Ipswich beaten, now bring on Cardiff: Lewes one win from their best-ever FA Cup run

It was a cup tie that didn’t catch fire and left very little to report on at half-time when neither team had registered a shot on target.

Both sides looked well organised and very difficult to break down. Kraft did start brightly and caught the Ipswich defence on the half-turn a number of times but as a team, struggled to create anything meaningful.

It was an opportunity however, to look at new signings, Kirsty Barton who played 45-minutes, and on-loan Charlotte Wardlaw who completed a full-90.

The second-half was a carbon-copy of the first with both sides trying to control possession but neither goalkeeper being tested.

It took until the 74th minute for the Rooks to register a shot on goal when Grace Palmer’s terrific free-kick delivery resulted in a looping header from Amber-Keegan Stobbs which drifted over.

Magpies aim to get Sussex back to Wembley for the FA Vase final.

It sprung a bit of life into Scott Booth’s side though who emphatically took the lead just two minutes later. Kraft controlled the ball on the edge of the box, spun the defender, before a beautiful left-footed strike into the corner.

Booth spoke about professionalism in the build up to the game and it was impressive to see a lack of frustration from his side despite the lack of quality chances. That professionalism saw them through to the end of the game without much of a response from Ipswich.

After the game, Booth said: “You could say the goal was one of the only real moments of quality in the game really. I have to be honest and say that Ipswich were really good, and we knew they would be, because we profiled that.

“They’re a good side who have played together for a couple of years now, at least, they know each other really well, they’re well-drilled, well-coached, and we didn’t really get going at all.

“I thought the players that came off the bench really helped us, I thought Johnno was immense when she came on towards the end, it was only the last little bit, but it gave us exactly what we wanted.

“Emma did well, kept the ball in for us up top, she can still do more, but she does steady us there. And I thought Grace did a really good job too.

“I don’t think they really troubled us, a couple of half-chances, we just have to be better at retaining possession, we don’t want games to be transitional and that’s exactly what today was.

“I also thought at times we could have put more tackles in, we could have got to the ball better, we could have done so many things better, but we also have to remember that it was always going to be a tough game.

“I’m just happy that we’re through and we can move on. The whole point of a game like this is we set the standards high, so when we don’t play well like today, we feel that.

“The coaches feel it and the players feel it so I think that’s a good thing in terms of not getting complacent.”

He was also full of praise for Kraft, despite feeling it wasn’t her best performance. “We didn’t get frustrated which is good, but we just couldn’t seem to really get going. Krafty will be the first to say she didn’t play particularly well today. She could have kept the ball for us a lot better, but she has those moments of pure brilliance.

“She takes on the turn and the strike was phenomenal, there’s no stopping it.”

Speaking before the draw, Booth had very simple hopes for the next round. “A home game would be nice!”

And he got his wish as Lewes were drawn at home to Cardiff City in the fifth round. The tie is scheduled to be played on Sunday, February 26 as Lewes look to progress to the Quarter-Final stage for the first time in their history. Ticket details will be announced in due course.