PREVIEW: Needham Market Women Devs vs Woodbridge Town Ladies

Alice Ager vs Needham Market - 15/03/26 (Photo: Women's Football East)

Woodbridge Town Ladies are away from home this weekend, as they travel to face Needham Market Women Development for the second time in seven days. With both sides towards the top of the SGWFL Premiership, another tight affair is expected this Sunday. The Peckers have plenty of games to play, and every point matters as we close in towards the end of the campaign.

With the two sides meeting as recently as last weekend at the Homestyle UK Ground, this fixture has an extra element to it. A close game saw Woodbridge take the lead through Rhianna Kiwomya on 69 minutes, before a late leveller from Lexie Ferris earned Needham a point. It was a great matchup, with Needham Market attacking well and Woodbridge defending solidly - a draw being the fairest outcome on the day. 

But the Peckers will get another shot to beat Needham this weekend, and start to build momentum as they enter a busy fixture schedule. Two wins, a draw and a loss to start 2026 isn’t perfect, but there’s still plenty of opportunities to catch up to the top four. Needham meanwhile are on an 9-game unbeaten run in the league, a mightily impressive feat that has seen them climb to second in the table. It will take a strong performance from Woodbridge to end that run, but they’ve got the quality to undo the hosts on Sunday.

The Woodpeckers will need to repeat the defensive performance that earned them a draw last weekend, with Lauren Jacobs picking up Player of the Match for her brilliant display. Captain Alice Ager also delivered at the back, whilst Rhianna Kiwomya has now netted in back to back games for Woodbridge. Needham Market will turn to Lexie Ferris who scored her 8th goal of the season last Sunday, as well as Maddie Steward who put in a top-class defensive showing last time out.

A win for the hosts would see them close the gap to league leaders AFC Sudbury Reserves, however the rest of the top five have at least three games in hand on Needham. If Woodbridge take the victory on Sunday, they could jump back ahead of Stowupland, and start to catch up to the top three. The Peckers still have many games in hand over the other sides, but as we know in football it’s easier to have the points than to have extra games.

The Ladies have eleven league games to play over the next two months, and we need your support for every single one of them as the Peckers push for the title. Your support for the team is always appreciated, and it can make the difference in these tight affairs. Let’s get behind Ash, Nat and the team for the rest of the campaign, and as always, UP THE PECKERS!

In other exciting news, WTFC Ladies’ Day has been confirmed for 19th April, so be sure to make a note in your diary; we would love to see as many of you as possible at the club to celebrate our wonderful Ladies team! We have loads of exciting activities throughout the day, so make sure to read the article live on the website now! We are still looking for sponsors for the event, so if you’re interested contact WTFC-Media@outlook.com for more information. UP THE PECKERS!