Exeter City Women face toughest test away to league leaders Ipswich Town
Exeter City Women kick off 2025 with the long trip to Ipswich Town as the division’s top two compete this Sunday afternoon.
City will travel in good form, with five successive wins following defeat at Watford in early November. However, that last defeat will offer perspective of the task they face on Sunday, with the impressive Town and a 500-mile round trip set to provide the Grecians biggest challenge of the season as they look to continue their fine start to life in tier three into 2025.
The Suffolk side only missed out on promotion to the Championship on goal difference in 2023 but found a run at the title that much harder last season, finishing fourth in the division. Josh Sheehan had a productive summer in the transfer market, recruiting a host of talented players with the potential and experience to take the Tractor Girls to promotion this term.
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Seventeen games into the 2024/25 season and Town have only suffered one defeat, a league cup home loss to Hashtag United. Draws against the Grecians and Watford are the closest any team has come to stopping the impressive Tractor Girls in the league, the Suffolk side sitting three points clear at the top with two games in hand on Abbie Britton’s City. Town’s recent league form has been clinical, hitting 13 past MK Dons before convincing wins over Cheltenham Town (7-0), Oxford (4-2) and AFC Wimbledon (5-0.)
Sheehan’s side have already hit 52 goals in the league this season, conceding just five, two of those coming from Sophie Gillies in the 2-2 draw at St James Park back in September. Sophie Peskett has 16 goals for Town in all competitions, closely followed by Natasha Thomas with 10.
City welcomed Ipswich to SJP back in September, and almost pulled off one of the club's all-time great results when Sophie Gillies put the Grecians 2-0 up. However, Ella Rutherford came off the bench to net a brace, as both sides left the field with a point
