Match Report

St Ives Town v Tamworth

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central  08-04-2023

This massive win, Ives first in ten games, is a huge boost in their battle to avoid the drop. The result also puts a very big dent in the stuttering visitors quest for the title. Make no mistake this result has been coming and the game was deservedly won by a fantastic all-round performance carefully planned on the training field. The Lambs had bullied their way to top spot with a long ball game that supporters of Cambridge United from the 1980s would have remembered as the John Beck style. Taking every opportunity to deliver the ball into the box where Dan Creaney has successfully fed on the scraps to claim over 30 goals.

Ives manager Ricky Marheineke’s plan to combat that style was to field a side with three centre backs to ensure that the hosts got to every ball into their box first. The central defenders were well backed up by everyone else around the park who closed down the Lambs at every opportunity ensuring that those deliveries into the box were hurried rather than measured. The game plan was executed so effectively that the group of National League scouts watching Creaney had all probably departed long before the end as the Lambs centre forward barely got a touch all afternoon.. 

The visitors started the game on the front foot and there were only two minutes on the watch when Michael Richens tripped Gift Mussa just outside the box. Ben Hart curled his effort around Ives four man wall, but keeper James Dadge was equal to the effort flinging himself spectacularly to his left to palm the ball around the post. Dadge had to be on his toes again seven minutes later as he had to back peddle at pace and launch himself backwards to tip a clever Creaney flick onto the crossbar as the striker tried to turn home Hart’s low cross from the right.

Having survived those two early scares Ives began to work their way into the game with ex Lambs wingers Greg Kaziboni enjoying some success down the right. It was he who delivered the host’s first effort on target in 10^th minute. But his well struck 25 yarder was straight at visiting keeper Jas Singh who made a comfortable save.

The winger caused more problems for the visitors only seconds later when it took an excellent defensive header from Callum Cockerill-Mollett to prevent Jonny Edwards getting on the end of his dangerous cross at the back post. The resulting corner gave Johnny Herd chance to deliver a teasing in-swinger to the edge of the six yard box where Michael Richens who had somehow lost his marker powered home a header to put Ives ahead.

It should have been two midway through the half when Ed Hottor robbed a dallying Mussa inside the centre circle and threaded the perfect pass into the well timed run of Kaziboni. One touch to many made the angle a little tighter than it should have been and when the winger clipped the ball past the exposed Singh he also clipped it just wide of the far post.

By this time Ives were well on top and Kaziboni was beating Cockerill-Mollett at will down the right flank. His 25^th minute run saw him get to the bye line and hang up an inviting cross to the back post where Edwards directed his header on target from a narrow angle but with Singh beaten the ball deflected wide off Lambs skipper Alex Collard.

Kaziboni also tried his luck down the left where he had equal success and it was Charlie Johnson’s turn to see a goal bound effort blocked on the line in 33^rd minute. The Ives centre back had got on the end of the deep cross from the Ives wide man after a short corner routine had given him the chance to deliver the ball into the box. The man blocking the shot on the line was Creaney and he did just enough to scramble the ball clear.

Ives pressure in the first period probably deserved a second goal and that duly arrived two minutes before the break. Kaziboni was again heavily involved breaking at pace before being taken down by Collard on the left hand corner of the box. Herd’s initial delivery was half cleared to Kaziboni who’s delivery back into the box was knocked down by Richens and prodded home by Edwards as a static Lambs defence vainly appealed for offside.

Lambs manager Andy Peaks decided on a change of tactics at half time and replaced Mussa with the more attack minded Jamie Jellis and the substitute forced an excellent early save from Dadge three minutes after the re-start the keeper leaping high to his right to push the well struck effort away.

Ives did have one long ball threat of their own and that was Herd’s long throws. His 51^st minute delivery from the right was allowed to drop at the feet of Edwards on the six yard line but his attempt at a spectacular overhead kick flew over the top.

The visitors continued the quest to get back into the game but Ives resistance remained strong. A 58^th minute scramble in the host’s box saw shots from Eoin McKeown and Creaney blocked by Jordan Williams and Ashton Fox respectively before Dadge was able to smother the loose ball. McKeown was also denied by the keeper ninety seconds later as a well positioned Dadge held onto his 25 yard effort.

Ives defenders continued to put their bodies on the line for the cause and this was perfectly demonstrated in 64^th minute when fierce shots from McKeown and Creaney were bravely blocked at point blank range by the flying bodies of Herd and Johnson respectively. 

Whilst most of the second half had been spent with Ives defending gallantly to preserve their advantage they still had an out-ball to the ebullient Kaziboni who continued to make things difficult for his former colleagues. A 72^nd minute foray forward won a corner, Herd’s flag kick into the mix was palmed away by Singh and fell to Johnson 12 yards out but his acrobatic volley flew well over the top.

It looked like all of Ives hard work might be undone with ten minutes to go when substitute George Cater got put clean through the left channel. It looked like he only had Dadge to beat but Fox appeared out of nowhere to slide in with a perfectly timed tackle to take the ball of the toe of the Lambs striker just as he shaped to shoot.

That resilient rear-guard action was continuing as the clock ticked down and McKeown was denied three times in the same attack in 82^nd minute. His first two efforts were blocked by Ives defenders and although the third attempt found the target it was kept out as Richens headed it off the goal line.

There was still time for young Dadge to top off his best performance to date for Ives with seven minutes to go as he brilliantly denied Cater after the substitute had been put clean through by his fellow replacement Jellis. The Ives keeper was smartly off his line to deflect Cater’s effort onto the underside of the crossbar and then brilliantly recovered to pounce on the loose ball. That save killed any danger of a nervy last few minutes and ended Ives run of ten games without a win.

It was also a vital victory as all around them in the scramble to avoid the last relegation place picked up points. With three games left Ives now sit one place and five points above the dreaded red line. With the side presently in that final relegation spot Kings Langley scheduled to play the bottom two sides in their last two games there is still much more hard work required yet before safety can be assured.    

Final Score:  St Ives Town  2 Tamworth  0    

Goals: 

ST IVES: Richens 11, Edwards 43

TAMWORTH:  

Team Line Ups:

ST IVES: Dadge, Casey, Herd, Richens (capt), J. Williams, Fox, Kaziboni (Andoh 85), Hottor (Cowling 88), Edwards, Johnson, Baker (Harris 88), Unused subs: Toseland, Shariff, 

TAMWORTH: Singh, Hart, Cockerill-Mollett (Cater 62), Mussa (Jellis 46), Collard (capt), Dolman, McKeown, Meikle (Finn 78), Creaney, Deacon, Fairlamb, Unused subs: Fallows, Willets,  

Cards: Yellow:  ST IVES: Baker (81)       COALVILLE: Collard (42), Cockerill-Mollett (55), Hart (71), Deacon (90)

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH:  Greg Kaziboni

Attendance: 363

Report by Nigel Howlett. Interview by Andrew Dunn. Video clips by Ollie Jones. Photos by Louise Thompson.