A big crowd at Greenfields cheered the champions Dereham Ladies to their 19th hockey win of the season against mid-table side Ipswich and East Suffolk, 3-1.

A big crowd at Greenfields cheered the champions Dereham Ladies to their 19th hockey win of the season against mid-table side Ipswich and East Suffolk, 3-1.

The visitors started brightly, playing some quick interchanges to keep possession from the white and red of Dereham.

The first goal eventually arrived after Evie Van Poortvliet broke from Dereham's 25 and carried the ball, passing at least four players, all the way to the IES area and fired it in.

Dereham were unlucky not to get another as a short-corner strike from Donna Causton edged by the post and then Van Poortvliet had a strike cleared off the line.

It was Holly Allen who made it 2-0 when she cleverly deflected Causton's strike into the top of the net with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

Not long after the restart, IES capitalised on a rare defensive error from the home side and got a goal back. This was followed by some nervy play by the champions who, at times, struggled to get to the ball first. The game was finally made safe when Georgie Edwards injected a short corner to Donna Causton, who powered it past a helpless IES keeper.

With two games to go, Dereham take their 20-game unbeaten run to struggling Norwich Union next week, followed by a break for Easter and then the final game of the season away at Lowestoft - the only side Dereham haven't beaten this season.