players on the county’s roads last November.

As the second anniversary of Sian’s death approaches next month, Annalise said it is “important for the family to do something in her memory each year”.

“Two years on it is still very fresh in all of our minds,” said the 21-year-old. “It is something you learn to live with better as time passes. It will never leave us, Sian’s memory will never leave us, but it is something we have to learn to live with.”

Annalise, of Alan Road, said the match will become an annual fundraiser for the Sian Ryan Sports Foundation, set up to help other young sports fanatics realise their dreams. It will also raise money for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. It will cost �3 or a donation to watch and there will be a barbecue, face painting and cake stalls as well as a disco in the evening, at a cost of �5.

n Have you raised money in memory of a loved one? Call the newsdesk on 01473 324788 or e-mail starnews@eveningstar.co.uk