Coalville Town v St Ives Town

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 21-02-2023

If this was a boxing match Ives would have taken the first half on points, sadly it was football and they went in at half time a goal in arrears despite enjoying good periods of possession, creating chances and forcing ex Ives stopper Paul White into a world class save to deny Kieran Higgs early on. The likable Irishman’s brilliant reaction save high to his left was worthy of the rendition of “Ireland’s number one” that it got from the large youthful group of Ravens supporters behind his goal.

A 16th minute wonder strike on the half volley from Tom McGlinchey then put the hosts in front. But Ives continued to press although they only tested White once more as he had to palm over a Michael Richens free kick from 25 yards four minutes before the break. Returning to the boxing analogy Ives then dealt themselves a knockout blow conceding two poor goals early in the second half to end the contest.

There was mixed news on the virus that has been decimating the Ives camp over the last few weeks as Charlie Johnson became the latest to fall to it. To counter that there was a return to the squad for a couple more recovering players as Jonny Edwards and Tyrone Baker were both deemed fit enough to start. The high flying hosts made only one change from their goalless draw with fellow promotion chasers Leiston three days earlier with Luke Shaw coming into midfield to replace George Wilson who dropped to the bench.

The visitors started very positively taking the game to their hosts and that wonder save from White came only six minutes in as Edwards did well to battle through the middle before laying the ball off to Higgs on the edge of the box. The winger hit the ball cleanly and it was destined for the top corner before the outstretched fingers of the flying White tipped the ball around the post. Even before that chance had come and gone Jordan Williams had forced his way through the crowd in the box to get on the end of a first minute in-swinging Richens free kick from the left but directed his header from ten yards wide of the target.

The early chances continued to go Ives way and Edwards missed a golden chance to put them in front in 11^th minute. Johnny Herd delivered a free kick from the left that forced Herve Pepe-Ngoma into a poor defensive header that looped up into the air inside his own box and dropped to the feet of the Ives centre forward just outside the six yard box. But he snatched at the chance and completely missed his kick with the goal at his mercy.

Only four minutes later Tom McGlinchey showed him exactly how it should be done at the other end. Elliot Putman’s corner from the right arrived into a very crowded six yard box where Williams won the header and managed to get much better distance on his header than Pepe-Ngoma. But the ball dropped to McGlinchey just outside the box and he struck it perfectly on the half volley to send a screamer into the top left hand corner of James Dadge’s goal before the young stopper could move.

Ives reacted well to going behind and were soon back putting pressure on the Ravens back line. Only two minutes after the hosts got in front another Herd long throw, this time from the left, was flicked on at the near post to Williams arriving in the centre but his header from eight yards was straight into the grateful hands of White.

Mobile centre forward Tim Berridge was putting in a real shift for the hosts constantly making probing runs that he hoped that his team mates would pick out and Eliot Putman did just that in 21^st minute. Fortunately for Ives Dadge was alert to the danger and got down smartly to his left to hang onto the strikers first time effort.

A very promising break by Baker just before the half hour was halted unfairly by Jake Eggleton in the centre of the park. The Ravens centre back earned himself a yellow card and also injured himself sufficiently in the process to require replacement by Alex Dean.

The final action of the half was Richens 25 yard free kick that dipped over the hosts four man wall but was comfortably dealt with by White as he palmed the ball over the top.

The hosts showed a little more of why they are in the promotion race at the start of the second period as they came at Ives and started to create chances. Only ninety seconds after the re-start McGlinchey fizzed a shot across the face of goal and only inches wide as he cut in from the left. Less than a minute later Shaw and McGlinchey combined well on the left before the latter delivered a low cross to the near post where Joe Doyle-Charles poked it just wide.

The pressure continued and in 51^st minute Tendai Chitiza and Doyle-Charles exchanged passes down the right before the latter cleverly floated a ball to the back post to pick out McGlinchey who probably should have scored, but like his colleagues before him he failed to hit the target from close range.

However the reprieve was only short lived as the hosts did finally succeed in doubling their advantage in 54^th minute in very unfortunate circumstances. A low bouncing cross shot from the left by Berridge got right across the face of goal. Dadge seemed slow to react to it and with Ash Chambers fast closing in was then caught in two minds as to whether to try and claim it or push the ball around the post and only succeeded in pushing the ball onto the inside of the post from where it rebounded into the net.

Rattled by his initial mistake the young keeper then went on to make a second error four minutes later as he needlessly took down Chambers as the striker closed him down on a ball that looked like it was running out for a goal kick. Ever deadly from the spot Putman made no mistake finding the bottom corner as Dadge went the wrong way.

Those two goals took the steam right out of the contest and both sides started to make substitutions to try and sharpen things up a little without any real success. The tiring Ives did not manage a single shot at White’s goal in the remainder of the second period. The hosts on the other hand did twice go close to adding further to their lead.

Dadge showed his ability to much better effect in 70^th minute as he pulled off a remarkable point blank save to deny Ravens substitute Billy Kee. The chance had been created by a flowing move down the left with Doyle-Charles originally feeding in McGlinchey who in turn picked out the well timed run of the tireless Berridge. He got to the bye line before picking out Kee with his pull back. The striker’s shot from ten yards was destined for the roof of the net before being deflected over by the outstretched arm of Dadge.

The young keeper also did well two minutes from time as he got his positioning spot on to block Doyle-Charles effort from just inside the box with his legs. The Ravens number eight had been fed in by Chitiza.

Ives will not be sad to see the end of this run of four tough games on the road in eleven days which has only gleaned the return of a single point. But there are some excuses with the virus decimating their small squad at a time when it was least wanted. Injuries and suspensions have also played their part. To add to that woe Nabil Shariff will miss this Saturdays home game against Barwell as he serves his one match ban having been sent off very unluckily at Alvechurch last Saturday. On top of that Ed Hottor needlessly picked up his tenth yellow of the season late on in this game and will miss the Ives upcoming trips to Basford and Stourbridge. Hopefully to counter those problems more of the squad will return to full fitness to enable the lads from Cambridgeshire to get their season properly back on track and finish strongly.

Final Score: Coalville Town 3 St Ives Town 0

Goals:

COALVILLE: McGlinchey 16, Berridge 54, Putman 58 (pen)

ST IVES:

Team Line Ups:

COALVILLE: White, Pepe-Ngoma, Putman, Eggleton (Dean 30), Robertson, Shaw, Chitiza, Doyle-Charles, Berridge (Wilson 74), Chambers (Kee 66), McGlinchey, Unused subs:, Laban, Dean, Smith, Shaw, Kee

ST IVES: Dadge, Casey, Herd, Richens (capt), J. Williams, Toseland, Higgs, Hottor, Edwards (Johnston 76), Baker (Kaziboni 76), Shariff (Hickinson 65).

Cards: Yellow: COALVILLE: Eggleton (27), ST IVES: Hottor (84)

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Kieran Higgs

Attendance: 465

Report by Nigel Howlett.

Coalville Town v St Ives Town

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central 06-11-2021

This proved to be the expected routine win for second placed Ravens but there were undoubted green shoots for Ives and signs of hope that once the new arrangement in the management and coaching staff bed in there are real possibilities of a move up the table. The arrival of ex Banbury United management duo Mike Ford, who will work alongside Ricky Marheineke as joint manager, and Anton Sambrook who takes over as lead coach certainly showed an early impact despite the result.

With Michael Richens and Dylan Williams both serving one match bans for clocking up five yellow cards there were opportunities for other players to earn themselves a spot in the side. Both Jason Dwumfuo and Fabrice Mbola impressed on their first starts for Ives.

The visitors showed early intent and Mbola could have earned a name for himself with the visiting fans after only four minutes as he got on the end of Ben Toseland’s free kick from the left by the penalty spot but he could not keep his powerful header down. The opportunity to deliver the ball into the danger zone had been won by Nabil Shariff who was bundled over in a wide position by Jake Eggleton.

But the hosts are not at the top end of the table for no reason and Camron McWilliams soon discovered that it was going to be a tough afternoon for him as Tom McGlinchey fed Alex Dean through on an overlap down the right. The full back getting to the bye line before picking out Tim Berridge with his pull back. It took a spectacular diving save from Paul White in the Ives goal to keep out the strikers first time effort. The keeper was however beaten from the resulting Elliot Putman corner which was flicked on at the near post and eventually bundled home at the back post by Stephen Towers after Berridge had been denied at close range by White and Billy Kee had also had an effort blocked on the line.

McWilliams tough afternoon continued as he picked up a yellow card for clumsily bringing down McGlinchey 25 yards from goal in tenth minute. Putman fired the resulting free kick over Ives four man wall but White was alert to the effort plunging full length to his left to turn the ball around the post.

Unlike recent games where Ives have capitulated after falling behind to a good side this did not happen on this occasion as they began to show a little more steel in their backbone with Mbola and skipper Brett Solkhon just about keeping the lively pair of Berridge and Kee at bay the visitors slowly worked their way back into the game. With Eniola Agemoh-Davies working well with Dwumfuo on the right they began to create half chances. In 18^th minute Dwufuo fed in Agemoh-Davies on the overlap. The young full back got to the bye line and flashed a low cross into the six yard box that somehow evaded everyone but was kept alive by McWilliams wide on the left. His low ball back into the danger zone was knocked back to Ed Hottor who took on the shot first time but fired his twenty yarder well wide.

The next opportunity went the way of the hosts who almost doubled their advantage in 32^nd minute. The speedy Berridge outpaced Mbola onto a long ball out of defence and bore down on White’s goal. The keeper came to meet him and the centre forward thought that he had scored as he clipped the ball past the exposed stopper. But to his great credit Mbola had not stopped and managed to get around behind his keeper to hook the goal bound effort off the line.

Still in the game it was Ives turn to go close to an equaliser three minutes later. Solkhon pinged a long ball out of defence to pick out McWilliams wide left. The full back showed excellent touch to bring the ball down and feed it inside to Jack Snelus, who in turn slipped it on to Shariff. He picked out Dwumfuo cutting in from the right. The winger stepped inside Putman and fired in a left footed effort from the edge of the box that forced a save low to his left out of home keeper Tomasz Bukowski.

It looked like Ives were going to head into the break only one goal in arrears but very much in the game only for them to be undone by a moments laps in concentration only ninety seconds from the whistle. Luke Shaw picked up the ball on the half way line where he appeared to pose little danger. But no one closed him down allowing the midfielder the opportunity to stride forward into the heart of Ives defence which he seized with both hands ghosting past three attempted tackles before unleashing a rising drive from just outside the box. White got right behind the effort but failed to hold onto it and Berridge showed his poachers instincts as he pounced on the loose ball to ram home from close range before White or any of his defenders could react.

Ives resolve again showed through in the early stages of the second period as they went in pursuit of a route back into the game. The second half was only three minutes old when Dwumfuo went very close to pulling one back. McWilliams fought his way to the bye line on the left and his low driven cross beat Bukowski at his near post. Dwumfuo got on the end of it but tried to take a touch and his eventual shot lacked power allowing Chris Robertson to hack the effort away from the goal line with the out of position keeper well beaten.

Two minutes later play swung to the other end where the Ravens strike duo of Kee and Berridge combined to set up a shooting opportunity for Shaw deep inside the box but again White was equal to the effort bravely blocking the shot at close range with Mbola on hand to scramble the loose ball away.

Mbola enjoyed a bit of action at the opposite end of the pitch in 58^th minute as he found space to stride forward from inside his own half before unleashing a dipping effort from fully 35 yards that skipped up off the turf and beat the diving Bukowski but flashed inches wide of his right hand upright.

Having gone so close to reducing the arrears Ives then found the game taken out of their reach by the hosts on the hour. Shaw played a perfectly weighted pass through the left channel where Kee had timed his run to perfection. He had time to take a touch before firing home past the exposed White from close range.

The third goal effectively killed the game allowing the hosts to rest both of their strike pair substituting them for Kyle Jardine and Connor Smith respectively. Ives similarly made changes replacing Sami Nabi with Nathan Hicks and Jack Snelus with ex Aldershot Town debutant KJ Osu. The final Ives substitution in 83^rd minute saw Dwumfuo go off to much applause from the small group of travelling fans being replaced by Urijah Gordon-Douglas.

White pulled off good late saves to prevent Jardine and Smith from adding gloss to the hosts score but overall the Ravens will see this as a very good afternoons work. For Ives travelling few it would be nice to think that this may be the start of better things to come. Something that gave this reporter a little more hope was to see Sambrook still taking the players through a thorough warm down session twenty minutes after the final whistle. Fitness aids the concentration and if we can be built up into one of the fittest sides in the league we will work our way into a position where we can stay alert to seize our opportunities when they come.

Final Score : Coalville Town 3 St Ives Town 0

Goals :

COALVILLE: Towers 6, Berridge 43, Kee 60

ST IVES:

Teams

COALVILLE: Bukowski, Dean, Putman (Taylor 46), Eggleton, Robertson, Towers (capt), Shaw, Doyle-Charles, Berridge (Smith 81), Kee (Jardine 72), McGlinchey, Unused subs: Tomlin, Assuncao

ST IVES: White, Agemoh-Davies, McWilliams Toseland, Solkhon (capt), Mbola, Dwumfuo (Gordon-Douglas 83), Hottor, Shariff, Nabi (Hicks 69), Snelus (Osu 69) Unused subs : Milne, Heath

Ives Supporters man of the match : Jason Dwumfuo

Attendance : 388

Report by Nigel Howlett. Photos by Louise Thompson.

Coalville Town v St Ives Town

BetVictor League Southern Premier Division Central 01-02-20

Ives have quickly carved out a liking for the Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium as a second half Matt Foy brace completed an excellent comeback win to provide their first maximum return on the road since September and end a run of ten games without a win. The performance was equally as good as the result and matched the Ives resilient display which gleaned equal reward on their previous visit to the same venue at the end of last season.

Whilst Foy grabbed the plaudits for his two very well taken goals this was very much a team performance and the solid displays of central defensive pair Tom Hamblin and Alfie Powell were also hugely influential.

Both teams were struggling to come to terms with a strong cross wind and a bumpy pitch in the early stages but not surprisingly it was the high riding hosts who were first out of gate. Joe Doyle-Charles bustled his way down the right in the second minute his pull back picked out Tim Berridge but the centre forward struck his first time effort straight at Bradley Lashley in the Ives goal.

Berridge continued to probe and he fired over from a good position after being set up by Kian Taylor in the twelfth minute. He also managed to turn Edmund Hottor on the edge of the box before testing Lashley low to his right eight minutes later. The big keeper did brilliantly flinging himself low to his right to turn the ball around the post at full stretch.

Ives first probe forward in 24th minute won them a corner but that almost led to their downfall as Joe Curtis’s flag kick was cleared to Adam McGurk who managed to run fifty yards with the ball at his feet and was bursting into the box with Lashley coming to close him down when Ben Toseland came to the rescue with a perfectly timed tackle to take the ball off his toe.

The Ravens continued to enjoy the majority of possession but still struggled to break into Ives well defended box. McGurk combined well with Berridge before firing over the top in 33rd minute. But having looked so solid the visitors allowed their concentration to lapse for just a few seconds three minutes later and found themselves a goal behind. McGlinchey picked up the ball fully 25 yards from goal and was not closed down quickly enough allowing him to take a touch before unleashing a left foot piledriver that flew past the diving Lashley and billowed the net high to his left.

Unlike in recent weeks Ives did not fold having fallen behind but continued to display their new found steel keeping the hosts mobile front line on a tight reign. But Lashley was called upon to make one vital save in added time at the end of the first period as he bravely blocked a McGlinchey effort at close range after the tricky striker had jinked his way past two defenders into the box.

The belief which has been lacking in Ives players over recent weeks slowly began to return to the ranks and after Kieran Morris had headed a Luke Shaw free kick over the top for the hosts it became the visitors turn to carve out chances. The first of these came in 55th minute when a deep Ollie Snaith cross from the right held up on the breeze deceiving Jake Bennett who allowed the ball to drop to the feet of Foy but rather than go for goal the Ives centre forward tried to lay the ball off to George Bailey in the centre allowing Morris to nip the ball away from him.

Ives manager Ricky Marheineke spotted these green shoots and decided to try and build on them replacing defensive midfielder Hottor with striker Dylan Wilson on the hour. This led to a reshuffle with Wilson coming into the centre forward role and Foy moving to the left.

The change lead to the equaliser eight minutes later as Foy robbed Bennett on the left before delivering a cross that Morris struggled to deal with under pressure from Wilson and the ball arrived at the feet of Bailey on the right his driven cross was perfectly met on the volley by Foy arriving at the back post giving home keeper Saul Deeley no chance.

The goal sparked a reaction from the Ravens and Lashley did well in 72nd minute as he moved his feet well and got a clean punch onto a looping cross from the left by Taylor that was hanging on the breeze. Without the young keeper’s vital intervention substitute Kairo Mitchell would have turned the ball home at the back post.

The game was now much more even with neither side willing to settle for a point and chances arriving at both ends. In 74th minute McGlinchey and Berridge exchanged passes inside Ives box before the former got away a left footed effort from a narrow angle that ended up in the side netting. Four minutes later the persistence of Wilson carved out a chance for Ives as he closed down keeper Deeney on a back pass forcing the custodian into a wildly miss hit clearance which arced to the feet of substitute Ben Seymour-Shove in a wide right position. He managed to get to the bye line before being taken down by Taylor inches outside the box. Unfortunately Curtis’s free kick hit the wall and was scrambled clear.

Seymour-Shove came within a whisker of putting Ives in front ten minutes from time as the hosts again struggled to clear a ball into their box allowing Snaith to pick up the loose ball before teeing up Seymour-Shove for a twenty yarder that beat the desperate dive of Denney but flashed the wrong side of the post and rattled the support behind the goal.

Ives had a massive appeal for a penalty turned down four minutes later as Curtis burst into the box before being bundled over by a combination of Morris and substitute Scott McManus but it did look like he had already missed the opportunity to get his shot away and referee Tom Wainman chose to side with the defenders.

The Ravens carved out one chance on the break in 90th minute as a probing run down the right by Doyle-Charles allowed him to pick out McGlinchey at the back post but Ben Jackson was on hand to bravely block the shot to set up the exciting finale.

There were four added minutes and when Ives won a corner in the second of these there was debate on the bench as to whether they should hold on to what they had got and try to retain the ball by the flag. But they went for the brave option and Joe Curtis delivered his flag kick to the back post where it was knocked away from Foy by a defender to win another corner on the opposite side. This time Seymour-Shove’s delivery to the near post was knocked out by a defender. Corner number three was inch perfect arcing into the six yard box, keeper Deeney chose to stay at home allowing Foy to attack the ball and get the vital flick to send players, fans, and bench crew all into raptures!!.

There was just time for the Ravens to kick off and the ball to be played into Ives box where Berridge went down as he steered it wide but the hosts appeals for a penalty were turned down by referee Wainman who much to the delight of all from St Ives then blew the final whistle to set up a happy journey home.

The result lifts Ives out of the bottom two but it is only the first green shoots of what we hope will be a very successful spring as the target for safety appears to be to get more points from the remaining fourteen games than have been accumulated in the first twenty eight. This may seem a hard ask but if the hard graft and belief shown in this game can be matched anything is possible. The supporters must now match the belief the team is beginning to show and turn out to get behind their heroes in the next two vital home games.

Final Score : Coalville Town 1 St Ives Town 2

Goals : Foy 68 & 90+4

Team : Lashley, Jackson, Toseland, Hottor (Wilson 59), Hamblin, Powell, Snaith (Clifton 88), Parker (capt), Foy, Curtis, Bailey (Seymour-Shove 76)

Unused subs : Kennelly, Osei-Bonsu

Supporters man of the match : Matt Foy

Attendance : 195

Report by Nigel Howlett. Photos by Louise Thompson. Video clips by Dave Hook.

Coalville Town vs St Ives Town

Coalville Town v St Ives Town

Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division Central 27-04-19

An excellent tactical performance ensured that Ives concluded their season in style with a hard earned single goal win on the road at Coalville. The result was all the more impressive as they became the first team all season to prevent the Ravens registering a goal at the Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium. The three points also saw them match their best ever thirteenth place finish at step 3.

Things did not start as well for the visitors as Owen Wallis broke down in the warm up to prompt a change of formation and tactics with Jake Newman replaced him in the starting eleven to become a loan striker with the versatile Tom Wood fitting into what became a back four rather than plan A’s back five.

Newman was the first person to have an opportunity in thirteenth minute as Dean Freeman was deceived by the strong wind blowing from corner flag to corner flag. The big centre back allowed the ball to bounce over his head on the half way line to let Newman away. Keeper Matt Coton came to meet him and did well as he spread his body to block the well struck shot at close range when it eventually came from the edge of the box.

Playing with the wind predominantly at their backs Ives were enjoying a lot of possession and went close again four minutes later as Ollie Snaith teed up Mark Coulson who hung up a cross into the centre where George Bailey got in front of his marker to win the header but steered it just wide from ten yards.

Released from his fill in full back role Munashe Sundire was enjoying a more forward role and he broke through centre only ninety seconds later feeding the ball to Ben Seymour-Shove cutting in from the right Coton parried his fierce right foot strike back into play and was perhaps fortunate as Sundire volleyed the loose ball over the top.

The previously free scoring Ravens had offered very little going forward but created their first opportunity in 28^th minute as Andrew Wright delivered a free kick from the right that flashed across the face of goal Scott McManus arrived at the back post but made a poor contact and only succeeded in knocking the ball back across goal allowing in to be cleared to safety.

Having failed to go in front the hosts almost immediately found themselves one down as Seymour-Shove finished well with a crisp right foot shot from the right hand corner of the box that beat the despairing dive of Coton low to his right and nestled in the bottom corner of the net. The chance had been created by Sundire who knocked on a flick into the box from Newman into the path of the flying Ives winger.

Ives continued on top without creating any further clear cut chances before the break. The only noteworthy effort on goal in the remaining fifteen minutes of the first period came in the only added minute when Mc Manus and Tom McGlinchy worked a short corner routine that ended with the former delivering a cross to the back post where Kieren Fenton rose above the crowd to head straight into the hands of Conway.

The second half started with Ives now playing into the still strong breeze that was rattling the floodlight pylons and whistling around the grandstands. In spite of the elements it was Ives who carved out the first chance as Newman knocked down a long Parker free kick to tee up Bailey who fired over from the edge of the box.

Having failed to take all of their chances in the first period Ives were perhaps a little lucky to retain their lead in 50^th minute as they were almost caught out at their own attacking free kick. The ball was cleared down the centre and Kairo Mitchell timed his run to perfection to get clear. He drew Conway to him before cleverly clipping his effort over the exposed keeper he then had to look on in horror as the ball rebounded from the post straight back into the hands of the fast recovering Conway.

Although the Ravens were enjoying the majority of possession Ives were still looking dangerous on the break and twice went close to doubling their advantage. In 62^nd minute Snaith got away down the left and picked out Seymour-Shove at the back of the box with his low cross but McManus managed to close him down quickly and block his effort out for a corner. Keeper Coton was a fortunate man eight minutes later as he got things completely wrong calling for a low cross into the box by Seymour-Shove only to then completely miss the bouncing ball and be mightily relieved as it just evaded Snaith and finished inches the wrong side of the far post.

With time running down on their impressive home scoring record it was no surprise that the Ravens mounted a period of sustained pressure on the Ives goal. In 76^th minute a McGlinchey corner from the left fell into a crowded box Fenton lashed at the loose ball but his goal bound effort was deflected wide off the body of Jarvis Wilson.

Conway was helping his defence by coming to claim some of the hanging crosses being delivered into the box which was no mean feat given the gusty conditions. When he was unable to come and claim his centre back pairing of Wilson and Wood ensured that the hosts won very few of those balls into the box. The one opportunity that they did get came in 82^nd minute when substitute Tom Burgin rose highest to get on the end of a McManus cross from the left but he failed to hit the target from ten yards.

Conway had to make one crucial save to preserve Ives lead seven minutes from time when Wright seized an opportunity to run at the heart of Ives defence before slipping a ball to Tim Berridge who took a touch before unleashing a powerful drive from 25 yards that swerved and dipped on it’s way towards goal but Conway was equal to it leaping high to his right to palm the ball over the crossbar.

That save seemed to take the wind out of the hosts sails and Ives were quite effective in retaining possession to run down time and they should have sewn the game up in the first minute of added time when substitute Andrew Osei-Bonsu drew in the defenders before cleverly threading a ball into the path of Seymour-Shove as the young winger cut in from the left. With keeper Coton at his mercy Seymour-Shove’s touch for once let him down and a heavy first touch allowed the keeper to slide in and claim the ball off his toe.

There was only one more moment of worry for Ives supporters before the celebrations could begin and it came sixty seconds later as Wood was spotted pulling back Wright in a central position 25 yards from Ives goal. Wright lined up the free kick and went for power but the visitor’s five man wall did its job and the ball rebounded away of Osei-Bonsu to allow Ives to claim their ninth win on the road and conclude a very successful season.

For the record their defensive record of only conceding 43 goals in 42 games was only bettered by the top three, they had the sixth best away record overall in the Division only bettered by the top two, Coalville, Rushall and Royston. On the negative side their tally of only 36 goals scored was only worsened by the meagre returns of the three relegated clubs. But lets end by flashing up a few highlights of an enjoyable season number one has to be the 3-0 success at eventual champions Kettering, number two even though it was a defeat is the record breaking FA Cup 3^rd Qualifying Round visit to once mighty York City, Number three was breaking the Royston bogey with an excellent 2-1 August Bank Holiday win at Garden Walk which really announced our presence as a team that any side in the Division would underestimate at their peril. Let us hope for plenty more of the same next season.

Final Score : Coalville Town 0 St Ives Town 1

Goals : Seymour-Shove 29

Team : Conway, Ward, Coulson, Wood, Newman (De’ath 86), Jarvis Wilson, Seymour-Shove, Parker (capt), Bailey (Osei-Bonsu 67), Sundire, Snaith (Baker 80)

Unused subs : Dylan Wilson, Wallis

Supporters man of the match : Tom Wood

Attendance : 165

Report by Nigel Howlett Photos by Louise Thompson