Season: 2021-22

Hednesford Town v St Ives Town

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central 22-03-2022

On paper the result of this games looks close but in truth the score line hides a woeful Ives performance which but for the heroics of keeper Eddie Brearey would have seen them beaten by a much more emphatic margin.

The young stopper’s only error came in fourth minute when he gifted the hosts an early lead as he somehow allowed Riley O’Sullivan’s 25 yarder to creep through his hands and into the net. But even before then he had already produced an excellent save low to his right to deny the same player the opening goal after only sixteen seconds.

That was only the start of the one way traffic as the speed of movement of the Pitmen in their impressive stadium simply seemed to leave Ives players chasing shadows all over the park. Despite the hard bumpy surface the hosts were very comfortable in moving the ball around at the back inviting their visitors to come forward and try and dispossess them. When they did get drawn in the hosts quickly stepped up a gear to break at lightning speed and with true purpose. The next chance for the hosts came in eighth minute when a quick break down the right ended with Chay Tilt delivering a ball to the near post where Kyle Bennett had ghosted in unmarked but the number ten failed to hit the target with his free header. The very next attack only seconds later saw Callum Milne throw himself across the line of O’Sullivan’s powerful strike to deflect the ball over the crossbar.

The Pitmen had the ball in the net again in 17^th minute as another swift break down the right saw a clever step over from Bennett that put O’Sullivan clear on goal through the left channel. Brearey came to meet him and bravely blocked the shot when it came but the ball ricocheted to Tilt who rolled it home at the far post only to see the assistant’s raised flag as he wheeled away to celebrate and the hosts match announcer whacked up the decibels again as he did each time they added to their tally. Fortunately on this occasion the raucous performance was cut short.

The half wore on with the hosts looking very comfortable indeed moving the ball around but continuing to be wasteful in front of goal. Their next good opportunity came in 35^th minute when Tilt and O’Sullivan combined well to work an opening through the centre. The winger’s final ball looked like it had put O’Sullivan in for a tap in at the back post but Brett Solkhon had other ideas and his last ditch sliding block did just enough to deflect the effort wide.

After looking so sharp last Saturday it was painful to see Ives looking slow and lethargic in almost everything they did three days later at the Keys Park Stadium. The hosts looking quicker in physical movement but also in thought. A perfect example of this came two minutes before the break when unable to find a teammate with the ball Dylan Williams dallied a little to long deep in Hednesford territory and lost possession to Todd Parker. The Pitmen broke at pace through the heart of Ives back line and two passes later George Cater fed O’Sullivan in yet again. Fortunately for Ives Brearey was still on the ball and he was quickly off his line to close down the hosts centre forward and block the shot at close range.

Then right on half time Ives stunned the home crowd just as the early birds were gathering their burgers or heading for the bar. There were seconds left in the first half when Josh Flanagan and Liam Cross combined to rob Carter Lycett by the touchline. The former’s threaded ball into the centre picked out the run of Tyrone Baker who had got the wrong side of Lewis Hayden and the visitors wide man finished with aplomb lashing home Ives first shot of the half from the edge of the box to make the half time score an unbelievable 1-1.

The small travelling contingent spent half time in a strange dreamland thinking that after such an unbelievably poor first half performance we are somehow on level terms and surely we can only get better. Sadly we were proved wrong as normal service was quickly resumed. It only took five minutes from the restart before Brearey was back in dramatic action as he pulled off a brilliant reaction save to deny O’Sullivan yet again. This time the chance had been set up by an excellent cross field pass from Reece Flanagan to pick out Tilt whose first time cross had found O’Sullivan in space ten yards out.

The tide of white shirts continued to wash over the Ives back line and the next move flowed down the left with Parker feeding Lycett through on the overlap, his pull back found O’Sullivan yet again in space inside Ives’s box. This time he was unable to pull more heroics out of Brearey as he failed to hit the target from fifteen yards. Lycett decided to try his own luck in 58^th minute but like so many before him he to was denied by Brearey as his fierce low drive from the left corner of the box was pushed away low to his left by Ives overworked custodian. This time he found a little help as Sokhon did just enough to scramble the loose ball away before O’Sullivan could force it home.

Brearey was again called upon to repel the Pitmen less than a minute later as the ball was fed inside to Bennett who struck a ferocious effort from fully 25 yards that had dip and swerve on it but again Brearey was equal to the effort flinging himself to his left to palm the ball away. But a second goal was looking inevitable for the hosts and sure enough they regained their lead on the hour. No one closed down Flanagan just outside the box and having seen his colleagues all fail to beat the Ives keeper with power he had the time and sense of purpose to try finesse and he got it spot on curling his effort just beyond the grasping fingers of the stretching Brearey to find the top corner of the net.

The hosts should have put the game to bed seconds later as O’Sullivan turned provider feeding in Tilt for a run into the box that ended with him firing well wide as Brearey came to meet him. The same player tested Brearey again in 70^th minute as he unleashed a drive from the right corner of the box that the keeper had to dive to his right to keep out. His recovery was again brilliant as he just managed to reclaim the loose ball ahead of the lurking O’Sullivan. Seconds later Ed Hottor lost possession deep in his own half allow O’Sullivan another pop at goal. This time the fierce drive was straight at Brearey who parried it away.

Just as in the first half Ives carved out one opportunity in the second period, that chance came with twenty minutes to go and it should have brought them an equaliser. Cross did brilliantly to keep in a ball down the right and he managed to hang up a teasing cross that floated over a fast back peddling Oli Basey in the home goal. Nabil Shariff was arriving at the back post and looked like he only needed to get a touch to knock the ball home but he tried to knock it in with his right foot and somehow only succeeded in putting the ball wide from one yard out. That was Ives only effort at goal in the entire second half and as it went wide the visitors chance of getting any reward from this game went with it.

The hosts returned to simply retaining possession to kill the game off from there and only carved out one more noteworthy opportunity in the remaining time. In 83^rd minute Parker and Hayden combined well down the right with the former teeing up the latter for an effort that beat the diving Brearey but was cleared off the line by the covering Callum Milne.

With other results going against them this score line leaves Ives very much in the relegation battle at the bottom end of the division and with a batch of very tough games to come there is clearly work for the management team to do to get this performance out of the player’s minds and restore the belief ahead of the unenviable trip to fourth placed Peterborough Sports which is quickly followed by the visit of third placed Rushall Olympic to quattro-tech Westwood Road

Final Score : Hednesford Town 2 St Ives Town 1

Goals :

HEDNESFORD: O’Sullivan 4, Flanagan 60

ST IVES: Baker 45

Teams

HEDNESFORD: Basey, Hayden, Lycett, Ward (Portman 75), Ludford-Ison, Flanagan, Tilt (Webb 90+1), Parker, O’Sullivan, Bennett, Cater (Smith 77), Unused subs: Richards, Williams

ST IVES: Brearey, Flanagan, Solkhon, Hottor, Milne, Toseland (Watt 67), Baker, Aiyelabola (Johnston 60), Shariff (Osei-Bonsu 77), Cross, Williams, Unused subs: Goff, Fairlamb

Supporters man of the match : Eddie Brearey

Attendance : 386

Report by Nigel Howlett

Andrew Osei-Bonsu

Joined Royston Town in October 2022

St Ives Town U15 v Hemel Hempstead town Youth U15 Blacks

St Ives Town U14 v AFC Sudbury U14

St Ives Town v Nuneaton Borough

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central 19-03-2022

A pulsating game in which the lead changed hands three times was eventually won by a coolly taken brace from substitute Victor Aiyelabola but the hosts can thank their seventeen year old Oxford United loanee goalkeeper Eddie Brearey for being in a position to win the game as the youngster made at least four world class saves including an unbelievable double save to deny both Luke Benbow and Ahmed Obeng just after the hour.

There was a massive boost for the hosts before the off as talismanic striker Luke Fairlamb who has been absent with injury since September was declared fit enough to take a place on the bench. He was joined there by former Ives favourite Andrew Osei-Bonsu, making his return from professional football in Scotland with East Fife. The Boro’ were missing another former quattro-tech Westwood Road favourite Camron McWilliams who was serving a suspension but were otherwise at just about full strength.

Anyone expecting a cagy affair between these two sides sitting just above the relegation precipice was soon proved wrong as Ives grabbed a lead inside the first ten minutes courtesy of a very well taken goal from a narrow angle by Ethan Johnston who beat the visitor’s offside trap to get on the end of Josh Flanagan’s slide rule pass through the right channel and then deftly slip the ball under the body of the advancing Boro’ keeper Tony Breeden.

The game swung end to end for the next twenty minutes with both sides looking to soak up a little pressure and then hit their opponents on the break. The game then suddenly sprang to life again from the half hour mark. Benbow showed his undoubted class to find a little bit of space in Ives box before beating Brearey with an immaculately curled right foot effort that cannoned off the crossbar with the keeper reacting quickest to claim the loose ball ahead of Obeng.

Johnston then came within millimetres of increasing Ives’s lead in the very next attack as Toseland hung up a cross from the left into the six yard box which keeper Breeden struggled to deal with under heavy pressure from Nabil Shariff. The ball dropped to Johnston who pivoted on it by the penalty spot but failed to hit the target. Two minutes later it was the visitors turn to curse their luck again as Chris Clements beat the Ives five man wall and keeper Brearey with his 25 yard free kick only to hold his head in his hands as the ball rebounded off the foot of the post and was scrambled away.

A lightening break from a Boro free kick saw Johnston spurn another excellent opportunity to double Ives lead in 35^th minute. A flowing move saw Ed Hottor pick out Johnston clear through the middle one on one with keeper Breeden. The big stopper came to meet him and Johnston looked like he had done everything right as he slotted the ball past the exposed keeper only to see it roll agonisingly the wrong side of the upright.

Having gone so close to increasing their lead Ives were then caught napping two minutes from half time as the visitor’s skipper Scott McManus delivered a deep cross from the left. Obeng won the ball and knocked it back into the mix where Charlie Dowd arrived to sweep it home from close range.

Ives were forced into their second change of the game at half time as Johnston limped out of the fray to be replaced by Aiyelabola. The initial change had come just after the half hour when centre back Oran Jackson was forced out of the game with a thigh injury to be replaced by club captain Brett Solkhon. The second half was only 53 seconds old when Liam Cross burst into the box from the right past two players and unleashed a left footer that flew just wide of Breeden’s right hand post.

Six minutes later it was Benbow’s turn to go close again as he managed to get in front of Flanagan to get on the end of Obeng’s cross from the right but he failed to hit the target from a good position.

Ben Toseland and Tyrone Baker were getting some joy out of the right hand side of the Boro defence and each went close to putting Ives back in front in a brief spell around the hour. Initially Toseland fed the ball into the run of Baker who cut in from the left before firing in a low drive that brought a good save out of Breeden low to his right. A few minutes later it was Toseland’s turn to fizz an effort from 25 yards just wide of Breeden’s left hand post..

The visitor’s then enjoyed a ten minute purple patch starting in 62^nd minute when it took a remarkable double save from Brearey to keep Ives on level terms. Initially Dowd cut in from the left before slipping in a low cross to the centre where Benbow looked like he must score only for Brearey to spread himself and block the effort at point blank range. The loose ball ran to Obeng by the right hand post and it took a combined effort from the diving Brearey and Toseland to somehow keep out his close range effort.

Brearey was up to his heroics again seven minutes later as he flung himself to his left to keep out a fierce drive from ten yards by Benbow after he had been set up by a pull back from the classy Obeng. Unfortunately Brearey’s fine efforts were wasted as Ives failed to pick up McManus at the resulting corner as he arrived at pace to power home a header at the near post.

But Ives were not knocked by this setback and only three minutes later they were back on level terms as Josh Flanagan did brilliantly to get onto the end of Callum Milne’s ball down the right. Shariff challenged McManus for the ball at the near post where it dropped to Aiyelabola who spun on it in a flash and fired home into the roof of the net past the despairing dive of Breeden.

Both management teams showed that they were still going for the win with both sides making substitutions in the next few minutes with Ives introducing Fairlamb to replace the tiring Baker and the Boro making a double change with Anthony Dwyer and Shaquille Master replacing Benbow and McCrory respectively.

Master was quickly into the action and drew a foul in a very dangerous position out of Dylan Williams. But Clements free kick cannoned off Ives five man wall allowing the hosts to break at pace in a flowing move that saw Solkhon come within inches of putting Ives back in front. Cross got away down the right at pace and got to the bye line before hanging up a cross into the centre where Solkhon arrived at pace. He did everything right hanging in the air before looping his header over Breeden and he was hugely unlucky as the ball floated over the exposed Breeden before hitting the underside of the crossbar and bouncing down onto the goal line before being scrambled clear.

Shariff also had a effort from a narrow angle turned over by the keeper in 84^th minute and it took another wonderful save from Brearey to retain the parity in the score line three minutes later as he bravely closed down Master and blocked his shot after the substitute had been fed through the right channel by Isaiah Osbourne.

The winner two minutes into added time was set up by Cross who weaved his way into the visitor’s box from the right only to be clattered by a clumsy challenge from Jaden Charles. Referee Daniel Todd put the whistle to his mouth but did not blow instead waving advantage as Aiyelabola pounced on the loose ball and fired it into the bottom corner to bring the roof off. Even then Ives supporters had to wait a further five minutes before they could really celebrate a vital three points in their quest for survival. But when the final whistle eventually came it brought a massive sigh of relief. Ives first double of the season moves them four points above today’s rivals but with the bottom three all winning it is still very tight for the two relegation places.

Final Score : St Ives Town 3 Nuneaton Borough 2

Goals :

ST IVES: Johnston 9, Aiyelabola 72 & 90+2

NUNEATON: Dowd 43, McManus 69

Teams

ST IVES: Brearey, Flanagan, Jackson ( Solkhon 31), Hottor, Milne, Toseland, Baker (Fairlamb 73), Johnston (Aiyelabola 46), Shariff, Cross, Williams, Unused subs: Goff, Osei-Bonsu

NUNEATON: Breeden, Charles, Clements, Magunda, McManus (capt), Obeng, Dowd, McCrory (Master 76), Benbow (Dwyer 76), Osbourne, Forde, Unused subs: Kaziboni, Noble, Beejer

Sponsors man of the match : Eddie Brearey

Attendance : 339

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video by Dave Hook. Photos by Louise & Gemma Thompson.