HOCKEY: Leicester 4 Ipswich Ladies 0. Ipswich Ladies have had their hopes of playing in Europe dashed after falling at the first hurdle of the English Hockey League play-offs.
Leicester 4 Ipswich Ladies 0
IPSWICH Ladies have had their hopes of playing in Europe dashed after falling at the first hurdle of the English Hockey League play-offs.
The Tuddenham Road side gained entry to the end of season four-team tournament by virtue of winning the EHA Cup, but were comprehensively beaten by a strong Leicester team.
The opening 15minutes saw Ipswich create many chances and Sarah Bamfield went close when she narrowly missed a cross from the right.
Leicester reacted by pushing their midfield line forward and Ipswich found it hard to gain control of the ball.
Helen Richardson gave the home side the lead with a reverse stick shot and they added a second just before half-time.
Ipswich used the interval to re-assess their game plan and began to dominate areas of the pitch, but Leicester played superbly well to create chances through pushing forward in numbers.
Their third came after keeper Jo Thompson saved the inital shot but could do nothing about the rebound.
The final goal came following an infringement in the area, and Leicester moved convincingly into the next stage against Olton and West Warwicks after putting away the penalty.
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