The thoughts of Ives manager Ricky Marheineke after the 3-1 home defeat to Leiston is now available to view on the club YouTube channel. The link is below.

St Ives Town 1 v Leiston 3 

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  16-11-2024

Nigel Howlett reports

Wing back Aaron Smith’s fierce early drive to net his first goal for Ives was the real bright spark of an afternoon where the hosts worked very hard but failed to find that little bit of extra quality that was needed to find a way to beat very resilient opponents. Ultimately it was Ives mistakes that ensured that it was the travelling Blues who took the spoils to stretch their unbeaten league run to seven games and take some small smidgen of revenge for last season’s thumping in this fixture.

Following last Saturdays win at play off chasing Bedford Ives went in search of more firepower and were pleased to bring in prolific marksman Josh Allen from AFC Sudbury who made his debut in this fixture replacing Albie O’Keefe who has returned to Stevenage where he is an integral part of their FA Youth Cup side. The only other change from last weekend’s successful line up was an enforced one with Jernade Meade away on international duty with Montserrat Peter Abimbola came into central midfield. Leiston manager Chris Wigger perhaps unsurprisingly named an unchanged side.

The match started in explosive style with Allen very quickly showing his prowess as provider for Smith’s opener only four minutes in. Fed into the bye line by Johnson Gyamfi’s threaded pass Allen had the presence of mind to pick out Smith in space at the back of the box with his pull back. Smith certainly seized the opportunity thumping his first time effort into the roof of the net past the despairing dive of Billy Johnson in the visitor’s goal.

Ives continued to press with Gyamfi and Will Glennon at the heart of their forward play. A 12^th minute interchange of passes involving those two and Amir Hadi ended with Allen firing a crisp low drive from the edge of the box that Johnson did well to keep out plunging low to his right to palm the ball away.

But the Blues were not about to lie down and allow themselves to be overrun during this early period and they carved out an excellent opportunity to equalise three minutes later. George Quantrell got away down the left and got to the bye line before picking out Jamar Loza with his pull back. Under little pressure from defenders Loza should have scored but much to Ives relief he blazed his first time effort over the top.

Back up the other end Allen again went close to a debut goal in 18^th minute. Glennon rose to flick on Dan Wilks punt and Allen pounced on to the loose ball before firing a left foot effort from just inside the box that was saved in unorthodox style by the feet of keeper Johnson.

Next came what proved to be the incident which may well have changed the course of the game as the attacking fulcrum in the centre of Ives midfield Gyamfi succumbed to an injury picked up in the visitor’s 15^th minute attack. Gyamfi was replaced by Ethan Creary with Kymani Skyers moving up into midfield. But Skyers is more a dynamic midfielder than a man to thread the crucial pass and as Gyamfi departed so did Ives attacking threat for the remainder of the first half.

From that point midway through the first half the Blues began to get on top and it was only a matter of time before they started to create opportunities. Ollie Saunders fired a 23^rd minute effort across the face of goal from the left corner of the box after he had latched onto Loza’s cross from the right. Four minutes later Quantrell and Loza combined well on the right with Wilks being forced to parry the latter’s fierce drive away. A 37^th minute Fraser Alexander free kick from the right was headed just wide at the near post by Ben Fowkes.

The equaliser did eventually arrive six minutes before the break as Quantrell and Loza again combined well through the right channel. But keeper Wilks will be a little disappointed as Loza’s eventual shot from just outside the box seemed to squirm under his dive on its way into the back of the net.

The second half started as the first had ended with the visitors on top. Wilks was called into action only forty seconds after the restart as he reacted well to parry Ismael Botelho Fatadjo’s fierce drive and his defenders came to his aid to block away Fowkes follow up effort. Wilks did well again three minutes later as he blocked Fowkes close range effort with his body after a corner from the right had dropped at the centre forwards feet at the back post.

Ives raids at this point in the game were sporadic but still threatening and it took a fantastic diving save from the acrobatic Johnson to keep out Skyers thunderbolt from fully thirty yards after a corner had been cleared to the powerful midfielder in 51^st minute.

Back at the other end it took a brave save from Wilks to save the blushes of Creary three minutes later. The defender’s attempted header back to his keeper dropped woefully short and Fowkes seized on the ball but Wilks was out swiftly and spread himself to make the block at point blank range. The Ives keeper was in action again three minutes later leaping high to his left to tip over Quantrell’s rising drive from the edge of the box after the Blues striker had been fed in through the left channel by Loza.

The Blues made their comeback complete by going in front on the hour but it is another goal that Ives will want to forget. Saunders and Quantrell combined down the left with the latter delivering a low cross into the centre that Wilks dived to claim only to have the ball taken away from him by a defender. Loza gratefully seized onto the gift and lofted the loose ball into the empty net.

Ives tried to lift themselves to get back on terms. Abimbola picked out Allen in space on the right and the pacy number ten cut inside before firing in an effort from the edge of the box that was straight at Johnson who made a comfortable save. But the visitors were still looking very dangerous on the break and in 67^th minute Wilks had to be alert to dash of his line and dive in at the feet of Loza to deny the striker his hat trick.

The 81st minute was packed with action at both ends of the park with Johnson again thwarting Ives efforts to grab an equaliser. He reacted brilliantly to tip over Glennon’s close range flick to Smith’s long throw from the left. Alex Collard rose highest to Smith’s resulting corner but the Ives skipper’s header was straight into the hands of the waiting keeper. Johnson’s quick throw out then puts Botelho Fatadjo away only for the speedy wide man to be denied by a brave close range block from Wilks.

With the clock ticking down manager Ricky Marheineke threw on all of the remaining attacking options from his bench with Coree Wilson replacing Abimbola and Silvano Obeng coming on for Creary. But even with four strikers now on the pitch Ives struggled to create any clear cut chances. The only one which came their way in the remaining time was in 86^th minute when Smith’s cross from the left deflected off a defender and fell at the feet of Collard at the back post. But the skipper got the ball stuck in his feet and the shot when it eventually came lacked sufficient power to beat Johnson.

With everyone being thrown forward in the vain search for an equaliser it was probably inevitable that the visitors would manage to kill the game off in added time. The Blues went close to that clincher in forth added minute when it took a full length diving save from Wilks to keep out Loza’s effort from the edge of the box and substitute Albie Armin fired his follow up effort wide. Two minutes later that final nail was driven into Ives coffin as Armin broke away down the left and cut inside before firing high past Wilks to ensure that the three points were on their way back to the Suffolk coast.

Final Score:  St Ives Town  1   Leiston  3                Half Time 1 – 1

Goals:

ST IVES: Smith 4,

LEISTON: Loza 39, 60, Armin 90+6

Team Line Ups:

ST IVES: Wilks, Mensah (Adegbola 70), Smith, Abimbola (Wilson 70), Williams, Collard (capt), Gyamfi (Creary 21, Obeng 89), Glennon, Hadi, Allen, Skyers, Unused subs: none

LEISTON: Johnson, Hill (capt) (Clements 80), Saunders, Ross Jarvis, Curtis (Manley 70), Jackson (Yun 70), Botelho-Fatadjo (Armin 87), Alexander, Fowkes, Quantrell, Loza, Unused subs: Ryan Jarvis

Referee:  Thomas Whay

Cards:  Yellow:  ST IVES:  Collard (37)     LEISTON: Loza (31)     

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Will Glennon

Attendance:  324

The official matchday magazine for the home league clash against Leiston is now available to download. Inside our 41 page publication this week:

• A match report from our last home game against Redditch
• The latest round-up from around the league
• A look back to last season when the Ives hit five against Leiston
• And we introduce the latest new signings Coree Wilson and Amir Hadi

PLUS lots more. The link to download the match programme is HERE

St Ives Town are delighted to announce the signing of Josh Allen. Josh is a centre forward, and arrives at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road from AFC Sudbury.

Josh, 20, started out at Luton Town as a youngster and was at Kenilworth Road for a total of 10 years. He first joined Sudbury on loan from the Hatters in February and scored eight goals between then and the end of the season as Sudbury avoided relegation on the last day of the campaign.

One of his last appearances for Sudbury was in a Suffolk Premier Cup tie where he scored a hat-trick against Hadleigh United. Josh will be available for selection for the Ives home game against Leiston tomorrow afternoon at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.

Bedford Town 0 St Ives Town 3

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  09-11-2024

Nigel Howlett reports from the New Eyrie

Another thoroughly professional performance saw Ives claim all three points off the play-off chasing Eagles. Every player did their job to ensure a third clean sheet out of four tough games on the road but the real eye catcher was debutant striker Amir Hadi who proved a real handful for the Eagles back line the only blot on his copybook being a needless yellow card for pulling back Scott Thomas in midfield with plenty of cover in place to deal with the hosts attack.

The game started with the previously free scoring Eagles on the front foot. Leon Lobjoit blazed a fourth minute effort inches over from the corner of the box and it took a brilliantly timed recovery tackle from Benji Mensah to prevent the host’s skipper Ryan Blake getting a run on goal three minutes later.

Ives were coping well with this early pressure with the back three of Kymani Skyers, Jordan Williams and skipper Alex Collard well backed up by team mates ensuring that keeper Dan Wilks was not really troubled until 16^th minute when he did well to cling onto a fierce drive from the edge of the box by Lobjoit. The chance arriving as the Eagles striker pounced on a wayward pass from Albie O’Keefe before powering forward.

Both sides had a long thrower in their armoury and the next two opportunities both came courtesy of the missiles that they were launching into the opposition box. Carl Mensah rose highest to get on the end of Sam Brown’s 23^rd minute howitzer for the hosts. But the big man up from the back failed to direct his header on target.

Five minutes later it was Aaron Smith’s turn to hurl one in for Ives. Collard won the flick at the near post to present Williams with a chance that he really should have scored. Three yards out with only the keeper to beat, directing the ball left, or right of him would have seen the ball in the net but the big centre back’s header bounced away of the chest of a much relieved Nathan Macdonald who had made his first save of the game without really knowing a lot about it.

Just after the half hour it was Wilks turn to earn his corn as he pulled off a remarkable double save to preserve his clean sheet. Lobjoit got on the end of Kyle Connolly’s teasing free kick from the left and directed his close range header downwards only to be denied by the outstretched leg of Wilks. Carl Mensah pounced on the loose ball and lashed it goalwards but Ives custodian was equal to the effort plunging low to his right he not only saved but hung onto the effort.

Ives took the lead in composed style ten minutes before the break. Hadi did well initially to take down a long punt from Wilks and there followed a series of passes across the face of the Eagles box before Benji Mensah eventually laid it into the path of Will Glennon in a little space 25 yards from goal. That space was just enough to allow Ives powerful midfielder to look up and pick his spot curling the ball into the top corner just beyond the outstretching fingers of Macdonald who was perhaps a little slow to react.

Now with their noses in front it was Ives who started the second half on the front foot. Only three minutes after the restart Jernade Meade’s threaded through ball put Hadi clear to the bye line. His pull back ricocheted across the box before falling to Smith 16 yards out at the back post. But the wing back snatched at the chance firing well over the top.

But the all important second did arrive for Ives in 53^rd minute. Wilks again played an important part in the goal. The keeper reacting brilliantly to keep out Ed Gyamfi’s powerful low drive from the edge of the box. From that save the ball was quickly channelled to the other end where half time substitute Peter Abimbola laid it into the feet of Hadi and his delicate clip over the top put Johnson Gyamfi clear. With defenders quickly closing him down the Ives midfielder still had a lot to do but he kept his cool and turned inside Carl Mensah before beating the exposed Macdonald low to his left from just inside the box.

Now two goals to the good the visitors were expecting to absorb a little more pressure and that did come with shots from Ed Gyamfi and substitute Albert Wood flying harmlessly across the face of Ives goal in a five minute spell just after the hour.

But as the hosts continued to press forward in search of a root back into the game it left them vulnerable to counter attacks from their pacy visitors. Substitute Coree Wilson should have made it three with ten minutes to go. Put clear by Abimbola he got his attempted clip past the fast advancing Macdonald just a little to close to the keeper who got just enough of a touch to divert the ball past the post.

Lobjoit was still looking the biggest threat for the Eagles and only ninety seconds later he forced another good save out of Wilks pouncing on a loose ball to fire in a rising drive from just outside the box that Ives custodian leapt high to his right to tip over.

But as time ticked down the hosts seemed to realise that it was not going to be their day and even the prospect of an added eight minutes did not seem to lift them. A frustrated Thomas took down Benji Mensah just outside the box in the first of those added minutes allowing quite a chunk of that time to be used up. Meade tried to curl the resulting free kick up and over the Eagles five man wall. The shot got over the wall comfortably but did not trouble Macdonald as it sailed over the crossbar.

However Macdonald quickly became a very troubled man three minutes later as under pressure from Wilson he made the huge error of handling Brown’s chipped back pass. Referee Neil Fyfield was right on the spot to see the mistake and was quick on the whistle. A whole lot more of those eight minutes was used up as the Eagles lined up their whole side on the goal line to try and keep out the indirect free kick from seven yards. They were unsuccessful as Meade tapped the ball sideways to Wilson who lashed it home as the crowd on the line broke up.

That goal perhaps not unsurprisingly prompted a mass exodus of home supporters from within the healthy crowd of over 800. It was the small contingent of travelling Ives fans who were left to celebrate this excellent victory with their heroes. The result knocks the Eagles out of the play off places and sees Ives move back into the top ten now only two points behind their hosts and four points off the top five.

Final Score:  Bedford Town   0   St Ives Town   3                Half Time 0 – 1

Goals:

ST IVES: Glennon 35, Gyamfi 53, Wilson 90+5

Team Line Ups:

BEDFORD: Macdonald, Odell-Bature (Soulya-Osekanongo 57), Brown, Thomas, C. Mensah, Green, Connolly (Wood 61), Simmons, E. Gyamfi (Hall 65), Lobjoit, Blake (capt), Unused subs: Dudley, Wilson-Braithwaite

ST IVES: Wilks, B. Mensah, Smith, Meade, Williams, Collard (capt), J. Gyamfi, Glennon, Hadi (Wilson 78), Skyers, O’Keefe (Abimbola 46) Unused subs: Creary, Adegbola, Obeng

Referee:  Neil Fyfield

Cards:  Yellow:  BEDFORD:  Connolly (51)     ST IVES: Hadi (61), Meade (80)       

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Amir Hadi

Attendance:  807

Supporters should note that the home Boxing Day clash against Royston Town has a new kick-off time. The clash with the Crows will now kick-off at 1:00pm at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.

Elsewhere, the Ives have been drawn away to Eynesbury Rovers in the semi-finals of the Hunts Senior Cup. The match will take place at Hall Road on Tuesday 21 January 2025 with a 7:45pm kick-off.

St Ives Town 0 v Redditch United 3

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  02-11-2024

Nigel Howlett reports

The in-form Reds claimed their sixth win out of seven games on the road as they saw off a below par Ives with a burst of three well taken goals in a fifteen minute spell at the start of the second half. The win keeps the visitors in third place just one point off table toppers Kettering Town who were otherwise engaged taking down near neighbours Northampton Town in First Round Proper of FA Cup.

Ives welcomed new centre forward Coree Wilson but try as he might to impress on his debut the powerful striker was kept in check by Reds centre back pairing of George Burroughs and Kyle Rowley. The visitors took no prisoners all over the park giving Ives no time to settle at all and equally taking no chances at the back going long ball at every opportunity and then snapping in to pick up the pieces as they fell. Not the prettiest football to watch but very effective particularly away from home.

The visitor’s tactics were clear to see right from the off when keeper Callum Smith’s first punt of the afternoon on an almost windless day sailed through to his opposite number Dan Wilks. Wilks was the first keeper to be called into meaningful action in eighth minute when Johnny Johnston latched onto a knock down to send in a low drive from the edge of the box that Wilks held onto well low to his right.

Ives matched their opponents for hard work throughout the stop/start first half which was punctuated by 23 free kicks. One of those lead to Ives almost getting their noses in front in 19^th minute. Amaru Kaunda was brought down Rowley 25 yards from goal on the right side of the box. Will Glennon struck the free kick which ricocheted off the Reds defensive wall straight to the feet of Jernade Meade inside the D. His first time effort was not struck cleanly but it found a way through the crowded box and was destined for the bottom corner of the net before Smith pulled off the save of the game hurling himself full length to his right to tip the effort around the post.

Yet another of those many free kicks before the break lead to the visitor’s best chance in 24^th minute. George Atwal’s deep delivery from the left picked out Burroughs who had crept around the back. The big centre back’s header down landed at the feet of Jaiden White eight yards out and the Reds number eleven should have done better but he failed to make a clean contact and presented Wilks with a comfortable save.

Three minutes later Ives best move of the game carved out their best chance of the afternoon. Meade’s excellent cross field ball picked out Benji Mensah in space on the right. His first time ball into the box fed into the well timed run of Kaunda. The striker just beat Smith to the ball and managed to lift it over the spreading keeper but just past the post.

Ives had one more opportunity ten minutes before the break as Kaunda picked up a ball forty yards from goal in a central position but with Wilson to his left waiting for the ball to play him in the youngster tried to go for glory and let fly a shot from 20 yards that clattered off a defender straight into the waiting hands of Smith.

This was one game where both sides needed to be on their A game throughout to get a result but sadly Ives spent the first fifteen minutes after the break in a torpor and were duly punished by their very hard working opponents. The opener came only ninety seconds after the restart when Ethan Creary misjudged a long ball and Johnston latched onto it in a flash bursting clear to finish well past the exposed Wilks.

Only six minutes later the visitors made it two. A pacy run from White down the right saw him burst past David Adegbola and deliver a low cross to the near post where Billy Shaw got across his man to thump home from close range.

The frustrations were showing for Ives and Glennon was perhaps a little fortunate to only pick up a yellow card as he lunged in on Brad Burton right in front of referee Zachary Cunningham. Those frustrations were added to just after the hour as Adegbola took down Shaw just outside the box on the right allowing White to claim the goal of the day accolade as he whipped the resulting free kick around Ives four man wall and into the top corner just out of reach of the fingers of the diving Wilks.

Ives manager Ricky Marheineke made the decisive move of throwing skipper Alex Collard up front with 17 minutes to go to give the Reds centre back pairing a new challenge. Collard did manage to win a few flicks against his rugged opponents, but no one managed to latch onto them.

The hosts only real chance of a consolation did not arrive until the 89^th minute when substitute Aaron Smith delivered a perfect teasing cross from the left that arrived at the feet of Collard by the penalty spot but as he went for the ball the Ives skipper somehow managed to get tangled up with his team mate Jordan Williams the end result being that neither player managed to get a shot away.

The result sees Ives drop one place to mid table eleventh. The worry may be that lapse which allowed the Reds to take the game away from them. No longer the free scoring side of last season they now find themselves a side who must ensure that they keep their concentration throughout to prevent their opposition scoring to ensure that a single goal can glean full reward. Next chance to get back on track is next Saturday when they make the short trip to face the divisions leading scorers fifth placed Bedford Town at the Eyrie.  

Final Score:  St Ives Town   0   Redditch United   3          Half Time  0 – 0

Goals:

ST IVES:

REDDITCH: Johnston 47, Shaw 53, White 61

Team Line Ups:

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary (Skyers 73), Adegbola (Smith 62), Meade, Williams, Collard (capt), Gyamfi (Abimbola 46), Glennon, Wilson, Kaunda, Mensah, Unused subs: Hottor

REDDITCH: Smith, Burton, Atwal, Burroughs (Fitzgerald 88), Rowley (capt), Dawkins, Onabirekhanlen (Cameron 77), Shaw, Ram, White (Leydon 81), Johnston (Davidson-Miller 73), Unused subs: Flanagan

Referee:  Zachary Cunningham

Cards:  Yellow:  ST IVES: Meade (28), Glennon (56)        REDDITCH:   none    

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jernade Meade

Attendance:  335

Our official matchday magazine for the home clash with Redditch this afternoon is now available to read. Inside our 45 page publication this week.

• A report of our 0-0 draw with Sudbury last week
• We take a look at the latest news from around the league
• A look back at when the Ives secured a memorable 2-0 victory over our opponents last season
• And our popular matchday quiz, Ten to Tackle returns for another week

PLUS lots more. It’s FREE to download and the link is HERE

St Ives Town Football Club have today completed the signing of striker Coree Wilson.

Coree joins from Hitchin Town where he has been a regular for the Canaries this season, scoring six goals in all competitions including a brace in a 2-2 against Royston.

Prior to joining Hitchin, he played for Biggleswade United where he was a prolific striker, scoring over 30 goals last season which saw him collect both the Managers and Players Player of the Year awards.

Coree will be available for selection for the home league against Redditch United on Saturday afternoon.

Huntingdon Town 1 v St Ives Town 5

Huntingdonshire FA Senior Cup – Quarter Final  29-10-2024

Nigel Howlett reports from Jubilee Park

Four goals in eight minutes late in the first half saw Ives canter into the semi-finals of the Huntingdonshire FA Senior Cup for another year. The disappointment, and something for gallant step six strugglers Huntingdon to celebrate, will be the lapse in concentration late on which let Raj Badiani in to score the first goal that the all conquering visitors have conceded in the competition in six years.

It is always hard to motivate a side for a game where on paper they are expected to win by a cricket score and sure enough Ives started slowly with Dan Wilks being forced into an excellent save to prevent the visitors going in front after nine minutes. Kass Rajani and Ahri Chaddah combined well down the left before the latter picked out Ian King with a cross field ball. King’s clip to the back post was met on the volley by Marley Manser who was only denied by a brilliant reaction save from Wilks.

Will Glennon came within inches of putting Ives ahead in their first real attack four minutes later. Johnson Gyamfi danced down the right and delivered a cross into the mix that was only half cleared to Glennon on the edge. His careful curler looked destined for the top corner but struck the underside of the crossbar and was hacked away. The resulting throw in was hurled into the mix by Aaron Smith and bounced up for Kymani Skyers to get a header on target that was headed off the line by Ben Burton.

Ives then went into a period where they enjoyed a large percentage of the possession but were being kept at bay by the hard working Hunters. But as the half wore on the visitors began to wear down their opponents and chances began to appear. Amaru Kaunda was proving a handful for the hosts back line and in 26^th minute he managed to get away down the left. His ball into the centre found the feet of Silvano Obeng who unselfishly knocked it on to David Adegbola arriving at the back post but the angle was to narrow and his first time effort was deflected into the side netting.

The opening goal arrived six minutes later when Aaron Smith was given acres of space on the left. He took his time and served up a delightful chip to the back post that Kaunda cleverly headed back across the exposed keeper Oliver Steinke to find the back of the net. After defending so well for the opening half hour conceding one goal suddenly seemed to open the flood gates. Kaunda should have made it two only sixty seconds later fed through by a precise pass from Ethan Cleary he turned back inside before guiding his shot past keeper Steinke but just the wrong side of the post.

The second goal arrived in 36^th minute when Kaunda was again fed through and this time rounded Steinke before keeping his cool and picking out Glennon arriving in the centre. The bustling midfielder made no mistake prodding home from close range. Number three arrived only 50 seconds later as Adegbola burst down the right before picking out Glennon again arriving in the centre. His header was on target but keeper Steinke looked like he had it covered until defender Dylan Hughes intervened to direct the ball in the opposite corner of the net.

Obeng should have made it four, three minutes later as Smith served up the opportunity on a plate for the big man. Again left in acres of space on the left edge of the box the wing back picked out the unmarked Obeng at the back post. But the big striker failed to get over his header and directed the ball over the top from eight yards. By this time though chances were coming like buses and Obeng made up for his miss only seconds later. Adegbola cut out a poor pass out of defence and got away down the right again. His pull back found Glennon on the edge of the box. The midfielders low drive was turned home at close range by a relieved Obeng.

There were still more opportunities to add to the score before the break. Kaunda had a goal bound effort headed off the line by Jay Taylor and Adegbola had a close range shot turned away by the diving Steinke.

The question at half time was would Ives really put their foot down and try to crush their gallant opponents or would they ease off the gas and coast through the second half. They certainly started well lead by Kaunda who was still searching for more goals. Peter Abimbola fed him through on the right two minutes after the restart and the lively strikers pull back picked out half time substitute Benji Mensah on the edge of the box. But the young wing back’s shot was well held by Steinke.

Kaunda’s next effort stunned everyone as he conjured up a rocket from absolutely nothing. Side stepping on the left corner of the box he let fly a fierce effort that flew past the startled Steinke and rattled first crossbar and then post before rebounding away. A double opportunity fell to Kaunda in 51^st minute. Put clear by Glennon his initial shot was blocked by Steinke with the rebound going back to the feet of the lively striker but this time he snatched at the chance from a narrow angle and fired over.

In a rare sortie for the Hunters Manser spurned a good chance for the hosts firing wide after being put through by King in 53^rd minute. Back up the other end and it was Gyamfi’s chance to shine as twice in succession he danced his way past defenders to the edge of the hosts box. First time in 62^nd minute he saw his curling effort pushed away at full stretch by Steinke. Seven minutes later he repeated the run but this time slid the ball into the feet of Kaunda who skilfully flicked it past the exposed Steinke to increase the advantage to five.

Gyamfi again failed to hit the target from a good position, firing well over from 20 yards having exchanged passes with Glennon with fifteen minutes to go. Then came the lapse in concentration to let the Hunters grab a consolation goal. Substitute Badiani found space in the centre to pick up a loose ball and punish Ives beating the exposed Wilks from just outside the box.

That was never going to be more than a consolation but it lifted the hosts and Badiani was again involved six minutes later when Chaddah tested Wilks at his near post with a powerful low drive that the keeper did well to cling onto.

There was a final chance for Ives to add a sixth with five minutes to go but they were denied by a brilliant double save from Steinke. The keeper initially dived low to his right to keep out a well struck shot from the edge by Kaunda. Mensah pounced on the loose ball and looked like he must score by Steinke recovered quickly to dive in and bravely block at the youngster’s feet. The ball again rebounded into play and Glennon fired in another follow up that deflected wide off the covering Taylor.

Overall job done with some players who have been on the fringes of the side or working their way back in after injury getting good game time. Newcomer Glennon getting a further chance to integrate into the side and youngsters Jamari Hart and Jacob Dickson making their first team debuts as second half substitutes. Ives will take their place in the semi-final draw alongside St Neots Town, Eynesbury Rovers and Eaton Socon and will once again be the team that the others want to avoid.

Final Score:  Huntingdon Town   1   St Ives Town   5              Half Time  0 – 4

Goals:

HUNTINGDON: Badiani 77

ST IVES: Kaunda 32, 69, Glennon 36, Hughes (own goal) 37, Obeng 40

Team Line Ups:

HUNTINGDON: Steinke, Hughes (Greviskis 66), Burton, Taylor, Chaddah, Quintero, Morton (Hutt 86), King (capt), Rajani, Manser (Badiani 69), Mendy (Allen 63), Unused subs: none

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary (Hart 69), Smith, Skyers, Williams (capt), Gyamfi (Dickson 75), Abimbola, Glennon, Obeng, Kaunda, Adegbola (Mensah 46), Unused subs: Collard, Meade

Referee:  Ryan Andrews

Cards:  Yellow:  HUNTINGDON: Burton (45)      ST IVES: none       

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Amaru Kaunda

Attendance:  83

A reminder that St Ives Town begin their defence of the Hunts Senior Cup on Tuesday night (29 October) as they make the trip to Huntingdon Town for a quarter final fixture.

The Ives won the competition last season courtesy of a 2-0 win against Godmanchester Rovers. Their campaign saw them beat Eaton Socon and Eynesbury Rovers en-route to the final.

The other quarter final action this midweek sees Eynesbury host Godmanchester and Yaxley entertain St Neots. Eaton Socon have received a bye.

Kick-off on Tuesday evening at Jubilee Park is at 7:45pm.

AFC Sudbury 0 St Ives Town 0

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  26-10-2024

Nigel Howlett reports from the MEL Stadium

A point a piece can be considered a fair return for both sides from this competitive encounter where both defences ruled the roost. Each side enjoyed their periods on top Ives shading the first 45 minutes and the Suds just edging the second. The hosts can take satisfaction from extending their unbeaten home run in the League this season and the visitors similar satisfaction in becoming the first side to prevent the previously free scoring Suds from finding the net in a league fixture at the MEL Group Stadium.

The Ives welcomed new signing Will Glennon into the centre of midfield where his physical presence and leadership qualities gave a much more solid look to the line up and it was the visitors who started by taking the game to their hosts. The game was less than two minutes old when Greg Kaziboni put David Adegbola away down the left. The youngster got to the bye line but was unable to find a team mate with his pull back.

The closest that the visitors came to finding the net was only two minutes later and it took a brilliant goal line clearance from Matty Miles to prevent Adegbola opening the scoring. Gennon won the ball in midfield before putting the lively Kaziboni away down the right. He hung up one of his trademark teasing crosses to the back post where Adegbola got the touch to force the ball past keeper James Bradbrook. The ball looked goal bound only for Miles to miraculously get around behind his keeper to hook it off the line. Appeals that it had crossed the line before the defender’s boot hacked it out were quickly waved away by a well positioned assistant referee.

Ives continued to press for the opener and it took a brave save from Bradbrook to maintain the parity in 14^th minute. Ethan Creary’s long throw from the right was knocked down in the box by Glennon and Jordan Williams looked like he was going to latch onto it only to be denied by Bradbrook diving in to claim the ball at his feet.

Amaru Kaunda was next to go close for the visitors two minutes later. Kaziboni again being the provider dancing down the right before picking out the Cambridge United loanee in space ten yards from goal. A repeat of Kaunda’s spectacular opener against Biggleswade looked on the cards but this time the youngster failed to make clean contact and his first time volley flew over the top.

Kaziboni continued to torment the Suds defenders and he was chopped down 25 yards from goal by Ollie Peters to win Ives a free kick in a dangerous spot in 26^th minute. With Jonny Edwards now departed to pastures new who was going to get free kick duty around the box. Johnson Gyamfi took the responsibility but failed to beat the hosts four man wall with his low effort.

Having weathered Ives early efforts the hosts slowly began to work their way into the game creating a couple of chances of their own in the ten minutes before half time. Dan Wilks in the Ives goal had to get down smartly to his left to keep out Joe Neal’s crisp low drive from 20 yards in 36^th minute and three minutes later Ryan Henshaw got on the end of Peters free kick from the right but directed his near post diving header over the top.

The Suds came out at the start of the second period looking to continue where they had ended the first and the first half chance nine minutes after the re-start fell to Neal who curled his 25 yard effort about a metre wide of Wilks left hand post with the keeper confidently covering the shot.

Ives only half chance in the early period of the second half was 58^th minute effort from Alex Collard as a Jernade Meade free kick from half way dropped to the feet of the skipper just outside the box but his well struck effort flew over the crossbar with keeper Bradbrook looking on.

Wilks was called into meaningful action again on the hour when substitute Simeon Jackson out muscled Benji Mensah to create himself a shooting opportunity on the left edge of the box. But Wilks was equal to the effort leaping high to his left to fingertip the ball around the post.

Jordan Williams had been outstanding throughout in Ives back line and his fantastic 66^th minute block to deny Neal ensured that he was going to get the man of the match award from the travelling faithful. Ex Ives man Myles Cowling was the provider bursting forward into Ives backline before slipping the perfect ball into the well timed run of Neal who looked like he was clear with only Wilks to beat but Williams had other ideas and somehow managed to recover his position to make a sliding block as Neal tried to flick his shot past the keeper.

The pattern of the game in the first half had seen Ives on top until the last ten minutes when the hosts enjoyed a good spell. The pattern of the second half was almost a complete reverse of this as the half wore on Ives began to enjoy a little more possession in the oppositions final third. With fifteen minutes to go the hard working Gyamfi did well to rob a dallying Henshaw deep inside his own half. The speedy winger picked out Meade in a little space 25 yards out with his pull back. The silky midfielder took a touch and unleashed a fierce drive that was to hot for Bradbrook to hang onto but the keeper recovered quickly to pounce on the loose ball before Kaunda could prod it home.

Meade was involved at the other end of the park two minutes later when he upended Josh Allen just outside the box on the left. Wilks set up a four man wall and was happy enough to watch Peters free kick sail over the wall and inches over the crossbar.

It took a brilliant diving stop from Bradbrook to prevent Kaunda from claiming all three points for the visitors eight minutes from time. The youngster received the ball 25 yards from goal in a central position and looked like he had got it stuck under his feet. Somehow, with virtually no back lift he managed to unleash a screamer that was destined for the top corner before the flying Suds stopper leapt across to palm it away.

Both sides continued to look for a clincher in the remaining time but equally both were very aware that they had no intention of giving away the point that they had fought so hard to get. In the end a fair result that keeps both sides in middle of the table positions in the amazingly tight table.

As the travellers Ives will probably feel happier of the two sides at the shared return which is their first league draw of a season that is now one third of the way through. The lads from Cambridgeshire can be equally pleased with their four point return from a group of three tough away games in a row. After a midweek trip to Huntingdon Town for a County Cup tie they can look forward to welcoming the team with the best away record in the division, fourth placed Redditch United to quattro tech Westwood Road next Saturday.

Final Score:  AFC Sudbury   0   St Ives Town    0   

Team Line Ups:

SUDBURY: Bradbrook, Henshaw, Dickens, Miles, Peters, Neal (capt), Cowling, Page (Jackson 26), Pearce, Bradley (Isaacson 69), Allen, Unused subs: Lewis, Terminello, Goode

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary, Kaziboni (Abimbola 74), Meade, Williams, Collard (capt), Gyamfi (Obeng 90), Adegbola, Glennon, Kaunda, Mensah, Unused subs: Casey, Smith, Skyers,

Referee:  Charlie Roberts

Cards:  Yellow:  SUDBURY:  Henshaw (71), Peters (90+4)       ST IVES: Kaziboni (70)       

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jordan Williams

Attendance:  311

St Ives Town manager Ricky Marheineke has added to his first team squad by signing Will Glennon.

Will is a 21 year old centre back, and joins the Ives from Stamford. He started his career in the academy at AFC Rushden & Diamonds before moving to Bugbrooke St Michael to gain experience. He returned to Diamonds in March 2023 before making the move to the Zeeco Stadium to join Stamford. He has been a regular in the Daniels squad and will be available for the game today at AFC Sudbury.

Moving from the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road is Johnny Herd. Johnny joins Isthmian League Division One North outfit, Mildenhall Town on dual registration. The move will see Johnny get regular first team football but can be recalled to the Ives squad at any time.

Stamford 2 St Ives Town 1

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  22-10-2024

Nigel Howlett reports from the Zeeco Stadium

Ives battled hard and matched the high flying Daniels for long periods of this game but failure to take their chances and a slow start to each half ultimately cost them all three points at the Zeeco Stadium.

The visitors were caught cold inside ninety seconds as Tobias Liversidge got down the left and delivered a low cross to the near post where the lurking Richard Gergory got across his marker to thump the ball home from close range.

Ives first half chance arrived with their first corner of the game five minutes later as Jernade Meade’s flag kick was knocked down to Albie O’Keefe on the edge of the box. His attempted shot ricocheted to Alex Collard ten yards from goal but the Ives skipper’s first time effort was blocked by the body of a Daniels defender.

The game continued in open fashion with both sides trading blows. Liversidge was again involved in creating another opportunity of the hosts in 13^th minute when he combined well with Lee Shaw down the left with the latter’s low, driven, cross just evading Gregory sliding in at the back post.

Back up the other end three minutes later Ives had a shout for a penalty turned down by referee Tom Bingley. Collard rose highest to flick on Aaron Smith’s long throw at the near post and the ball fell to the feet of Amaru Kaunda inside the six yard box but with his back to goal. As the youngster tried to turn to get his shot away he went down under challenge from James Blunden but the well positioned Mr Bingley waved the appeals away.

Dan Wilks in Ives goal was forced into his first real save of the night in 27^th minute when Tendai Chitiza threaded a ball through into the run of Robert Morgan. The Daniels skipper let fly from the edge of the box but Wilks was equal to the effort and held on well. Only sixty seconds later and it was Ives who spurned two good opportunities to get level in the same attack. Initially the ball arrived at the feet of Silvano Obeng just inside the box but he took a touch to many and his shot was blocked away by a covering defender, the ball rebounded to Kaunda by the penalty spot. This time it was keeper Tom Jackson who was bravely off his line to smother the young striker’s attempt at point blank range.

The game then descended into a midfield battle with neither side able to create another real opportunity until the last minute of the half when full back Charlie Marzano combined well with Chitiza down the right before the winger picked out Gregory on the edge of the box. But the Daniels centre forward again failed to find a way past the well positioned Wilks.

As in the first half Ives were again slow out of the traps at the start of the second period and almost gave away a second goal only two and half minutes after the restart. A ball over the top was taken down inside the box by Gregory who went down under challenge from Smith. Referee Bingley initially saw no problem with the tackle and gave a goal kick. But he was summoned over by his flag waving assistant on the far side. A discussion of almost two minutes followed between the two officials before Mr Bingley allowed himself to be overruled by his assistant and awarded the spot kick. However the long wait perhaps proved a little to much of Daniels skipper Morgan who saw his kick saved by the diving Wilks.

But having survived that massive scare courtesy of an excellent save from their keeper the sleepwalking Ives still proceeded to ship a second only moments later with Chitiza sprinting away down the right before picking out Gregory with his precise low cross. This time the centre forward made a complete hash of his shot getting it so wrong that the ball rolled on across the box to the unmarked full back Bill Bennett who made no mistake beating the exposed Wilks from 10 yards.

But going two behind seemed to wake Ives from their slumbers again and Kaunda won them a free kick in a dangerous position two minutes later. The tricky Ives striker got the better of Jordon Cooke on the right hand corner of the box forcing the centre back to bring him down. Meade seemed to get caught in two minds with the resulting free kick and ended up curling it straight into the hands of keeper Jackson.

Back up the other end Shaw pulled another excellent save out of Wilks on the hour forcing the keeper to leap high to his left to hang onto a curled effort from 25 yards. That proved to be the hosts last real opportunity of the night as they decided to sit back a little to preserve their advantage allowing Ives to push forward and the visitors did not need a second invitation. Manager Ricky Marheineke took the opportunity to introduce his trump cards from the bench bringing on the pace of Benji Mensah, trickery of Johnson Gyamfi and guile of Greg Kaziboni replacing Smith, Peter Abimbola and Obeng respectively.

Those three started to create inroads into the otherwise resolute Daniels back line. The first chance to pull a goal back following their introduction came in 77^th minute as Mensah fed Gyamfi in down the right. Gyamfi’s pull back picked out Paddy Casey arriving in space at the back of the box but the defender snatched at the chance and fired well over from 20 yards.

The threat down the right also included David Adegbola and six minutes later it was he who fed in Mensah to the bye line. The young substitute carefully lifted the ball over keeper Jackson to try and pick out Gyamfi arriving at the back post. But under pressure from Marzano and the recovering keeper Gyamfi was unable to hit the target from a narrow angle. But Ives did finally pull one back four minutes from time as Gyamfi got his first for the club. Mensah fed him in through the right channel and his first time effort from ten yards found its was through keeper Jackson’s legs and into the back of the net.

Eight added minutes went up on the board to give Ives hope and they pushed hard for an equaliser but the experience in the hosts side showed through as they turned down opportunities to break away in favour of running down the clock by taking the ball to the corner flag. One last opportunity to make them pay did come Ives way in the final added minute but with Wilks up to add his height to the threat substitute Evan Watkins flag kick was well claimed by keeper Jackson.

The result sees the Daniels move up to second only one point behind league leaders Kettering while the Ives slip a place to tenth in a crazily compact table where only seven points separates the sides in the play off places from the relegation spots. A trip to fellow mid table side AFC Sudbury awaits Ives on Saturday.

Final Score:  Stamford   2    St Ives Town   1                Half Time  1 – 0

Goals:

STAMFORD: Gregory 2, Bennett 55

ST IVES: Gyamfi 86

Team Line Ups:

STAMFORD: Jackson, Marzano, Bennett (Hobbins 71), Offler, Cooke, Blunden, Chitiza, Morgan (capt), Gregory (Challinor 69), Shaw, Liversidge (Frew 88), Unused subs: Redfern, Butterfill

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary, Smith (Mensah 76), Meade (Watkins 85), Casey, Collard (capt), Abimbola (Gyamfi 67), O’Keefe (Skyers 58), Obeng (Kaziboni 67), Kaunda, Adegbola, Unused subs: none

Referee:  Thomas Bingley

Cards:  Yellow:  STAMFORD:   none            ST IVES:  none       

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Dan Wilks

Attendance:  326

Alvechurch 0 v St Ives Town 1

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  19-10-2024

Nigel Howlett reports from Lye Meadow

A near perfect away performance with everyone doing their job to at least a 7/10 ensured Ives took all three points back to Cambridgeshire. The thing that made this result all the more remarkable was that it was achieved without inspiration skipper Alex Collard who missed the game having picked up a knock in Monday evening’s victory over Biggleswade. The man who came in to replace Collard was the ever reliable unsung hero Paddy Casey who fully deserved his man of the match accolade from the small group of travelling Ives fans. Church supporters will say that the game hinged on the sending off of midfielder Joe Willis who picked up two yellow cards from referee Alex Rolfe inside three minutes. Truth is that Ives had repelled everything that their hosts had thrown at them with a full compliment on the pitch and should have been in front long before substitute Greg Kaziboni grabbed the winner twelve minutes from time.

Apart from Collard’s replacement by Casey the only other changes to the starting line up for Ives was the return from international duty of Jernade Meade who came into his usual role with Montserrat at left wing back where he replaced Aaron Smith and Silvano Obeng coming back in at centre forward for Greg Kaziboni who dropped to the bench. The hosts coming off the back of an excellent away point at much fancied Telford made only one change with Sam Perry coming in for Dylan Allen-Hadley who dropped to the bench.

The game started in brilliant sunshine, but on the first soft pitch of the season after heavy overnight rain in the West Midlands. It was the hosts who were first out of the traps with the speedy Ammar Dyer getting outside Benji Mensah down the left in fourth minute and drilling in a low cross shot that was to hot for Dan Wilks to handle but Williams was on hand to hack the ball away before Tyrone Barnett could pounce. Wilks was called into action again four minutes later and this time did very well to hang onto Barnett’s crisp low drive from 15 yards after the big striker latched onto Callum Sullivan’s cross from the right.

Ives first half chance of the game came only ninety seconds later as Meade curled in an inviting free kick from the right that home keeper Ronnie Hollingshead only just managed to touch away from Williams arriving at the back post. The game then descended into a midfield battle with neither side able to create another decent opportunity for the next twenty minutes. But just before the half hour Mensah served up a little bit of brilliance to set up a golden opportunity for Amaru Kaunda to put Ives ahead. The tricky wing back jinked his way into the box going past a couple of defenders to get to the bye line. His attempted cross took a deflection and looped over Hollingshead. Kaunda arriving at the back post unmarked only had to bundle the ball over the line but he chose to try and chest it home and somehow lifted it onto the crossbar from point blank range.

Mensah continued to be in the game at both ends of the park. Kieran Wakefield managed to get the better of him just outside the box in 32^nd minute before unleashing a fierce rising drive from the corner of the box that a well positioned Wilks plucked out of the air. Two minutes later at the other end of the park Mensah continued to cause problems for the hosts back line curling in a teasing cross from the right that picked out Kaunda by the penalty spot but the striker failed to keep down his first time volley.

The final opportunity of the first period six minutes before the break saw the same two players combine again with Mensah again getting deep into Church territory before delivering a cross into the centre that just evaded the stretching home skipper Krystian Pearce to get to Kaunda again arriving at the back post. But the young striker had to stretch to get to it and again was unable to keep his volley down.

The Church made a change at half time replacing Sullivan with Allen-Hadley in midfield and it was the hosts that made the best start after the break. Ethan Creary picked up one of six yellow cards for Ives players dished out by referee Rolfe in 54^th minute as he pulled back the tricky Dyer. Omari Sterling-James took the resulting free kick and got it up and down over Ives wall but Wilks was perfectly positioned to take the ball into his midriff.

Wilks and Williams then combined to almost gift Church a goal on the hour. Wilks played the ball out to Williams in a central position on the edge of the box but he was instantly pressed by Barnett and his hurried sideways pass to try and find Casey was cut out by Perry. Wilks rescued the situation with an excellent diving save to keep out the midfielder’s powerful drive. Wilks was called into even more spectacular action two minutes later as an intricate Church move ended with Sterling-James feeding the ball into the run of Wakefield who saw his thumping drive from just inside the box turned around the post by the diving Wilks.

With Ives well and truly under the cosh manager Ricky Marheineke knew that he needed to change things to get back control of the game and a triple substitution followed in 66^th minute with Johnson Gyamfi, Obeng and Mensah being replaced by David Adegbola, Peter Abimbola and Kaziboni respectively.

Before those changes even had time to bed in there followed a bizarre moment as Kymani Skyers slid into Perry. Referee Rolfe was immediately on hand to quickly issue a yellow card, equally quicky following it with a red. The official seemingly mistaking Skyers for Creary who he had earlier booked. Unlike at Worksop the pleas from Ives players for the referee to take time, have a more careful look at the numbers on the back of Ives black and white shirts and change his decision were listened to and he reverted the decision back to the original yellow card for Skyers. This decision so incensed Willis that he proceeded to berate Mr Rolfe sufficiently to talk himself into a yellow card as well.

That unnecessary yellow for Willis proved very costly for Church only three minutes later when the same player clattered into Albie O’Keefe. To remain consistent with all that he had done up to that point referee Rolfe had to pull out the yellow card and this time it was correctly followed by the red. All this meant that within three minutes Ives had gone from looking like being down to ten men themselves to now finding themselves up against ten men.

In the past Ives have struggled to break down teams that go down to ten but manager Marheineke remained on top of things quickly replacing the tiring Skyers with Smith to reduce the chances of the referee looking to even things up. With Adegbola and Kaziboni now operating in tandem down the right the visitors began to carve out opportunities to win the game. A 75^th minute swift interchange of passes between the pair saw the latter feed in Abimbola to the bye line. It took a full length diving touch from Hollingshead to prevent Kaunda getting on the end of his low cross.

The only goal of the game arrived through that right hand channel three minutes later Adegbola ran clear onto Creary’s through ball. He hesitated half expecting the flag to go up with appeals coming from the Church defenders. But the assistant kept his flag down and the young midfielder went on before picking out Kaziboni ten yards out with his pull back. The Ives substitute did not hit his shot cleanly but he got enough on it to beat Hollingshead and go in off the inside of the post.

Two late substitutions by the hosts did not bring them any real hope of a route back into the game as Ives continued to move the ball around well effectively managing the remaining time. Even an added seven minutes did not cause any concern and when the whistle finally went everyone in the squad can congratulate themselves on a very professional performance and the second league win on the road in a row.

The result sees Ives leapfrog the Church into ninth only three points off the play-off places with at least one game in hand on most of the teams above them. The second of three tough away trips in a row comes up on Tuesday as the Ives visit Stamford before a trip to AFC Sudbury next Saturday.

Final Score:  Alvechurch   0    St Ives Town    1               Half Time  0 – 0

Goals:

ALVECHURCH:

ST IVES: Kaziboni 78

Team Line Ups:

ALVECHURCH: Hollingshead, Perry, Pearce (capt), Solademi, Willis, Dyer, Sullivan (Allen-Hadley 46, Batchelor 82), Wakefield (Shaw 82), Barnett, Crowther, Sterling-James, Unused subs: Sephton, Peets-Fearon

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary, Meade, Skyers (Smith 74), Williams (capt), Casey, Gyamfi (Adegbola 66), O’Keefe (Hottor 88), Obeng (Abimbola 66), Kaunda, Mensah (Kaziboni 66), Unused subs: none

Referee:  Alex Rolfe

Cards:   Red:  ALVECHURCH: Willis (2 x Yellow) (67) & (70)

              Yellow:  ALVECHURCH: Wakefield (41), Barnett (45)       ST IVES: Williams (28), Gyamfi (47), Creary (54), O’Keefe (56), Skyers (67), Meade (90+2)        

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Paddy Casey

Attendance: 350

St Ives Town 2 v Biggleswade Town 1   

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  14-10-2024

Nigel Howlett Reports

A battling rearguard action gleaned ten man Ives maximum reward from a game in which they spent most of the second half well and truly under the cosh from a lively Waders who belied their struggling league position to put on a show that they will be hugely disappointed earned them nothing.

Manager Ricky Marheineke made four changes from the side that were unlucky to lose to Barwell only 48 hours earlier. Aaron Smith returned from suspension at left wing back in place of Paddy Casey. Greg Kaziboni made a rare starting appearance up front in place of Silvano Obeng and there were two changes in midfield with Benji Mensah coming in for David Adegbola and a surprise return to the club for new signing Kymani Skyers who replaced the unavailable Ed Hottor.

Having survived an early Waders free kick from the left edge of the box after seven minutes Ives proceeded to get their noses in front in spectacular fashion in their very first attack two minutes later. Fancy footwork from Kaziboni saw him dance past two defenders down the left. He delivered an inviting cross that dropped by the penalty spot where Amaru Kaunda met it with a flying volley that arrowed past the startled Jack Berman in the visitor’s goal and found the bottom corner of the net.

Theo Ofori was looking like a threat down the right for the Waders with his pace and trickery and the first of his many dangerous runs at Ives back line in 18^th minute saw him cut inside to create some space before firing an effort just wide of Dan Wilks left hand upright with the keeper scrambling across to cover.

The Waders wasted another good opportunity six minutes later as they broke away from an Ives long throw at pace. Obi Onyeagwara robbed Johnson Gyamfi deep inside his own half and fed the ball into the run of Ed Panter who sprinted from half way to the edge of the box only to hammer his effort well over the top as Wilks came to meet him. Onyeagwara was next to have a go for the Waders as he fired a 25 yard screamer over the top in 26^th minute.

The hosts then doubled their lead in fortunate style just after the half hour. The chance arising as Kaunda showed a spring in his heels to outjump the much taller Waders skipper Charlie Briggs and flick on Ethan Creary’s ball down the right. Mensah looked to be bursting clear onto his flick only to be pulled back by Callum Wilson. Kaziboni delivered an in-swinging free kick into the danger zone between keeper and defenders. It was missed by everyone at the near post and dropped into the crowd arriving at the back post where it deflected home off the boot of Skyers giving Berman no chance.

The visitors reacted well to going two behind and three minutes later Ofori again showed his threat worming his way through three defenders to get into the box. But fortunately for Ives his right foot effort from just inside the box lacked power allowing Wilks to make a comfortable save. But the visitors were not to be denied for long and they reduced the arrears three minutes before the break. Skipper Alex Collard lost possession to Cyrus Babaie just outside the box and was forced to bring the powerful striker down. Ives put up a five man wall but the Waders clever free kick routine caught them out as Ofori’s free kick was fed back to Panter and his low shot took a wicked deflection off the breaking wall to find the bottom corner past the unsighted Wilks.

There was still time before the break for Ofori to cause more trouble as he robbed Jordan Williams deep in Ives territory forcing the hosts centre back to haul him down leaving the referee little choice but to book him. Fortunately the resulting free kick came to nothing

Now with their tails up the visitors came at the Ives from the off in the second period. Three minutes after the restart Onyeagwara went close with a 25 yard effort that forced Wilks into a diving save high to his left. Wilks was forced into more action in 64^th minute. An excellent cross field ball from Babaie picked out Ofori in space on the right. He again cut inside and tested Wilks with a fierce, low, drive that the well positioned keeper did well to cling onto at the second attempt.

By this time Ofori was proving a real handful down the right and with Smith at times lacking support to keep him at bay a potential equaliser looking in the offing every time the speedy winger got the ball. Three minutes after his previous effort Ofori again got the better of Smith to cut inside and unleash another low drive that the diving Wilks was forced to palm around the post.

The pressure on Ives back line continued to grow with Ofori at the heart of everything that the Waders were throwing at their hosts. He had two attempts at Ives goal in less than sixty seconds in 76^th minute. Initially doing his trademark step inside onto his left foot before firing a low drive from the edge of the box that deflected wide off a covering defender. The resulting corner was taken short and fed back to him allowing him to fire a rising drive over the top from the right hand corner of the box.

As the clock continued to tick down manager Marheineke was using all of the cards at his disposal to shore up the Ives back line. The visitors continued to pour forward but with skipper Collard organising the defence and his colleagues all coming up to the plate and putting their bodies on the line to block away shots and crosses the unlikely began to seem more possible. Full back Luke Pyman was thrown forward and missed an excellent opportunity with three minutes to go when a Liam Andrews long throw from the right got through to him at the back post but he fired his first time shot straight at Wilks who was delighted to cling onto it.

Ives task got even harder in 89^th minute when Williams took down Babaie clumsily just outside the right hand edge of the box to earn his second yellow card of the night. The resulting free kick came to nothing and Ives supporters were relieved to see only four added minutes go up on the board. Those four minutes seemed like an age to some, but the Waders were starting to run out of steam and the time was seen out without any major scares to enable Ives to claim maximum reward from what proved to be a very tough game.

With their next three league games all on the road against teams in the top ten this was a vital win for Ives who will not be back in action at quattro tech Westwood Road until 2^nd November.

Final Score:  St Ives Town   2   Biggleswade Town  1        Half Time  2 – 1

Goals:

ST IVES: Kaunda 9, Skyers 32

BIGGLESWADE: Panter 43

Team Line Ups:

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary, Smith, Skyers, Williams, Collard (capt), Gyamfi (Abimbola 68), O’Keefe (Herd 76), Kaziboni (Obeng 54), Kaunda (Casey 89), Mensah (Adegbola 83), Unused subs: none

BIGGLESWADE: Berman, Pyman (Starszewski 89), Wilson, Andrews, Briggs (capt), Doherty, Ofori, Ibrahim (Yamfam 73), Panter (Gouldbourne 73), Babaie, Onyeagwara, Unused subs: Matyar,

Referee:  Oliver Sadd

Cards:   Red: ST IVES: Williams (2x yellow) (45) & (89)

              Yellow:  ST IVES:  Collard (42), Kaziboni (49), Creary (59)      BIGGLESWADE: Wilson (31), Ibrahim (63)         

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Kymani Skyers

Attendance:  251

St Ives Town Football Club can today confirm that striker Jonny Edwards has signed for Kettering Town. Jonny joins the Poppies for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old joined the Ives in the summer of 2022 from FC Romania and instantly found form scoring 26 goals in his first season. During that campaign, he was part of an Ives team that reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time before bowing out against Edwards’ former club, FC Halifax.

But it was last season that Edwards’ goalscoring exploits hit the headlines as he finished the campaign with 30 league goals despite being sidelined for the opening couple of months.  His goals which included four in one game against Mickleover ensured that he finished the season as top scorer for the division.

The club would like to place on record their thanks for what Jonny has done for St Ives Town over the last two years.  He has provided everyone with several memorable moments and we wish him all the very best for the future.

St Ives Town 0 v Barwell 1 

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  12-10-2024

It looked like the two sides were going to cancel each other out in this hard fought, competitive, encounter that was never low on endeavour but lacked that little bit of extra quality from both sides. But as is so often the case in this type of tight game it is not a little bit of magic that wins the day it is sadly a mistake. The one that decided this one came when Ives shot themselves in the foot in 72^nd minute. With all of the big men up for a free kick to be delivered into the box they took a short one and lost possession. The ball was quickly channelled to the other end where Johnson Gyamfi compounded the initial error from his colleagues with an under hit back pass that allowed Ethan Hill to nip in and lash home past the exposed Dan Wilks. Both before and after that goal Ives created good opportunities that they failed to take leading to a disappointing second home league defeat in a row.

With Jernade Meade on international duty with Montserrat, Aaron Smith serving a one match ban for his very hash dismissal at Worksop in the FA Trophy, Kobe Chong out with a serious injury, Peter Abimbola still not yet back to full fitness and Jonny Edwards in transfer talks for a move away from quattro tech Westwood Road Ives were thin on the ground and manager Ricky Marheineke gave a first start to 17 year old Stevenage loanee Albie O’Keefe in central midfield with Silvano Obeng given the chance to lead the line. To counter that the Canaries came with a full strength side lead by the evergreen ex Reading veteran striker Leroy Lita.

With their youngsters to the fore, it was the hosts who took the game to their visitors carving out a couple of half chances in the opening five minutes. Two minutes in a flowing move saw the ball fed across the front line to reach the feet of Amaru Kaunda on the left, his step inside and teasing delivery into the centre was met by David Adegbola who got in front of his marker to steer a header over the top from ten yards. Two minutes later Gyamfi ran half the length of the park to get clear down the left but he failed to find a team mate with his low cross.

The next opportunity in 15^th minute was a true route one attempt as Wilks long punt evaded the two Canaries centre backs and was allowed to bounce deep in the visitor’s territory. Obeng ran onto the bouncing ball but delayed getting his shot away and when he eventually did unleash a powerful right foot effort the angle was to narrow and he could only succeed in finding the side netting.

The visitors were slowly working their way into the game and carved out their first chance of the game only one minute later. Hill and Lita combined well to feed in Deen Master who hit a crisp low drive from the edge of the box that Wilks gathered well.

The middle part of the first half descended into a midfield battle from which neither side could gain the ascendency. The flow of the game being constantly broken up by a series of free kicks as the battle continued. One of those free kicks saw Wilks become the next keeper called into action in 36^th minute. Hill tried to take advantage of the one man wall that the Ives stopper had put up to help him defend a free kick five yards outside the left hand corner of the box. Hill cleverly drilled in a shot at the near post that had Wilks scrambling across to make the save.

The best opportunity of the first period then fell to Kaunda four minutes before the break. Obeng held off a defender well to deftly feed the ball into the perfectly timed run of Kaunda who was clear with only keeper Will Highland to beat. But the youngster tried to go for power and ended up blasting his shot straight at the Canaries custodian who reacted well to tip the rising shot over the top.

Each side had one more half chance before half time. Hill robbed Ethan Creary on half way to give Ollie Brown-Hill the chance to try and lob the out of position Wilks from fully 45 yards but the effort drifted wide as the Ives stopper fast retreated to cover it. At the other end Obeng had the last attempt of the half right on the whistle when he spanked an effort from the edge of the box straight into the hands of the well positioned Highland.

Another golden opportunity came and went for Ives five minutes after the restart. Kaunda showed some brilliant footwork inside the Canaries box to create the space to get a shot away. The ball struck a defender and looped to the unmarked Obeng lurking eight yards out at the back post. But the big centre forward snatched at the chance and fired his first time effort high and wide as desperate defenders tried to close him down.

The game then went through a period where most of the half chances were going the way of the visitors. Master screwed a 52^nd minute effort from 20 yards into the boards just wide of Wilks right hand post. Ben Challinor fired a 66^th minute effort over the top after Lita had held the ball up well to tee him up from a similar distance.

Then with just less than 20 minutes to go came Ives comedy of errors which lead to Hill putting the Canaries in front. Ives reacted well to going behind and it took some brave defending to prevent them grabbing an equaliser eight minutes from time. Substitute Greg Kaziboni got down the right and delivered a cross into the crowded box that led to shots from Obeng and Adegbola being blocked at point blank range by the bodies of flying defenders.

Ives knew it was not going to be their day when, with four minutes remaining, Obeng got on the end of Cleary’s clip over the top and drilled the ball home past the exposed Highland only to be denied by an assistant’s upraised flag.

The added five minutes were spent with Ives camped in and around the Canaries box. The visitors just survived three Johnny Herd corners, a couple of long throws and a free kick all from the same man. Despite all that pressure they were unable to test Highland with another on target effort in that time.

The final result sees the Canaries join Ives on twelve points. In a crazily tight table that means five points off the play offs but looking the other way only three points off the drop zone. Both teams have vital home games coming on Monday night with Biggleswade Town visiting quattro tech Westwood Road for a 7.45pm kick off.

Final Score:  St Ives Town     0      Barwell    1      Half Time  0 – 0

Goals:

ST IVES:

BARWELL: Hill 72

Team Line Ups:

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary, Casey (Mensah 71), O’Keefe, Williams, Collard (capt), Gyamfi (Kaziboni 77), Hottor (Herd 88), Obeng, Kaunda, Adegbola (Abimbola 85), Unused subs: Watkins

BARWELL: Highland, Fridye-Harper, Brown-Hill, Ngoma, Rowe-Turner, McManus (Rogers 31), Master, Lita, Challinor (Medrano 75), Hickey (capt), Hill, Unused subs: Osbourne, Berry, Arthur

Referee:  Christopher Poole

Cards:   Yellow:  ST IVES: Adegbola (22)       BARWELL: Lita (68), Fridye-Harper (90)         

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Alex Collard

Attendance:  305

Worksop Town 2 St Ives Town 1

Isuzu FA Trophy 3^rd Qualifying Round 05-10-2024

Nigel Howlett reports from the The Windsor Foodservice Stadium

A much improved performance could so easily have seen Ives progress in this entertaining tie where sadly the focus will be on some excentric and at times outright bizarre refereeing decisions from Mr Alistair Wilson. Both sides saw a player dismissed in very unusual circumstances. Tigers striker Liam Hughes was first to take the early bath six minutes after half time when he remonstrated with referee Wilson over whether a ball had gone out of play for a throw in or a goal kick. Mr Wilson initially listen to the complaint, then produced a yellow card when it went on a bit to long. This was followed by him calling over hosts captain Hamza Bencherif to join the discussion then as it all appeared to settled down and the players walked away a second yellow was waved in the direction of Hughes presumably for a parting remark.

Aaron Smith was even more unlucky to join Hughes in the dressing room nine minutes later as he picked up a second yellow card of the game for putting a hand on Jordan Burrow to concede a penalty that one seasoned Tigers supporter termed the softest that he had seen given in 50 years watching the game. Even more unfortunate for Smith was how he had acquired the first yellow card when in added time at the end of the first half Mr Wilson waved the card under his nose whilst he was being prevented from taking a throw in by the assistant referee who had noticed a second ball had been thrown onto the pitch that Dan Wilks was clearing from by the goal. No one could persuade Mr Wilson of his error and Adam Fisher picked up a yellow card for trying.

Ives received a couple of blows prior to kick off with news coming through that the exciting Kobe Chong had ruptured his achilles playing in a corporate charity game, an injury that could well end his season prematurely. There were also only four players on the bench with Benji Mensah dropping out ill on the morning of the game. But one man who took the opportunity to sieze his chance was David Adegbola who had earned himself a place in the starting line up on the back of his eye catching substitute appearance in last weeks FA Cup tie.

It was Adegbola who set up the games first chance in only second minute feeding in Amaru Kaunda through the right channel. Kaunda’s progress towards the box was cynically halted by Bencherif who picked up a yellow card but was proved right when Jonny Edwards free kick cannoned into the hosts four man wall and Ives big striker volleyed the rebound well wide.

A seventh minute corner brought about an excellent opportunity for the Tigers as Hughes rose above the crowd to meet Terry Hawkridge’s in-swinging corner. Wilks did brilliantly to get down low to his right and turn away the striker’s powerful downward header.

After those two early opportunities the game settled down into an even encounter with both sides playing some nice football on the excellent 3G surface but both defences looking solid. All of that changed in 21^st minute when Kaunda broke the deadlock with a stunner. Picking up the ball just outside the box the young striker ran across the line of the box seemingly being closely followed by a Tigers defender but the pace of Kaunda earned him the half a yard that he needed and he fired a right foot screamer into the top corner past a startled Seb Malkowski in the home goal.

Adegbola came to Ives rescue five minutes later when Luke Hall got down the right and pulled the ball back to Jacob Gratton, his first time effort beat Wilks low to his right but was cleared off the line by the covering defender. The hosts went close again in 33^rd minute when Aleks Starcenko picked up the ball in centre circle and found space to run at Ives retreating back line. Fortunately his powerful 25 yarder was straight at Wilks who held on well.

Back up the other end two minutes later and Edwards was so unlucky not to double Ives advantage. Smith’s long throw was flicked on by Jordan Williams and the ball dropped to Edwards at the back post. His first time effort speared through the crowd and hit the boot of an unsighted Malkowski before ricocheting just the wrong side of the post.

The last action before the break was Smith’s bizarre yellow card. But the second half started with Ives again hugely unlucky not to double their lead. Only ninety seconds after the restart Alex Collard got on the end of another Smith long throw. His flicked header flew past the static Malkowski and hit the inside of the post. On another day it would have rebounded into the net but on this occasion it bounced straight back into the grateful arms of the keeper.

Next followed the strange dismissal of the unhappy Hughes. But going down to ten seemed to spark a reaction out of the previously low key hosts. Six minutes later half time substitute Luke Shiels volleyed over a corner that was played to him on the edge of the box. Then came the real turning point in the game as Smith was harshly adjudged to have pulled back Jordan Burrow at the back of the box after the Tigers substitute had latched onto a deep cross from the left. Vaughan Redford sent Wilks the wrong way with his spot kick as the unlucky Smith trudged off to the changing room.

It was now ten v ten but with the Tigers very much in the ascendency. Gratton fired a 25 yard curler just over in 68^th minute but the same striker got it right three minutes later as he ran clear onto Hall’s flick through Ives back line and thumped home from just inside the box past the exposed Wilks.

Even after falling behind Ives lifted themselves again and Kaunda should have grabbed an equaliser with twelve minutes to go as he nicked the ball of Bencherif and got away clean through with only Malkowsi to beat. He clipped the ball past the advancing keeper and was unlucky to see the ball rebound to safety off an upright.

They continued to work hard but that proved to be the final opportunity for Ives to take the game to a shootout. In fact the Tigers should have killed them off in the final few minutes as with bodies thrown forward in a desperate search of an equaliser the visitors were twice caught on the break. Deegan Atherton’s 86^th minute low cross from the right was turned wide at the near post by Burrow and Wilks did brilliantly to keep out the same players close range effort after Hall had unselfishly teed him up deep in added time.

An unfortunate exit from the Trophy for Ives. But as teams always say at this point it gives them an opportunity to concentrate on the league and with home games at quattro tech Westwood Road against Barwell next Saturday and Biggleswade Town on the following Monday there is every opportunity to force there way back up the table.

Final Score:        Worksop Town    2   St Ives Town   1          Half Time  0 – 1

Goals:

WORKSOP: Redford 63 (pen), Burrow 71

ST IVES: Kaunda 21

Team Line Ups:

WORKSOP: Malkowski, Hutchinson (Shiels 46), O’Malley, Starcenko (Wedgbury 84), Bencherif (capt), Atherton, Hawkridge (Burrow 53), Redford, Gratton, Hughes, Hall, Unused subs: Wilde, Bramall

ST IVES: Wilks, Creary, Smith, Meade (Obeng 90), J. Williams, Collard (capt), Gyamfi (Casey 65), Herd (Hottor 65), Edwards, Kaunda, Adegbola (Kaziboni 73), Unused subs: none

Referee:  Alistair Wilson

Cards:   Red:       WORKSOP:  Hughes (2x yellow 50 & 51)         ST IVES: Smith (2 x yellow 45+3 & 61)

              Yellow:       WORKSOP:  Bencherif (2), Jeffs (Assistant Manager) (53)                    ST IVES:  Fisher (Assistant Manager) (45+4), Meade (67), Kaziboni (89)

SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH:  Ethan Creary

Attendance:  377

St Ives Town 0 Kettering Town 3

Emirates FA Cup 3^rd Qualifying Round 28-09-2024

Nigel Howlett reports

Slow out of the blocks Ives found themselves blown away by the rampant Poppies well before half time as three first half goals saw the visitors comfortably advance to 4^th Qualifying Round in Emirates FA Cup.

Only two weeks ago the high flying Poppies were pushed all the way before eventually claiming maximum reward in a League fixture and it looked as if they knew they had got to lift their game to avoid coming unstuck in this cup tie at sunny quattro tech Westwood Road. Ives sadly did not seem to have come to same the conclusion that they to needed to be at their very best to get any reward from this game.

The visitors came flying out of the blocks and seized the early initiative with the impressive Andi Thanoj and Luca Miller finding space and time in the centre of the park to pick out their men with probing passes through, or over, the Ives back line. The opening goal after eleven minutes saw Ives back line pulled around with Ben Hart finding acres of space at the back of the box to take down a deep cross from the left and drive a low ball across the six yard line that the dangerous Nile Ranger turned home from close range.

With the hosts struggling to string passes together it was the visitors who continued to press. Aaron Powell was again given to much space to range forward from left back in 15^th minute but the full back fired his powerful drive from 30 yards well over the top. The same player also failed to hit the target with an opportunity from much closer two minutes later. Ranger got down the left and delivered a cross to the near post that Ives struggled to clear the ball eventually being knocked back to Powell on the edge of the box but just as before he fired high and wide.

Ives had an even bigger let off in 20^th minute as they again struggled to get the ball clear of their box. It eventually fell to Hart on the right edge and his low cross picked out Ranger again lurking by the back post but inexplicably the usually deadly striker completely missed his kick with the goal gaping.

Keeper Dan Wilks kept Ives in the game four minutes later as he plunged to his right to push away a curling effort from the right hand corner of the box by Tyree Wilson. The chance had come about as the Poppies got another overload down that side with Benji Mensah finding himself up against Hart and Wilson.

The hosts had been hoping to hang onto only a one goal deficit up to the break but the visitors doubled their lead thirteen minutes from the interval. The impressive Thanoj picked out a cross field run from Isiah Noah-Williams. He in turn picked out Bruno Andrade cutting in from the left at pace and the visitors striker did the rest in emphatic style as he spanked a first time effort into the top corner of the net from 20 yards that gave Wilks no chance.

Moments later manager Ricky Marheineke decided to ditch his idea of playing a twin striking partnership with Silvano Obeng up front alongside Jonny Edwards. Obeng being replaced by regular full back Aaron Smith with Ives reverting to their more familiar wing back formation. But before the change could bed in the visitors effectively killed the game with Ives again the architects of their own downfall as once more they failed to clear a ball into their box effectively, allowing Luca Miller to thump home through the crowd from the edge of the box.

The Ives carved out one half chance to grab a possible lifeline before the break in the final added minute. Smith’s long throw was knocked back to him and he delivered the perfect teasing cross into the no man’s land between keeper and defenders. With the big men still up there were three players attacking the ball a call from Alex Collard who was in the best position might have persuaded Jordan Williams to leave the ball but the big number five stretched for it and failed to keep his header down.

Unless Ives could find an early goal in the second half any sort of comeback looked very unlikely and that was how it proved to be. Mensah almost managed to put Edwards through five minutes after the restart but the underworked Dan Jezeph in the Poppies goal remained alert and was quickly off his line to bravely claim the ball at the striker’s feet.

The introduction of David Adegbola in place of the tiring Mensah in 56^th minute provided a bright spark in an otherwise gloomy afternoon for the hosts. He served up Ives next half chance in 67^th minute as he got past a defender down the right before delivering a cross to the near post that it looked like the fast arriving Collard was going to power home but a faint touch from Lewis White was just enough to touch the ball away.

A more route one approach created a shooting opportunity for Kobe Chong four minutes later as flicks from Edwards and Amaru Kaunda saw Wilks punt arrive at the feet of Ives number ten just outside the box. A side step and sharp low drive beat the diving Jezeph but just glanced the outside of the post on its way into the boards.

Another fantastic pass from Thanoj gave Andrade a clear opportunity to put the icing on the visitors day twelve minutes from time but rather than arrow straight for goal the striker inexplicably turned inside giving Paddy Casey the opportunity to get back and rob him.

Only ninety seconds later Ives had their final opportunity to claim a consolation goal as Adegbola and Edwards combined down the right. The latter’s low cross deflected off a defender straight into the path of Kaunda on the edge of the box but the youngster who showed such coolness to grab the winner last week snatched at this opportunity and fired his effort high and wide.

That was the signal for a number of home supporters amongst the big cup crowd to depart early to try and beat the traffic down Westwood Road. The early departees did not miss much as despite huffing and puffing Ives were unable to create anything more with the Poppies comfortably seeing out the remaining time to go into the hat for Monday lunch times draw.

Final Score:        St Ives Town  0  Kettering Town   3             Half Time 0 – 3

Goals:

ST IVES:

KETTERING: Ranger 11, Andrade 32, Miller 36

Team Line Ups:

ST IVES: Wilks, Mensah (Adegbola 56), Casey, Meade (Kaziboni 76), J. Williams, Collard (capt), Obeng (Smith 35), Hottor (Herd 66), Edwards, Chong, Kaunda, Unused subs: Creary, O’Keefe

KETTERING: Jezeph, Hart, Powell, Miller, Johnson (capt), White (Mbayo 83), Thanoj, Ranger, Andrade, Noel-Williams (Atcha 76), Wilson (Kawimbe 64), Unused subs: York, Alexander,

Referee:  David Jones

Cards:   Yellow:       ST IVES:   none             KETTERING:  none

SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH:  David Adegbola

Attendance:  681