Women's Preview: Ipswich vs Saints
Southampton FC Women play their first game in over a month this weekend, visiting promotion rivals Ipswich Town in the National League Cup.
Ipswich Town vs Saints
National League Cup – Round One
Goldstar Ground
Sunday 7th November, 2pm GMT
With the two sides battling for top spot in the National South West, Sunday’s cup meeting will provide an early indicator at who is the stronger of the two outfits this season.
Ipswich have won 10 from 10 games in the league, replicating Saints who match that 100% record after seven games.
Saints booked their place in the first round of this competition after a 3-2 win at Cheltenham Town in September, Lucia Kendall, Georgie Freeland and Sophia Pharoah all on target.
It was an equally narrow victory for Ipswich in their determining round, seeing off London Bees at home with a 1-0 victory thanks to Zoe Barrett's solitary strike.
TICKET DETAILS
Fancy seeing Saints in action against one of their promotion rivals? Ipswich are offering tickets on the gate at Goldstar Ground priced as follows:
Adults - £5
Concessions - £3
Under-16s – Free with a paying adult
A 40-space car park is located at the main entrance in Dellwood Avenue, with a further 12 spaces near the clubhouse for officials, staff and blue badge holders.
In the interest of the local residents, Felixstowe and Walton United who share the ground with Ipswich suggest parking a short distance away from the venue if the car park is full.
For ticket details ahead of upcoming Southampton FC Women's fixtures click the button below:
As circumstances would have it, Saints and Ipswich last met in the same competition, back in August 2019.
With both sides then competing in their regional Division One leagues, played out a one-sided affair at Snows Stadium, kicked off in Saints’ favour by Ella Pusey on 16 minutes.
Phaorah, Phoebe Wiliams and an Alisha Ware hat-trick completed the scoring as Spacey-Cale’s side progressed into the next round of the competition with a 6-0 victory.
The two sides also met during a friendly at St Mary’s Stadium in April 2021, where goals from Pusey, Rachel Panting and a Pharoah double secured a 4-1 win.
After a frustrating enforced period away from action, Spacey-Cale is looking ahead to the trip to Ipswich, saying: “We haven’t played for four weeks and the girls are really chomping at the bit to get back to a competitive game.
“They don’t come more competitive than a team like Ipswich who are flying at the moment. They’ve had back-to-back victories in the time that we’ve been off so the momentum is with them.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re at our very best and as fresh as we can be ahead of getting back into competitive action.
“The league is always your priority but the cup for me is a great opportunity to get back into a competitive game where it’s about getting the next game and not the three points.
“We’re keen to make sure that we perform on the day and give Ipswich a game that they will remember and will hopefully cause them some problems.
“We’re confident in what we can do. We know the talent we have around us and we just have to make sure we produce the talent on the day."
