Match Report

St Ives Town Ladies took on second placed Bowers & Pitsea knowing a win would leave them in the verge of securing their second league title in two years, and despite some nerves they secured a 2-0 victory to extend their lead at the top of the table.

Bowers knew they needed to win the game to stand any realistic chance of winning the title, and started fast as they piled forwards. Ives has to weather the storm a bit in the first 20 minutes, but as had been the case all season the outstanding defensive unit of goalkeeper Kira Markwell, and the back 4 of Sasha Smith, Emily Stephenson, Ellie Brown and Mollie Flack gave everything to preserve the clean sheet. Bowers had one outstanding chance in that period, but failed to hit the target. As the game began to flow, Saints began to grow into the game, and had some half chances and several offsides when opportunities arose to get forwards. The Bowers keeper also made 2 smart stops to leave the score at 0-0 at half time.

Second half saw Ives start much better as they began to combine and create more opportunities, with Tierney Coulson working tirelessly up front with Katie and Georgia Stancombe causing problems for the visitors in the wide areas. The deadlock was finally broken when Katie Stancombe ran on to a through ball and was fouled in the box to give the Saints a penalty. Hannah Seymour-Shove stepped up and coolly slotted the penalty past the keeper for a 1-0 lead on 62 minutes. Ives has the lead, but still continued to pour forwards and just 3 minutes later they made it 2-0 when a pinpoint Katie Stancombe corner found Ruth Fox running in to power home a header and spark a mass celebrations around her! Bowers now knew the situation was desperate and threw more players forward in an attempt to reduce the arrears, but time and time again the terrific back 5, plus Anna Hicks, kept Bowers at bay and preserved the clean sheet for the remaining 30 minutes without any major scares to complete an amazing victory. The win leaves Ives 6 points clear of Bowers who have 2 games left. The Saints have 3 games left, starting with Newmarket visiting Westwood Road on Sunday, and so need one more point to mathematically secure the title.

Report by Darren Marjoram.