Leiston v St Ives Town

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 28-01-2023

In life as in football one doesn’t always receive the reward that a performance deserves and that was certainly the case in this game as Ives battered the promotion chasing Blues throughout the second half where the statistics showed that the visitors had ten shots, four on target and won four corners, against their hosts two shots, one on target and a single corner. The Blues could thank some excellent goalkeeping from Sam Donkin and a little bit of luck as they kept their excellent record of only one defeat in their last eighteen games going.

The first half was a much more even affair where the hosts got their noses in front courtesy of leading scorer Will Davies’s 21^st goal of the season just before the half hour mark. The game started with both sides taking a little while to get into their stride on a pitch that had recovered well from the cold snap of the previous two weeks. Davies was the first person to get an effort on goal in tenth minute as a poor ball out of defence from Ed Hottor was picked up by Finley Barnes who delivered a delicate clip to the near post where Davies got between the Ives centre backs to get a free header but steered his effort wide.

The visitors first opportunity came in 16^th minute when Johnny Herd got forward from left back to feed in Tyrone Baker down the left, he got to the bye line before delivering a cross to the back post that was a little to deep. But Michael Richens kept the ball alive and his cross to the near post was met by Enoch Andoh who powered his header wide.

A clumsy tackle on Kellan Hickinson earnt Blues centre back Adam Bailey-Dennis a 23^rd minute yellow card and gave Richens chance to try his luck from 35 yards. His free kick deflected off the wall to the feet of Ben Toseland who fed in the speedy Baker but the chance was halted by an assistant’s upraised flag.

The hosts went in front in the simplest fashion five minutes later overlapping full back Seb Dunbar got down the left and delivered a teasing cross to the near post where Davies showed his goal scoring prowess ghosting in to get in front of Jordan Williams and glance the ball home from eight yards.

An equaliser for Ives looked on the cards two minutes from the interval as the broke out from their own half at pace with Paddy Casey delivering a ball from the right into the feet of Jonny Edwards just outside the box. A clever touch on looked like it had put Baker clear one on one with keeper Donkin only for covering defender Rossi Jarvis to appear out of nowhere to take the ball off the winger’s toe.

There was still time before the break for the Blues to twice go close to increasing their lead. The first of those chances fell to Davies as he again showed his ability to lose defenders inside the box by drifting off the back of Williams to earn himself a free header to Jarvis’s cross from the right. He directed the ball back across goal but just wide of the post. James Dadge in the Ives goal was called into action in the last minute of the first half and he got his positioning spot on to keep out Ben Fowkes powerful drive from the edge of the box after the hosts midfielder had been played in by George Quantrell.

Ives came out for the second half and took the game straight to their hosts and the chances to get level quickly started to appear. The half was five minutes old when Hickinson threaded a ball into the run of Baker sprinting down the left. The ball took him wide but the winger cut inside and went for goal from a narrow angle forcing keeper Donkin to block the ball out for a corner. Only sixty seconds later Toseland seized an opportunity to surge forward and as the defence opened up in front of him he took on a shot from 30 yards that flew about a metre wide of Donkin’s right hand post.

One of Ives best chances to get level arrived in 54^th minute and it fell to leading scorer Edwards. An excellent ball from Toseland put the centre forward clear through the right channel one on one with Donkin. But the keeper was quickly off his line and spread himself well to block the shot with his body and the chance was gone.

Keeper Dadge was called upon to make his only real save of the second half in 58^th minute as he plunged to his left to keep out a fierce drive from the edge of the box by Barnes. The effort came at the end of the hosts best move of the game that saw a quick exchange of passes through the centre of the park before Dunbar teed up Barnes for the shot. The hosts only other effort at goal in the second half came three minutes later Fowkes cut inside and fired a 25 yarder just wide of Dadge’s left hand upright.

From that point Ives took complete control, but try as they might they just could not find a way through. In 62^nd minute a Herd long throw caused panic in the Blues box. The ball falling to Andoh who tried to pull it back to Edwards eight yards out but the stretching Jake Hutchings did just enough to divert the ball away. Three minutes later Hickinson slipped a ball into the run of Edwards on the edge of the box, but this time the centre forward pulled his left footed effort wide of the post.

Manager Ricky Marheineke shuffled his pack to try and find a way to get that elusive goal with skilful midfield men Greg Kaziboni and Kieran Higgs replacing Hottor and Andoh respectively. Both were involved in creating chances in 80^th minute. Initially Higgs cleverly fed in Williams as the big centre half stayed up after another Herd long throw. The Ives defender is still waiting to open his account for the visitors, but found a little bit of space inside the box and got away a powerful shot that the well positioned Donkin parried out for a corner. The resulting flag kick from Kaziboni was perfectly flighted to meet the run of Toseland to the near post. He met the ball cleanly and it flew past the startled Donkin but rattled the upright and stayed out.

The hosts were by now very much hanging on and bolstered their back line by bringing on Wyatt Hill and Ryan Jarvis to replace Rossi Jarvis and Bailey-Dennis respectively. But their visitors still continued to pour forward at every opportunity. Two more good chances arrived in the added five minutes both falling to Edwards. In the first added minute another Kaziboni corner caused chaos to the Blues box with the ball eventually falling to Edwards inside the six yard box at the back post. He struck his effort well but it hit the legs of keeper Donkin on his goal line and the rebound was wildly lashed over the bar by Richens. The final opportunity to get a deserved reward from the game came in the very last minute as Toseland galloped forward down the left before delivering a cross into the centre where Edwards had got away from his marker but he failed to hit the target with his header from eight yards and the game was gone.

The Blues breathed a huge sigh of relief at the end of this game and Ives travelling faithful applauded their heroes from the pitch for their fantastic efforts at the end of the game. If the hosts can pick up seven points from their three games in hand they will leapfrog leaders Tamworth and go to the top of the table and Ives can do them a massive favour as they visit the Lamb on Tuesday evening. Another performance like this, topped off with some clinical finishing will surely get a more deserved reward.

Final Score: Leiston 1 St Ives Town 0

Goals:

LEISTON: Davies 28,

ST IVES:

Team Line Ups:

LEISTON: Donkin, Marsden, Dunbar (capt), Saunders, Bailey-Dennis (Ryan Jarvis 65), Hutchings, Barnes, Rossi Jarvis (Hill 65), Davies, Quantrell, Fowkes (Mills 78), Unused subs: Wright, Dronfield,

ST IVES: Dadge, Casey, Herd, Richens (capt), J. Williams, Toseland, Andoh (Higgs 65), Hottor (Kaziboni 77), Edwards, Hickinson, Baker (Milne 88), Unused subs: Johnson

Cards: Yellow: LEISTON: Bailey-Dennis (23), Marsden (47), Quantrell (56) ST IVES: Hottor (67), Williams (72)

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Tyrone Baker

Attendance: 217

Report by Nigel Howlett. Match highlights by Ollie Jones.

Leiston v St Ives Town

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central 12-10-2021

After Saturday’s horror show against Royston manager Ricky Marheineke was going to be looking for a massive reaction from his players to get their season back on track and break the long run of games without a win which trails right back to sunny August. The only casualties from the weekend massacre were goalkeeper Paul White with Ben Heath stepping up from the bench to make his league debut for Ives and Eniola Agemoh-Davies who was still nursing an injury picked up early in the game against the Crows. Camron McWilliams reverted to his more accustomed right back role with Nathan Hicks coming into midfield. There were perhaps more signs of things to come in the near future with the Ives squad as new signings Ally Conway and Urijah Gordon-Douglas were both named amongst the substitutes.

Whether it was reaction to Saturday, or not, is impossible to tell, but manager Marheineke almost got his dream start as Ives caught their hosts completely cold straight from the kick off. Nabil Shariff was fed in through the right channel and got his shot away from just inside the box, keeper Sam Donkin managed to block the effort with his legs, but the ball ran to Jack Snelus, his follow up effort was blocked on the line by covering defender Joe Marsden. The ball again rebounded across the Blues box to the feet of Dylan Williams who met it perfectly on the volley, but again keeper Donkin was in the right place to parry his effort away.

Three shots on target inside the first thirty seconds was an amazing statistic, the small band of Ives faithful were just hoping that was the sign of a real reaction and a supercharged performance from the team. Had one of them gone in that might have been the case, but sadly it proved to be a flash in the pan and normal service was quickly resumed as Ives shaky rear guard started to faulter almost as soon as it was put under pressure. The usually reliable McWilliams made the first error in ninth minute as he completely missed a long diagonal ball from Marsden allowing the speedy Adam Mills to gallop away down the left. The winger cut into the box before unleashing a low drive that a well positioned Heath blocked with his legs. Not for the first time this season the resulting corner proved to be the visitors undoing as they struggled to clear the ball delivered to the centre of their box it eventually fell to the feet of centre back Jake Hutchings who unceremoniously slammed it home from eight yards to put the hosts in front.

Mills continued to cause problems down the Blues left and he harried McWilliams into another error in 15^th minute as he robbed the young full back 30 yards from goal. Again the winger used his pace to drive on into the box but in a repeat of the earlier action keeper Heath was once more equal to his well struck shot.

Both sides were playing a high pressing game but generally the defences were just about coping with the hosts particularly showing no qualms in going long when they had to. Shariff, Snelus and Williams were all continuing to work hard in Ives cause and the former did manage to catch out a dallying Siju Odelusi to win a corner off him in 23^rd minute. Ben Toseland’s in-swinger was delivered into a dangerous area but no one got on the end of it.

The hosts continued to look dangerous going forward and fortunately for Ives they failed to hit the target with two good opportunities in a five minute spell around the half hour mark. Overlapping full back Seb Dunbar was fed in down the left by Mills but fired over in 27^th minute and five minutes later an excellent touch from Will Davies teed up George Quantrell who curled his right footed effort just past the post from the edge of the box.

The temperature was dropping by half time and the small band of travelling fans were hoping for something to warm their cockles early in the second period and they got just that as Ives equalised in the simplest fashion four minutes after the resumption. An early Toseland corner from the left was met perfectly at the near post by skipper Brett Solkhon who steered his unchallenged header into the roof of the net to put hope into our hearts.

Rather than lifting the Ives to go on and win the game losing their lead seemed to spur on the hosts and they started to put pressure back on the shaky visitor’s defence. Two minutes later Hutchings rose highest to get on the end of a Marsden free kick from the right but keeper Heath reacted well to get down low to his right to cling onto the goal bound effort.

That effort was repelled but four minutes later poor defending again cost Ives as two defenders trying vainly to shepherd a long free kick from keeper Donkin out of play allowed themselves to be robbed by Quantrell who galloped along the bye line before laying the ball into the path of Davies who swept home from close range to restore the Blues lead. The parity had only been in place for six minutes.

Now back in front the hosts tore into the wounded Ives going for a third goal to kill them off. Two minutes later Finlay Barnes managed to get past Toseland on the right before cutting inside and curling a left footer just inches over the bar from the edge of the box.

Even the reliable Ed Hottor was making mistakes and his poor ball out of defence in 67^th minute was cut out by Ollie Saunders who fed in Barnes through the right channel. The winger’s powerful rising shot was straight at keeper Heath who held on well. Two minutes later a shooting gallery developed in Ives box as they struggled to clear a ball in from the left. Both Quantrell and Mills had shots bravely blocked by flying Ives bodies as they desperately defended their goal.

Having been under pressure for most of the second period the visitors had one opportunity to get back on level terms in 73^rd minute. A Toseland corner from the right was fed back to him and he delivered the perfect in-swinging ball back into the box that picked out Williams ten yards out. The number ten flicked his header goal wards only to be denied by Marsden on the line. The under pressure full back sliced his attempted clearance inches over his own crossbar but that was just enough and the resulting corner came to nothing.

That proved to be Ives final chance to get some return for all of their hard work as the goal that killed them off arrived five minutes later. It proved a complete disaster for young centre back Callum Milne who seemed to get caught in two minds as he tried to deal with a long ball into the box from the right from Marsden. Unsure whether to clear it with his boot, or a diving header, he did neither ending up on his knees he only succeeded in chesting the ball down to Davies who gratefully accepted the gift and slotted it past the exposed Heath.

There was no coming back from there and Mills almost put the icing on the host’s cake as he curled an effort just wide from 20 yards with nine minutes to go. Had it gone in that would have been cruel on struggling Ives but football is a cruel game and there will always be someone to kick you when you are down.

The win lifts the Blues up to seventh in the table, just outside the play-off places. Positives are hard to find for Ives but I will try, after Saturday this was a battling performance where everyone gave one hundred percent, the two new signings did not really get long enough to show their true abilities but there were promising signs. The team still sit two places and two points above the relegation zone. There is now a full seven days before the next outing and I am sure that there are irons in the fire to bring in more new blood to freshen up the side ahead of what will be a massive encounter with fellow relegation contenders Hitchin Town at Westwood Road on 19^th October.

Final Score : Leiston 3 St Ives Town 1

Goals :

LEISTON: Hutchings 10, Davies 55 & 78

ST IVES: Solkhon 49

Teams

LEISTON: Donkin, Marsden, Dunbar (capt), Saunders, Odelusi, Hutchings, Barnes, Quantrell, Davies, Switters, Mills (Ocran 84), Unused subs: Eagle, Hunter, Allen, Eaton-Collins

ST IVES: Heath, McWilliams Toseland, Richens, Solkhon (capt), Milne (Dwumfuo 86), Snelus (Conway 77), Hottor, Shariff, D. Williams, Hicks (Gordon-Douglas 73), Unused subs : Nabi, White

Ives Supporters man of the match : Jack Snelus

Attendance : 131

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video by Dave Hook.

Leiston v St Ives Town

BetVictor League Southern Premier Division Central 15-10-19

This game always looked like a potential banana skin for the injury hit Ives, a 200 mile round trip to the home of the rock bottom Blues who were without a win all season on a Tuesday night was certainly not what manager Ricky Marheineke and his patched up charges wanted. But at the end of a real roller coaster of a game that neither side deserved to win it is Ives who will come away least happy with a point as not for the first time this season they conceded a very costly late goal.

With Danny Kelly and Mark Coulson joining the long injury list having picked up knocks Ives supporters were delighted to see a return of Declan Rogers to the fold as the midfielder was signed on the morning of the match to boost the visitors depleted ranks. Rogers came straight into the starting line up alongside Tom Wood in the centre of the park.

The game started slowly with neither side creating a lot in the first fifteen minutes. It was an excellent advantage played by referee Michael Robertson-Tant that allow the first opportunity of the game to emerge and it was a chance that should have seen Ives go in front. Ty Ward was taken down late on the half way line by Louie Bloom but just before his legs were taken from him the left back had set Ben Seymour-Shove away down the left and he teed up the perfect teasing cross to the back post where Dylan Wilson arrived unmarked. He just had to direct his header past the exposed Charlie Beckwith in the home goal, but he got up a little to early and was coming down when the ball arrived and only succeeded in steering his header just over the top.

It looked like Ives injury woes were continuing as three minutes later a sickening clash of heads on the half way line saw Ben Jackson left in a heap with blood seeping onto the turf. Fortunately the busiest physio in the League Jess Guthrie was able to patch him up and he returned to the fray with his head bandaged up as in the infamous Terry Butcher days of old.

But the pattern of play was now swinging against the Ives as the Blues enjoyed a spell on top which saw them gain a two goal advantage in the next fifteen minutes. The danger signs were beginning to show and it took a brave save from Finley Iron plunging in to take the ball off the toe of Robert Eagle as he tried to steer home a low cross from the left by Tom Woerndl. Iron made a more routine save in the 24^th minute as he comfortably claimed Josh Hitter’s free kick from the left edge of the box. But the young stopper had no chance when the hosts went in front only a minute later. Mason Sinclair was given acres of space as he roamed forward from right back with the ball at his feet. As no challenge came in he kept going until he got to the right hand edge of the box before delivering a low cross that Bloom sliding in at the far post turned past Iron.

The same player doubled the Blues advantage ten minutes before the break as he like Sinclair before him was given a little bit to much space inside Ives half. The hosts number eleven strode forward before unleashing a vicious drive that deflected off a defender before finding its way into the top left hand corner of Iron’s net.

Two in front was heady territory for the hosts who had not scored more than a single goal in their previous four home games. Their target had to be to stay two clear until the break. They almost achieved that but not quite as Seymour-Shove’s in-swinging corner from the left was pawed down inside the box by keeper Beckwith. The ball fell to Jarvis Wilson who saw his low drive blocked on the line by Noel Aitkens but Matt Foy showed his strikers instinct to pounce on the loose ball and fire home off the underside of the crossbar to reduce the arrears.

Ives came out for the start of the second half early and showed that they were in determined mood as they wrestled control of the game straight from the off. Aaron Phillips was denied an equaliser by a brilliant one handed diving save from Beckwith only ninety seconds after the re-start.

Referee Robertson-Tant played yet another excellent advantage for Ives equaliser in 49^th minute as Phillips played an exquisite cross field clip to put Seymour-Shove clear coming in from the left. The Ives winger was taken down by James Gaffer but Foy was following up and curled the loose ball around Beckwith to level things up. Gaffer picked up a yellow card for the foul that would almost certainly have been red had the ball not ended up in the net. But it was only a temporary reprieve for Gaffer as he picked up his second yellow card only four minutes later for kicking the ball away after Harry Knights had brought down Wilson in the centre of the park.

Ives have struggled to kill off opponents who have gone down to ten men previously this season but surely they were on their way to a remarkable come back win when Seymour-Shove put them in front just after the hour. Rogers picked out Phillips in space on the right and he put in a teasing cross to the back post where Seymour-Shove arriving at pace fired in a first time effort that Beckwith did well to block but the ball rolled loose allowing Seymour-Shove to gleefully fire it home into the roof of the net.

Having got in front Ives seemed to drop their intensity level a little allowing the ten man Blues to get back into the game. Bloom again tried his luck from long range in 74^th minute and this time his effort was deflected just over the top. But the visitors struggled to clear the resulting corner which was delivered deep to the back post. An eventual attempt to clear the danger saw the ball cannon back into the net off Hitter who was quick to claim the accolades for scoring the equaliser.

Back came Ives again and they were gifted the lead back only three minutes later as keeper Beckwith completely misjudged a deep cross from the right by Jackson allowing Foy to ghost around behind him and claim the match ball as he steered his free header into the empty net.

Having got back in front the visitors then had a golden opportunity to kill off the game five minutes from time Phiilips was again involved as he threaded a ball into the feet of Foy on the edge of the box a clever flick from Foy put substitute Josh Dawkin clear one on one with the keeper a chance that a fully match fit Dawkin would have buried but he is still working his way back up to game speed and although he tried to slide the ball past Beckwith low to his left the big keeper did well and got down smartly to smother the effort.

With the clock ticking down Ives simply had to keep possession and see out the remaining minutes but they seem to be picking up a nasty habit recently of failing to get over the line in these situations. There was a warning of what might be to come in the last of the ninety minutes as big centre back Knights got on the end of a Aitkens free kick and steered in a goal bound header that Iron claimed well. But in the last of the four added minutes a free kick conceded on the half way line cost the visitors two points. With everyone else in and around Ives box Beckwith delivered the ball to the back post where Knights again won the header knocking the ball down into the mix where Aitkens forced it home to spark wild celebrations amongst the hosts supporters as they claimed only their second point of the season.

The point has moved Ives up the table one place to seventeenth but whether it proves to be a good point on the road on a Tuesday night or two valuable points lost remains to be seen. Another vital away trip looms up now as they visit the team one place below them in Alvechurch and with most of the injured still weeks rather than days away from a return to the side anything gleaned from a trip to Lye Meadow will be a bonus.

Final Score : Leiston 4 St Ives Town 4

Goals : Foy 45+2, 48 & 78, Seymour-Shove 62

Team : Iron, Phillips (Woodward 90+2), Ward, Wood (capt), Jackson, Johnson, Jarvis Wilson, Rogers, Foy, Dylan Wilson (Dawkin 78), Seymour-Shove

Unused subs : Moyes,

Supporters man of the match : Matt Foy

Attendance : 139

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video by Dave Hook

Leiston vs St Ives Town

Leiston v St Ives Town

Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division Central – 16-03-19

Ives tactics ensured they made best use of the gale force wind to take their revenge on the Blues for an October defeat at Westwood Road in the process they moved up two places to twelfth and leapfrogged their hosts into the bargain. Manager Ricky Marheineke decided to freshen up his side resting Munashe Sundire, Ollie Snaith and Andrew Osie-Bonsu and bringing in Jake Newman, Ty Ward and Ben Baker. Mark Coulson also returned after illness to replace the injured Jordan Patrick at left back.

The hosts won the toss and chose to play with the strong breeze at their backs in the first half but it was Ives who started the best with their high pressing style preventing the home side from enjoying any comfort in possession anywhere on the park. The first opportunity of the game came in eleventh minute when Robbie Parker nicked the ball off Ashley Nicholls in centre circle. He fed Ben Seymour-Shove who threaded a ball into the run of Newman through the centre. Unfortunately a heavy touch from the centre forward allowed keeper Marcus Garnham to sprint from his line to claim the ball just ahead of his adversary.

The wind was proving difficult for everyone and in 19^th minute a Kyle Hammond corner from the left was won at the back post by Joe Jefford his looping header back into the centre swirled in the breeze making life very difficult for Martin Conway who did very well to claim the dropping ball at the second attempt under heavy pressure from Matt Blake.

Ives best attempt in the first half came in 23^rd minute when the persistence of Ty Ward managed to keep in a ball that looked like it was going out by the corner flag on the left. He picked out Seymour-Shove on the edge of the box with his pull back and the visitors leading scorer took a touch before curling in a low right footer that beat keeper Garnham but just scraped the outside of the far post.

Conway pulled off his first excellent save of the afternoon to deny Robert Eagle in 38^th minute. Christy Finch and Seb Dunbar combined well down the left before the latter delivered a cross that evaded everyone in the centre and arrived at the feet of the unmarked Eagle beyond the back post. But the ever alert Conway was on him in a flash to block the shot at point blank range.

The final opportunity of the first period also fell to Eagle in the first added minute but the busy midfielder failed to trouble Ives keeper on this occasion as he was unable to keep down his effort from 20 yards. The chance had been created when Dominic Docherty delivered a low ball in from the right that Blake had held up well before teeing up Eagle.

The already powerful breeze seemed to strengthen even more during the half time interval and the Blues found themselves kicking off into a fully fledged gale. Ives high pressing style ensured that they made best use of the elements immediately pinning their opponents back inside their own half. Seymour-Shove had three efforts at goal in the first three minutes after the re-start. The best of those in 47^th minute was created by Tom Wood who harried a Blues defender into a mistake before feeding the ball through to Seymour-Shove who probably should have done better with his powerful drive from the edge of the box that flashed inches the wrong side of the post.

In spite of Ives now enjoying the majority of possession the Blues were still looking dangerous on the break and Conway was called into spectacular action twice in two minutes around the 55^th minute. In the first of these Blake held the ball up well before feeding Eagle on the right he threaded a ball inside to put Noel Aitkens in on goal but Conway matched his first half save by again smartly closing down the Blues midfielder and blocking his shot a point blank range.

Two minutes later Hammond and Eagle combined well down the right before the latter picked out Finch on the left corner of the box with his low cross. The Blues winger took a touch and tried to curl his effort into the far corner but Conway was equal to it hurling himself high to his left to palm the ball away.

From that point Ives took control of the game and almost went in front on the hour. A mistake by Harry Knights allowed Newman a run on goal but the big striker fired his effort from the edge of the D inches wide of Garnham’s left hand upright with the keeper beaten.

The same player made no mistake as he put Ives in front four minutes later with a goal that was created by Baker. The young winger went past Dunbar on the outside before picking out Seymour-Shove and Ward both arriving in the centre with his pull back. The two seemed to get in each other’s way and neither made clean contact but the ball ran on to Newman lurking at the back post and he gleefully lashed it home inside the six yard box giving Garnham no chance.

Now in front Ives confidence lifted even higher and they went close again three minutes later as a long Conway free kick into the box was headed down by Newman and it took a last ditch block from Knights to prevent Seymour-Shove doubling the visitors advantage. The hosts final noteworthy effort of the game came less than sixty seconds later when a 25 yard snap shot from Finch forced Conway into another excellent diving save low to his right.

Ben Jackson was the next Ives player to go close to adding to their lead in 73^rd minute when he rose unchallenged to power over a Coulson free kick from the right hand edge of the box. The free kick had been won by the tricky Baker who again jinked past Dunbar forcing the Blues full back to bring him down just inches outside the box.

Ives continued to press for the second goal that would put the game to bed and nine minutes from time two man of the match contenders combined to set up another chance the hard working Wood won yet another tackle in the middle of the park before sending Baker away down the right again. His pull back picked out Newman again and he was only denied by another desperate block from Jefford.

The clincher finally arrived in the second minute of added time when substitute Osei-Bonsu robbed a dallying Aitkens before setting off on a powerful run towards goal only to be taken down by Knights just inside the box. The excellent referee Elliott Kaye was in the perfect position and he immediately pointed to the spot. Skipper Parker despatched the penalty to take his tally for the season to six all from the spot and completed another well planned, hard working win on the road. Ives eight of the season a record only bettered by champions elect Kettering.

The man of the match award was not an easy one on another occasion when everyone did their job well. Tom Wood and Ben Baker were front runners but the accolade went to Martin Conway for an impeccable keeping performance topped off by four excellent saves on a day when the weather conditions made it very hard indeed for goalkeepers as Garnham found on a few occasions when attempted goal kicks were curling back towards him rather than arrowing down the park.

Final Score : Leiston 0 St Ives Town 2

Goals : Newman 64, Parker 90+2 (pen)

Team : Conway, Jackson, Coulson, Wood, Hoyte, Jarvis Wilson, Seymour-Shove (Wallis 88), Parker (capt), Newman (Osei-Bonsu 88), Ward (Snaith 82), Baker

Unused subs : Sundire

Supporters man of the match : Martin Conway

Attendance : 216

Report by Nigel Howlett. Photos by Louise Thompson