Manchester United memories burn bright as Lewes take FA Cup hopes to Ipswich

The Rooks made headlines last season when they reached the famous competition’s quarter-finals last season and hosted Manchester United on a day when they broke an attendance record at The Dripping Pan.

On Sunday, Lewes travel to Ipswich Town in the third round of the cup with hopes of beginning another magical cup journey – and that could prove a good omen.

The Rooks beat Ipswich 1-0 in the fourth-round last season en route to that bug quarter-final against WSL giants Manchester United, which United won 3-1.

Manager Scott Booth told the Rooks website he enjoyed the run last campaign and appreciated the history behind the world’s oldest cup competition.

And he hopes a good cup run can lift the team’s fortunes in the Women’s Championship, in which they’ve had a testing first half of the season.

“The FA Cup holds so much history and the players really bought into that big time last season so it’d be nice to have that going hand in hand with some really good league performances,” said Booth.

Ipswich Town are fourth in the Women’s National League Premier Division South, one tier below the Rooks.

They posses plenty of firepower and are the second highest scoring team in the league.

Booth said: “It’s a tough draw … they’re a good side, coached well.

“They’ve got some good attacking players that we’ve looked at, and we’ll just work really hard to try to nullify any of their threat, but that means we have to defend well.

“We have to be a unit without possession, we need to make sure they don’t find the space that they’re looking for.

"On the flip side, we [need to be] economical with the chances that we create.”

Lewes forwards Anna Grey and Sarah Brasero-Carriera were both signed from Ipswich in the summer and will be out to beat their old side. Booth said Grey and Brasero-Carriera had both been important players this season.

The cup tie means the planned league visit to Blackburn is off.