Match Report

Coalville Town v St Ives Town

BetVictor League Southern Premier Division Central 01-02-20

Ives have quickly carved out a liking for the Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium as a second half Matt Foy brace completed an excellent comeback win to provide their first maximum return on the road since September and end a run of ten games without a win. The performance was equally as good as the result and matched the Ives resilient display which gleaned equal reward on their previous visit to the same venue at the end of last season.

Whilst Foy grabbed the plaudits for his two very well taken goals this was very much a team performance and the solid displays of central defensive pair Tom Hamblin and Alfie Powell were also hugely influential.

Both teams were struggling to come to terms with a strong cross wind and a bumpy pitch in the early stages but not surprisingly it was the high riding hosts who were first out of gate. Joe Doyle-Charles bustled his way down the right in the second minute his pull back picked out Tim Berridge but the centre forward struck his first time effort straight at Bradley Lashley in the Ives goal.

Berridge continued to probe and he fired over from a good position after being set up by Kian Taylor in the twelfth minute. He also managed to turn Edmund Hottor on the edge of the box before testing Lashley low to his right eight minutes later. The big keeper did brilliantly flinging himself low to his right to turn the ball around the post at full stretch.

Ives first probe forward in 24th minute won them a corner but that almost led to their downfall as Joe Curtis’s flag kick was cleared to Adam McGurk who managed to run fifty yards with the ball at his feet and was bursting into the box with Lashley coming to close him down when Ben Toseland came to the rescue with a perfectly timed tackle to take the ball off his toe.

The Ravens continued to enjoy the majority of possession but still struggled to break into Ives well defended box. McGurk combined well with Berridge before firing over the top in 33rd minute. But having looked so solid the visitors allowed their concentration to lapse for just a few seconds three minutes later and found themselves a goal behind. McGlinchey picked up the ball fully 25 yards from goal and was not closed down quickly enough allowing him to take a touch before unleashing a left foot piledriver that flew past the diving Lashley and billowed the net high to his left.

Unlike in recent weeks Ives did not fold having fallen behind but continued to display their new found steel keeping the hosts mobile front line on a tight reign. But Lashley was called upon to make one vital save in added time at the end of the first period as he bravely blocked a McGlinchey effort at close range after the tricky striker had jinked his way past two defenders into the box.

The belief which has been lacking in Ives players over recent weeks slowly began to return to the ranks and after Kieran Morris had headed a Luke Shaw free kick over the top for the hosts it became the visitors turn to carve out chances. The first of these came in 55th minute when a deep Ollie Snaith cross from the right held up on the breeze deceiving Jake Bennett who allowed the ball to drop to the feet of Foy but rather than go for goal the Ives centre forward tried to lay the ball off to George Bailey in the centre allowing Morris to nip the ball away from him.

Ives manager Ricky Marheineke spotted these green shoots and decided to try and build on them replacing defensive midfielder Hottor with striker Dylan Wilson on the hour. This led to a reshuffle with Wilson coming into the centre forward role and Foy moving to the left.

The change lead to the equaliser eight minutes later as Foy robbed Bennett on the left before delivering a cross that Morris struggled to deal with under pressure from Wilson and the ball arrived at the feet of Bailey on the right his driven cross was perfectly met on the volley by Foy arriving at the back post giving home keeper Saul Deeley no chance.

The goal sparked a reaction from the Ravens and Lashley did well in 72nd minute as he moved his feet well and got a clean punch onto a looping cross from the left by Taylor that was hanging on the breeze. Without the young keeper’s vital intervention substitute Kairo Mitchell would have turned the ball home at the back post.

The game was now much more even with neither side willing to settle for a point and chances arriving at both ends. In 74th minute McGlinchey and Berridge exchanged passes inside Ives box before the former got away a left footed effort from a narrow angle that ended up in the side netting. Four minutes later the persistence of Wilson carved out a chance for Ives as he closed down keeper Deeney on a back pass forcing the custodian into a wildly miss hit clearance which arced to the feet of substitute Ben Seymour-Shove in a wide right position. He managed to get to the bye line before being taken down by Taylor inches outside the box. Unfortunately Curtis’s free kick hit the wall and was scrambled clear.

Seymour-Shove came within a whisker of putting Ives in front ten minutes from time as the hosts again struggled to clear a ball into their box allowing Snaith to pick up the loose ball before teeing up Seymour-Shove for a twenty yarder that beat the desperate dive of Denney but flashed the wrong side of the post and rattled the support behind the goal.

Ives had a massive appeal for a penalty turned down four minutes later as Curtis burst into the box before being bundled over by a combination of Morris and substitute Scott McManus but it did look like he had already missed the opportunity to get his shot away and referee Tom Wainman chose to side with the defenders.

The Ravens carved out one chance on the break in 90th minute as a probing run down the right by Doyle-Charles allowed him to pick out McGlinchey at the back post but Ben Jackson was on hand to bravely block the shot to set up the exciting finale.

There were four added minutes and when Ives won a corner in the second of these there was debate on the bench as to whether they should hold on to what they had got and try to retain the ball by the flag. But they went for the brave option and Joe Curtis delivered his flag kick to the back post where it was knocked away from Foy by a defender to win another corner on the opposite side. This time Seymour-Shove’s delivery to the near post was knocked out by a defender. Corner number three was inch perfect arcing into the six yard box, keeper Deeney chose to stay at home allowing Foy to attack the ball and get the vital flick to send players, fans, and bench crew all into raptures!!.

There was just time for the Ravens to kick off and the ball to be played into Ives box where Berridge went down as he steered it wide but the hosts appeals for a penalty were turned down by referee Wainman who much to the delight of all from St Ives then blew the final whistle to set up a happy journey home.

The result lifts Ives out of the bottom two but it is only the first green shoots of what we hope will be a very successful spring as the target for safety appears to be to get more points from the remaining fourteen games than have been accumulated in the first twenty eight. This may seem a hard ask but if the hard graft and belief shown in this game can be matched anything is possible. The supporters must now match the belief the team is beginning to show and turn out to get behind their heroes in the next two vital home games.

Final Score : Coalville Town 1 St Ives Town 2

Goals : Foy 68 & 90+4

Team : Lashley, Jackson, Toseland, Hottor (Wilson 59), Hamblin, Powell, Snaith (Clifton 88), Parker (capt), Foy, Curtis, Bailey (Seymour-Shove 76)

Unused subs : Kennelly, Osei-Bonsu

Supporters man of the match : Matt Foy

Attendance : 195

Report by Nigel Howlett. Photos by Louise Thompson. Video clips by Dave Hook.