Match Report

Kings Langley v St Ives Town

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  03-12-2022

A game, otherwise lacking in real quality, was settled in favour of Ives inside the first ten minutes by the combination of two sublime touches that brightened up an overcast day in this strange lunch time kick off which came courtesy of a “possible” England World Cup fixture that did not even take place. The quality combination came from a perfectly weighted clip into the box from Myles Cowling which picked out a run in from the left by Enoch Andoh. The Ives winger took the ball on his chest with his first touch and deftly lifted it over the advancing Hafed Al-Droubi in the Kings goal with his second. The touch was so perfect that the ball barely had the momentum to reach the back of the net although crucially it had got the legs to get over the goal line.

Ives manager Ricky Marheineke made only one change from last weeks winning team and that was Andoh coming in on the left in place of Tyrone Baker who dropped to the bench. Their hosts had a new man in charge for the first time as Chris Winton had come in as an interim manager during the week to replace Chris Cummings who had departed with Kings sitting in the relegation zone with only one win in their last thirteen games and on a run of four defeats in a row. After only one training session to assess his charges the new man made only two changes from the side that were perhaps a little unlucky to fall to Nuneaton on Monday evening.

The visitors started the game looking like the more confident side with the hosts looking a little nervy and struggling to keep possession even inside their own half. But the first real effort on goal was that well crafted opening goal in ninth minute. Despite enjoying most of the early possession Ives struggled to threaten Al-Droubi’s goal any further in the opening twenty minutes. The only real save that the athletic stopper had to make during that period came in 20^th minute as Michael Richens fed in Kieran Higgs cutting in from the right and the Ives man hit a left footed effort from the corner of the box that Al-Droubi held well.

Having now settled into the game the hosts carved out two chances inside sixty seconds in 25^th minute both falling to centre forward James Ewington. Initially he got between Ives keeper James Goff and centre back Charlie Johnson to get on the end of a long ball into the box by Jacob Gardiner-Smith but his touch let him down and the ball ran out for a goal kick. Kings should really have been level only seconds later as a swift move down the right saw Wilson De Carvalho feed the ball on to overlapping full back Samuel Okoye-Ahaneku his first time cross picked out an unmarked Ewington at the back post where it looked like he only had to side foot the ball home but instead he went for power and much to Ives relief rattled the ball against the underside of the crossbar from where it rebounded to safety.

Having had that massive let off the visitors went straight down the other end and almost doubled their advantage. Stand in left back Callum Milne galloped past Andoh on the overlap and got fed in to the bye line before cutting inside and going for power from a narrow angle. Al-Droubi got his body in the way on the shot but the ball ballooned up into the air and was dropping into the net until Kings skipper Jorell Johnson came to their rescue leaping above the crowd to head the ball off the goal line with a little bit of help from the crossbar.

After that burst of activity at both ends around the 25 minute mark the game settled down again with Ives enjoying the majority of possession but neither side really able to carve out a decent opportunity as both defences got on top. The only other noteworthy efforts before the break were one at either end as Jonny Edwards was almost put clear by Dylan Williams in 30^th minute. But the big Ives striker’s route to goal was quickly extinguished by a brilliant recovery tackle by James Kaloczi to take the ball off his toe. A 25 yarder from Cain Keller in last minute before the interval that required a routine save from Goff was the Kings only effort on target in the first half.

There was a blow for the visitors at the interval as Richens limped out of the game to be replaced by Ed Hottor. The Ives skipper had been on the end of a few heavy tackles from opponents in the first period two of which had picked up yellow cards for Gardiner-Smith and Finlay Macnab and was clearly feeling the after effects of those.

No doubt with the wise words of their new boss ringing in their ears the hosts lifted themselves a little from the start of the second half and began to enjoy good spells of possession but without really creating much against Ives well drilled back line excellently lead as ever by Jordan Williams. One route where there did look to be some possibilities for the hosts was down the right where Milne and Andoh were working hard but at times being stretched by the pace of Keller. It was the Kings number seven who got in their first real shot of the second period as he cut inside Milne and fired a screamer across the face of goal just before the hour.

Milne was however still causing problems in the Kings box when he had the chance to get forward and he got on the end of Charlie Johnson’s flick on from Hottor’s free kick two minutes later but his attempt to find Edwards at the back post was well claimed by Al-Droubi bravely flinging himself low to his left.

Ives suffered another injury blow as they lost their second central midfielder of the day with Cowling limping off with a muscle injury in 67^th minute. The busy midfield man was replaced by Nabil Shariff who slotted in up front alongside Edwards with Dylan Williams dropping back into the centre.

Kings manager Winton also made a couple of changes two minutes later but in spite of his best efforts the hosts continued to struggle to find a route through that resolute Ives back line and as the time ticked down their efforts became more desperate but still without really testing keeper Goff. Their day was probably best summed up by two efforts in the closing stages. Substitute Bradley Wadkins held the ball up well to feed in overlapping full back Alex Lafleur down the left. His low cross was just to far in front of Macnab who tried his best to direct his effort on goal but the stretching striker only succeeded in putting the ball into the adjacent playing fields. The hosts final effort in the last minute of the ninety was no better as substitute Deago Dunbar-Bonnie picked out Keller at the near post with a low cross from the right. But the Kings winger got his feet in a mess and did not even manage to get his shot away before man of the match Williams cleared it to safety.

Ives first double of the season moves them up to tenth, and, dare we say it, only six points off the play off places with games in hand. However their small squad is now getting stretched as injuries begin to bite but two wins and two clean sheets in the last two games with both first choice full backs missing is a big plus. It looks like Mr Winton has got a job to do with struggling Kings to lift them away from the dreaded drop zone but with more than half the season left to go there is still everything to play for. 

Final Score:  Kings Langley   0  St Ives Town  1 

Goals: 

KINGS LANGLEY

ST IVES: Andoh 9,

Team Line Ups:

KINGS LANGLEY: Al-Droubi, Okoye-Ahaneku, Lafleur, Taylor (Wadkins 69), Kaloczi, Johnson (capt), Keller, Macnab, Ewington, Gardiner-Smith (Dunbar-Bonnie 83), De Carvalho, (Chima 69) Unused subs: Berman, Case

ST IVES: Goff, Milne, Casey, Richens (capt) (Hottor 46), J. Williams, Johnson, Higgs, Cowling (Shariff 67), Edwards, D. Williams, Andoh (Baker 76), Unused subs: Lembikisa,  

Cards: Yellow:  KINGS LANGLEY: Gardiner-Smith (13), Mcnab (28)       ST IVES:   J. Williams (45)      

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH:  Jordan Williams

Attendance:  152

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video Highlights by Ollie Jones.