Cambridge City Women v Needham Market Women | 11.10.2026 |
A late Anna Sullivan strike salvaged a brilliant come back point in a thrilling 3-3 draw away at Cambridge City.
It has been tough start to the season for the team and that looked to continue as they found themselves 3-1 down at the break thanks to goals from Jess Morley, Tilly Almeida-King and Sophie Billing.
Skipper Mia Etheridge-Golding had pulled one back at 2-0 before the second half comeback that was started by Chloe Brame before Sullivan’s late intervention earning a deserved point.
As has been the trend so far this season, Needham started slowly and found themselves behind after only a few minutes again, with captain Morley converting an early spot kick given for handball against Lexie Debenham.
The lead was doubled within the first 10 minutes as Almeida-King was played through and she made no mistake as like last week the task was becoming a tall order so early on.
But Needham did settle into the game without further damage and got themselves a foothold thanks to Etheridge-Golding scoring a captain’s header from a pinpoint Ella Edwards corner.
They were back into it for about a minute and then conceded again as Billing was played through this time and scored proving you can be most vulnerable when you have just scored yourselves.
But from that point the away side took more control of the game and could have reduced the arrears just before the break when Chelsea Brett was denied from range.
Needham were in the same position as last week and needed an early goal to avoid the same result and they went close early when the keeper denied Edwards.
But the pressure was growing and it eventually told from a brilliant ball from Etheridge-Golding that Brame got to first and managed to chip over the on-rushing keeper into the empty net.
Chances came and went and it looked like another week where the slow start was going to be too much to get back.
But not this week as Sullivan picked up a second ball at the edge of the area and on the turn, she smashed one high into the top right-hand corner to spark euphoric celebrations on the touchline.
Although it wasn’t a winner the comeback showed great strength of character and could well be the catalyst for Needham to well and truly start making a move up the table.
The development team got a resounding 7-1 league cup win against Suffolk championship side Ipswich Wanderers at Bloomfields.
Progression to the next round was emphatic thanks to braces from Eve Boggis and Lola Hunting with further goals for Montana Smith, Rhianna Kiwomya and Megan Mcrae-Robinson as she continues her comeback from injury.