Match Report

St Ives Town U18 v AFC Dunstable U18   

FA Youth Cup 2^nd Qualifying Round  30-09-19

The young Ives FA Cup adventure came to a juddering halt as they were well beaten by a good young OD’s side who held the ace card in their skipper Ben Andrews the central midfielder ran the game throughout and was probably a major cause of both Ives central midfielders being replaced with tactical substitutions before the break needless to say the replacements fared no better as Andrews and his colleagues continued to rule the roost.

The game was in some doubt right up to kick off as the incessant rain was beginning to cause a few puddles but referee Richard May decreed that the game should commence in the hope that conditions would improve and he was proved right. 

The game started in explosive fashion with both sides creating chances in the first three minutes. Ives were almost caught out from the visitors first attack in the second minute as they were a little slow to close down Josiah Ramsey 25 yards from goal and the ODs striker seized the opportunity to fizz in a shot that slammed the boards only inches outside Kia Bradley’s left hand post with the keeper looking on hopefully.

Having almost been caught out with the first effort on goal Bradley then found himself beaten by the second effort less than sixty seconds later as the powerful Teddy Daniels battled his way into the box, there looked little danger as he went for goal from a narrow angle but the shot took a deflection off an Ives defender and looped over the startled Bradley and into the corner of the net.

The hosts reacted instantly as straight from the kick off the ball was hoisted down the middle with Tom Wakley in hot pursuit. Keeper Toby Collins came for the ball and was almost beaten as it skipped high off the still solid turf. He just managed to get hands to it but could not hold on the loose ball falling to the feet of Wakley who managed to get his shot on target but it was blocked by a covering defender and scrambled away.

Both keepers seemed to be struggling to come to terms with the difficult conditions early on and Bradley had a lucky escape in tenth minute as he misjudged the charge from his line to come and claim a through ball skidding off the wet surface. The ball went past him and Ramsey was onto it in a flash but fortunately for the red faced keeper Leon Quinsee read the situation well and came to his aid sliding in with a perfectly timed challenge to take the ball off Ramsey’s toe just as he was about to roll it into the empty net.

After this early activity the game seemed to settle down as both sides seemed to become accustomed to the conditions and the rain eased off a little. By this point Andrews was already showing his prowess in the centre always making himself available most things in the centre of the park were going through him. He was heavily involved in the next noteworthy action on the half hour as he combined well with Ramsey to put overlapping full back Dylan Fitzpatrick in on goal. But Quinsee again came to the Ives rescue with an excellent sliding block to keep out Fitzpatrick’s goal bound effort. The resulting corner flashed across Ives goalmouth only inches from the line at head height with amazingly no one able to get a touch.

There was still hope for a recovery ala the previous round when Ives came from two down at half time to defeat a classy Biggleswade side. However the likelihood of this happening was reduced very early after the break when the hosts were forced into their third and final substitution as Joe Cobb succumbed to illness to be replaced by debutant Jake Bond. Bond was involved in Ives first second half chance five minutes after the break as he combined well with Ben Smith before feeding the speedy winger into the box but his low drive was straight at Collins who made a comfortable save.

Any hope of a recovery was extinguished by a two goal burst from the visitors in the next three minutes. Andrews was again involved feeding the ball into the run of Ramsey across the face of the box and the big striker showed his strength and ability holding off the challenge of Ewan Young before slotting past the exposed Bradley to double the ODs advantage.

The third goal killed the game off only ninety seconds later and it was another soft goal for Ives to give away as Daniels delivered a deep cross from the left that found Fitzpatrick ghosting in completely unmarked at the far past. The full back kept his composure steering his header past Bradley and into the far corner of the net.

Now well in front the ODs began to enjoy themselves moving the ball around well despite the small puddles that were starting to appear in places again as the rain became heavier once more. Ives were still battling and had a little bit of luck in 56^th minute as a clip over the top from left back Mamadou Diallo put Daniels clear. He decided to try and lob the exposed Bradley rather than take the ball down and power in on goal. Fortunately for Ives he got it all wrong and sliced his effort well wide.

Daniels was still hungry for another goal and it took a good save from Bradley to deny him in 63^rd minute as he powered into the box between Karl Frans and Quinsee before unleashing a powerful low drive that deflected wide of the body of keeper Bradley who spread himself well.

Ives continued to battle and won a few free kicks deep in Dunstable territory but these were dealt with effectively by the OD’s defence without troubling keeper Collins. Who had one real save to make on the night and that came ten minutes from time. Smith got away down the left outside Fitzpatrick and cut in along the bye line but his attempt to find a team mate inside the box was cut out. To his credit though the young Ives winger pounced on the loose ball and got away a cracking right foot effort that forced Collins into a reaction save pushing the ball away high to his left.

That was the final real action of the evening for either keeper as the visitors continued to look untroubled with Andrews still making himself available at all times in the middle and feeding passes all around to his team mates with Ives not really able to prevent him at any stage of the game.

We wish the ODs every success in the next round where they will be only one win away from the professional clubs entering the competition. For Ives there is no time to dwell on what might have been as they return to League action next Monday when they entertain Wisbech St Mary at Westwood Road.

Final Score  :  St Ives Town U18  0  AFC Dunstable U18  3  

Goals : none

St Ives team : Bradley, Frans (capt), Mitkov, Purse (Gibbs 24), Young, Quinsee, O’Donovan, McDougald (Stork 40), Wakley, Smith, Cobb (Bond 49)

Unused Subs : Darnell, Morton, Stonnell-Fitzgerald

Attendance  : 60

Report by Nigel Howlett