London City Lionesses defeat Ipswich Town in preseason opener

Jocelyn Prêcheur made the perfect start as London City Lionesses’ touchline boss, with Ruesha Littlejohn, Charlène Meyong, and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah firing the Pride to an impressive 3-0 victory over Ipswich Town on Sunday [4 August].

Charlène Meyong, London City Lionesses (Image: Wing Chong)

Prêcheur named three debutants to his starting eleven, with Swedish duo Kosovare Asllani and Jullia Roddar installed alongside Meyong.

Chances were few and far between in the first half, with Lotta Lindström forcing Natalia Negri into a pair of acrobatic saves before the interval.

Prêcheur turned to his bench at the break, introducing a trio of debutants – Gesa Marashi, Miljana Ivanović, and Shen Mengyu – and Littlejohn from the start of the second half.

Professional Game Academy prospect Grace Jarrett also entered the action in the second half, drawing into the backline.

Ivanović’s impact was immediate, beating her marker and winning a corner within five minutes of entering the field.

Littlejohn broke the deadlock two minutes later, shooting into the top left corner from the edge of the box after an unselfish pass from Meyong to create the opening.

The Cameroonian international doubled London City’s advantage twenty minutes later, before Boye-Hlorkah added a final flourish to the scoreline with a trademarked finish from long-range.

“There were a lot of positives,” said Prêcheur of his side’s performance in Suffolk.

“There are also a lot of things we need to improve, we were far from perfect, but it was our first proper friendly game and some of our players only arrived three days ago. My foundations are being understood, so we can continue to build the team.”