Match Report

St Ives Town v Royston Town  

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central 09-10-2021

This was a competitive game for the first twenty minutes, but after Brandon Adams was given the freedom of the park to score the opener the in-form Crows simply tore apart the fragile confidence of the struggling Ives. From the moment Adams found the net there was only going to be one winner of this match and as the visitors continued to capitalise on mistakes in the Ives shaky back line the victory margin moved into the realms of embarrassing.

Perhaps unbelievably now but Ives had just about edged that entertaining first twenty minutes of what was at that point an end to end game. The first effort on goal came from the visitors after five minutes and it might just have given Ives fans a little touch of nervousness at what might be to come as Finlay Titchmarsh was allowed to pick up a pass and run into the box unchallenged from the right before letting fly with a rising shot the home keeper Paul White was forced to turn over the crossbar.

Crows keeper Joe Welch was forced into an even more spectacular stop only two minutes later as Ives skipper Michael Richens latched onto a loose ball fully thirty yards from goal and unleashed a screamer that was dipping in under the bar before the fingertips of the flying Welch diverted it onto the metalwork and over the top.

At this point Ives were buzzing around the Crows box and Camron McWilliams should perhaps have done better with an opportunity that came his way in eleventh minute. Eniola Agemoh-Davies delivered a cross from the right that evaded everyone in the centre and arrived at the feet of McWilliams coming in from the left. He chose to take the shot on first time and flashed his volley across the face of goal.

Dylan Williams almost wriggled his way through the centre of the Crows defence in 15^th minute only to have his ankle clipped by Spyros Mentis. Referee Matthew Fletcher seemed reluctant to ensure that the visitors four man wall had retreated the correct ten yards and sure enough Richens free kick was deflected away off the end of the wall.

Sadly the next time Ives carved out an opportunity they were five goals in arrears. Adams scored the opener in 21^st minute in very simple fashion as he picked up a ball 25 yards from goal, strode forward without being closed down and beat White low to his right with a crisp drive that went in off the upright.

Shaken Ives tried to shore up their leaking ship and Brett Solkhon did very well to prevent Adams turning home a Titchmarsh cross from the right in 37^th minute. But his timely interception lead to a corner on the right which Scott Bridges delivered to the near post and Harry Draper rose almost unchallenged to nod the ball home from close range.

Manager Ricky Marheineke needed to instil some belief in his side at half time, but any efforts that he may have made to give then hope that they could find a way back into the game were almost immediately extinguished as Adams completed his hat trick with two goals in three minutes almost straight after the restart. His second came in 48^th minute as he found himself in the right spot to slam home the loose ball after McWilliams had made a valiant effort to make up for losing possession to Josh Williams on the left edge of Ives box. McWilliams managed to slide in to bravely block the substitutes right footed effort but the loose ball rebounded straight to the feet of Adams who gleefully slammed home from 18 yards.

The big number nine completed his hat trick three minutes later as Matt Bateman out-muscled Solkhon to flick on a ball down the middle Adams got away from his marker Callum Milne, drew White to him and calmly side footed the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

White prevented it becoming five in 55^th minute as he dived low to his left to turn away a crisp drive from 20 yards by Bateman who had out battled Milne to set up the chance from 20 yards for himself.

White may have saved the Ives on that occasion but he was left red faced by a calamitous error in 62^nd minute when he gifted Bateman with a simple goal by taking his eye off a Solkhon back pass and allowing the ball to run under his foot. Bateman who was closing him down was left with a simple task of knocking the ball home which he almost messed up as he fired in a shot that went in off the underside of the crossbar.

Ives one bright spark in an otherwise very gloomy afternoon came in the 64^th minute when two of the days better players combined. Ed Hottor winning the ball in the centre of the park and feeding the ball into the run of Nabil Shariff who sprung the Crows offside trap before rounding keeper Welch and sliding the ball home.

But the afternoon’s normal service was quickly resumed as the Crows got back onto the attack. Left back James Brighton got in on the act as he galloped forward on the overlap before clipping a ball into the centre where Dan Newton rose highest but his header thudded the crossbar and was scrambled away by the beleaguered hosts defence.

The visitors sixth goal in 88^th minute was almost a carbon copy of their opener as Bateman was given way to much time and space 25 yards from goal. Like Adams before him the Crows striker showed how it should be done as he carefully picked his spot curling the ball around a static White and into the top corner of the net.

The final nail in Ives coffin was delivered by Adams one minute into added time as he claimed his fourth of the day, smartly steering home Brighton’s pull back after the full back had got around the back of the hosts defence and cut in along the bye line from the left.

Manager Marheineke has a massive task to somehow lift Ives squad and paramount must be finding a way to shore up a defence that is currently leaking like a sieve ahead of a tough trip to Leiston on Tuesday evening.   

Final Score : St Ives Town  1  Royston Town  7      

Goals : 

ST IVES : Shariff 64

ROYSTON: Adams 21, 48, 51 & 90+1, Draper 38, Bateman 62 & 88

Teams

ST IVES: White, Agemoh-Davies (Dwumfuo 43), Toseland, Richens (capt) (Nabi 82), Solkhon, Milne, McWilliams, Hottor, Shariff, D. Williams, Snelus (Hicks 61) Unused subs : Heath, Faris Rhaman

ROYSTON: Welch, Titchmarsh, Brighton, Mentis (Henry 43), Murray (capt), Newton, Bridges, Adjaye, Adams, Draper (Bateman 49), Galliford (J. Williams 38) Unused subs: Brathwaite, Brown

Ives Supporters man of the match : Ed Hottor

Attendance : 278

Report by Nigel Howlett. Photos by Louise Thompson.