West Ham United Women booked their place in the semi-finals of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon.
Lisa Evans found the back of the net in the first-half for what would turn out to be the winner in a tough contest against the third tier side.
The Irons never looked in too much trouble, but lacked the final ball at time on a difficult surface at the Goldstar Ground.
But they produced another resilient performance to book their place in the last four.
Olli Harder elected to make a number of changes from the 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League in midweek. Lucy Parker, Zaneta Wyne, Lois Joel, Halle Houssein, Mel Filis, Claudia Walker and Evans all returned to the side.
The Hammers controlled possession in the opening stages of the game in Suffolk, with Walker firing wide of the post after a good move down the left. Abbey-Leigh Stringer found the forward with the cross, but she couldn’t quite get the shot away as she would have wanted.
Houssein had a go from range in the opening ten minutes, but her effort from outside the area flew over the crossbar.
The Ipswich defence stood firm for the opening 20 minutes or so, restricting the Irons to long-range efforts – with Filis firing an effort over the bar.
The home side continued to look for opportunities to break forward on the counter-attack, as they frustrated the Hammers, who were unable to break them down.
Houssein had another go from distance, this time forcing Sarah Quantrill into action, as she tipped the effort beyond the post.
From the resulting corner, Houssein delivered the ball onto the head of Lucy Parker, with her header hitting the upright and bouncing away.
But the Hammers eventually broke the deadlock on 32 minutes, as was played in behind by Filis, and fired the ball beyond Quantrill – a reward for their early control.
In the second half, Walker swivelled well inside the area, forcing Quantrill into a good save down to her left-hand-side.
But Ipswich remained in the game throughout, and tested the visitors' backline, who remained resilient throughout the 90 minutes at Goldstar Ground.
In a game of very few clear cut chances, the Hammers continued to boss the play, but couldn't test Quantrill again before the whistle sounded for full-time.
Dagný Brynjarsdóttir went close with the header late on, but her effort landed high and over the bar.
The full-time whistle sounded moments later, as Harder’s side booked their place in the semi-finals of the competition for their second time in their recent history.
West Ham United: Arnold, Fisk ©, Parker, Cissoko (Flaherty 73), Wyne, Joel (Hasegawa 66), Houssein (Yallop 73), Stringer, Filis (Brynjarsdóttir 66), Evans (Longhurst 90), Walker
Subs not used: Leat (GK), Svitková, Leon, Garrad
Goal: Evans 32
Ipswich Town: Quantrill, Hughes, Peake, Smith, Lafayette, Grey (Egan 46), Horwood © (Flores 60), Robertson (King 60), O’Brien, Barratt (Biggs 77), Thomas (Brasero-Carreira 73)
Subs not used: Jackson, Boswell, Hubbard, Bryant
Referee: Amy Fearn
Attendance: 2,000
