Match Report

St Ives Town Ladies made the trip to Kings Lynn a worthwhile one as they recorded a 4-0 victory to cement their place at the top of the ERWFL division table.

The heavy rain through the morning forced the game to be switched to the 3G pitch, and with all other league games postponed it gave Ives the chance to put more pressure on the chasing pack at the top of the table. They made the best start possible when after just 7 minutes they took the lead, although somewhat fortuitously, when a Sasha Smith corner was deflected into the net by a Kings Lynn player. Ives continued to put early pressure on the host’s goal, and had another good chance shortly after when Hannah Seymour-Shove, who is just back from injury, combined with Tierney Coulson to good effect before the resulting shot just missed the target. Despite Saints good early pressure, Lynn started to get a foothold in the game and the Ives had goalkeeper Kira Markwell to thank for preserving their lead when she managed to deflect a goal bound effort onto the crossbar before it was cleared to safety. This effort gave Kings Lynn more confidence and they put increasing pressure on the Ives defence, but the visitors held firm and eventually doubled their lead when a Tierney Coulson shot found the top of the net following more fine work from Seymour-Shove. King Lynn continued to pile forward in a effort to reduce the arrears before half time, but they could not find their way through the solid Saints back line.

The second half started with a frenetic tempo from both teams, and it was again Kings Lynn who were the ones on the front foot for large spells but without causing too much trouble for Markwell or the defensive unit in front of her. Ives had a couple of half chances, the best being a ball in from the right which found Coulson, but the resulting shot was taken first time and went wide of the far post. It was Ives who got the next goal on 60 minutes, and it was Coulson who was again on target with a terrific lob over the home keeper from the edge of the box to give St Ives a 3-0 lead. Saints were not done there though, and just 5 minutes later the impressive Seymour-Shove deservedly got herself on the score sheet to make it 4-0. The game still had more moments of goalmouth action, and none more so than when Markwell pulled off an unbelievable fingertip save at full stretch to her right to preserve the clean sheet and see St Ives to a 4-0 win. Player of the match was Tierney Coulson who impressed not just with her two goals, but also with her hard work throughout the game. Fair also to say though that this was a very good team performance from every player against a dangerous Kings Lynn side. The win now sees St Ives Town top the table by 4 points from second placed Bowers & Pitsea, with both teams having played the same number of games. Next up for St Ives is a break from league action with a trip to play Cambridge United Women at Mildenhall FC in the semi finals of the County Cup, kick off at 2pm.

Report by Darren Marjoram