Needham Market battled back from a goal deficit to progress into the next qualifying round of the FA Cup after a 4-1 away victory over Lowestoft Town.
The visitors crept past Woodbridge in the extra preliminary round and were handed another local tie on the road, this time in the northern part of the county against the Norfolk League side.
The first half yielded very few goalscoring opportunities, with Needham looking confident on the ball but offering little threat. The home side scored the only goal of the half through Lauren Goulder.
But in what was a much-improved second half, Needham showed their higher-level status with four unanswered goals from Mia Etheridge-Golding, Keira Topple (2) and Anna Sullivan.
Needham were dominant in possession throughout the game but, especially in the first half, failed to convert that dominance into any clear goalscoring chances.
The home side barely threatened but showed enough glimpses of danger to keep the visitors on their toes.
In the 19th minute, that threat turned into a goal as a long ball down the right found Goulder, who turned Chelsea Brett inside before striking a low shot that bobbled into the bottom-right corner beyond Danni Clarke.
The home side did hit the post and found the net again, although the flag was up for offside on both occasions, as Needham continued to play neat passages of football without any end product in what was a largely uneventful half.
Warren Lewis-Claxton made a triple change at the break as he looked to turn all that possession into goals and find a way back into the cup tie.
It didn’t take long for an equaliser to come when an early Ella Edwards corner was flapped at by the keeper and fell to the unmarked Etheridge-Golding at the back post, who converted into the empty net.
The skipper almost grabbed a second in similar circumstances as again she was free at the back post, but the ball bounced off her chest and was cleared off the line.
Chances were coming and it was only a matter of time until Needham hit the front, which came just before the hour mark thanks to Topple, who held up the ball just inside the area before turning and pulling a shot into the far corner.
It was all one-way traffic, with Adele Stalnionis missing a glorious chance to add her name to the scoresheet, while Topple and Edwards were both denied by the keeper.
Half-time substitute Darcy Bloss made her competitive debut, and she added spark in an exciting 45-minute cameo when she fed a ball forward to Edward who then found Topple for the third. Although she was second favourite to reach it, Topple kept up the pressure and scored a tap-in after the keeper fumbled.
It was all Needham and they added some gloss to the scoreline when Sullivan stabbed home from close range in the final minutes after the home side failed to clear another corner.
It was a game of two halves, but after an early scare Needham comfortably cruised into the second qualifying round of this season’s FA Cup.
The Development Team made a triumphant start to their Suffolk League campaign with a commanding 4-1 victory over Halesworth at Bloomfields.
The goals came from Paige Pugh, JPL graduate Lillie Leeks, Eve Boggis and new signing Rhianna Kiwomya as they made a strong start to a campaign full of promise following last season’s second-place finish.
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