Stourbridge v St Ives Town

Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 11-03-2023

A very hard earned point on the road in awful conditions at a tough ground to visit, but it could have easily been so much more for battling Ives. New loan signings from Peterborough United, Ashton Fox and Luke Harris both came straight into the starting line up and had an immediate impact in raising the energy level from what had looked a tired Ives performance at Basford last Saturday.

The higher intensity approach from Ives showed straight from the off and they shocked their hosts by going in front inside the first three minutes. The high press saw Enoch Andoh rob a dallying Alex Prosser deep inside his own half. The Ives winger then fed the ball across the pitch to Johnny Herd on the left edge of the Glassboys box and his perfectly placed right foot chip deceived keeper Charlie Price and nestled in the bottom corner of the net.

Falling behind that early sparked a reaction from the hosts and they hit the woodwork in their first meaningful attack two minutes later. Overlapping full back Demico Burton got down the left and hung up a cross to the back post where Reece Styche outjumped Ben Toseland but his header back across the face of goal glanced wide of the outside of the post with keeper James Goff beaten.

The small home crowd, all sensibly sheltering from the driving rain and biting wind, were stunned to silence for a second time in 13^th minute as Ives deservedly doubled their advantage. A clip down the left found Kieran Higgs somehow on the wrong side of his marker, Lee Vaughan. The Glassboys skipper was unable to get a challenge in on the Ives man as Higgs drove into the box before picking out Jonny Edwards six yards out in the centre of goal and Ives leading scorer did the rest.

Now two goals to the good and with their tails up Ives continued to dominate these early exchanges and twice went close to further increasing their advantage. In 21^st minute Paddy Casey got past Obinna Anaebonam down the right before delivering a teasing cross that beat the outstretched fingers of Price but rebounded to safety off the top of the crossbar. Two minutes later Edwards fed in Andoh through the right channel but the tricky winger was forced wide and a well positioned Price made his first save of the day to block the shot.

Goff was forced into his first meaningful save at the other end two minutes later as he reacted brilliantly to keep out a fierce close range volley from Styche, a teasing cross into the box by Burton had bounced up into the air off the head of a stretching Ashton Fox and fell to the host’s number ten who struck it cleanly only to be left with his head in his hands as Goff kept the effort out..

Back at the clubhouse end Ives spurned a great opportunity to make it 3-0 only moments later as Higgs was fed through the centre completely clear but failed to beat Price who closed him quickly and spread himself well to bravely block the shot with his body at point blank range.

That proved to be a turning point in the game as the hosts wrestled control and started to look for a route back into the contest. Goff pulled off another excellent save to deny them in 32^nd minute. The very mobile James Cowley got around the outside of Jordan Williams to get to the bye line and picked out Anaebonam by the penalty spot with his pull back. The Glassboys number eleven struck his shot well but Goff was equal to it getting down smartly to his right to keep the ball out.

But the Ives stopper had no chance to keep out the goal that got the hosts back into the game six minutes before the break. Vaughan delivered a cross from the right that Ives struggled to deal with and the ball dropped to the feet of Cowley who crashed it home from eight yards to halve the arrears.

The hosts had one opportunity to get level before the break as the all action Luke Harris took down Reece King as the midfielder tried to surge through the heart of Ives back line. Anaebonam took the responsibility with the free kick 25 yards out but although he got it over Ives four man wall he could not get it back down to hit the target.

Ives probably expected an onslaught from their hosts at the start of the second half, but it was they who went close to increasing their lead only three minutes after the re-start. A Herd long throw was flicked on by Williams and Fox forced himself between defenders to knock the ball goalwards but Price got down smartly to his left to make the save.

The host’s first threatening attack on Ives goal in the second period did not arrive until eight minutes later when Vaughan and Callum Rowe combined well on the right. The latter delivered a cross to the near post where Styche battled Ives defenders and the ball dropped to the striker but he snatched at the chance a screwed horribly wide from a good position.

The following 15 minutes were fairly even with neither side creating a clear cut opportunity. The next half chance fell to Edwards with twenty minutes to go but he did little better than Styche as he fired high and wide from just inside the box having been fed in by Higgs.

The game began to open up as the heavy pitch started to take its toll and chances started to appear at both ends as the game entered the final fifteen minutes. The busy Cowley battled his way to the bye line on the right before delivering a cross to the back post where Styche leapt highest but could not keep his header down.

Edwards should really have sewn the game up for Ives in 78^th minute. Substitute Tyrone Baker battled hard to get the ball and fed in Edwards clear inside the box with only Price to beat, but as in the first half the big stopper did well quickly closing the striker and blocking his attempt to lift the ball over him with an outstretched palm.

With the clock ticking down the hosts began to show more urgency in their quest for an equaliser. A long cross from the left by substitute Darryl Knights picked out King who directed his headers goalwards but straight at Goff who held on well. A mistake by Toseland let in King for a run at goal in 88^th minute and the covering Fox was forced to bring him down 30 yards from goal. Prosser delivered the free kick into the danger zone where Ives just managed to scramble it clear but a clash of heads between Toseland and Cowley left both players on the deck and requiring lengthy treatment leading to an added eight minutes going up on the board.

This lifted the hosts to double their efforts and sure enough an equaliser came in the fourth added minute when Knights wriggled his way to the bye line before picking out Joe Hull with his pull back. The Glassboys centre back showed good composure to pick his spot and beat Goff low to his right to level things up.

Even then the nervy hosts could have been caught out as Baked ran clear onto a flick through the right channel and could probably have gone for goal but tried to pick out his fellow substitute Nabil Shariff with a square ball that the lunging Hull just manged to cut out.

On the negative side this was a seventh game without a win, But there were more positives than negatives from this game as the battling point keeps Ives six points clear of the drop zone with seven games to go and the level of effort and endeavour shown in this game if repeated in the remaining games should see them keep their noses above water. The return in the double header with the Glassboys takes place at quattro tech Westwood Road next Saturday afternoon and it is another vital game in the quest for survival at step three.

Final Score: Stourbridge 2 St Ives Town 2

Goals:

STOURBRIDGE: Cowley 39, Hull 90+4

ST IVES: Herd 3, Edwards 13

Team Line Ups:

STOURBRIDGE: Price, L. Vaughan (capt), Burton, Prosser, Kettle, Hull, Rowe, King, Cowley, Styche, Anaebonam Unused subs: Worley, Gittings, E. Vaughan,

ST IVES: Goff, Casey, Herd (Johnson 88), Richens (capt), J. Williams, Fox, Andoh (Baker 68), Harris, Edwards, Higgs (Shariff 78), Toseland, Unused subs: Johnston, Kaziboni

Cards: Yellow: STOURBRIDGE: King (27), Vaughan (61) ST IVES: Higgs (17), Andoh (37), Herd (81), Harris (86), Toseland (88)

IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Luke Harris

Attendance: 373

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video by Ollie Jones.

Stourbridge v St Ives Town

Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central 21-08-2021

Ives ensured that the Glassboys tough start to the season continued with a thoroughly professional all round performance that could easily have seen them win even more emphatically than the 3 – 1 score line. Unlucky to go in one down at the break, three well taken goals in an eleven minute spell just after the hour saw them cruise to victory and heap more early season pressure on the hosts manager Mark Yates.

Once again Ives manager Ricky Marheineke made his usual changes to keep the side fresh. This time fit again Ben Toseland returned at left back with Josh Flanagan moving across to his more familiar right back spot. Flanagan’s fellow Northampton loanee Liam Cross joined him on the right side replacing Michael Harding and Nabil Shariff returned at centre forward with Ryan Robbins dropping to the bench.

Most of the early pressure came from the in-form visitors and Samir Nabi saw two early pot shots fly well wide. The first real chance arrived in the seventh minute when Luke Fairlamb robbed a dallying Lee Vaughan before racing away to the edge of the box and unleashing a powerful drive that beat home keeper Charlie Price’s dive but flashed the wrong side of the post.

Ives should have gone in front in 16^th minute as Nabi cut out a poor ball from Glassboys debutant winger Nick Clayton deep inside his own half. Nabi played a one two with Shariff on the edge of the hosts box and the return ball put him clean through one on one with keeper Price. As the hosts stopper came to meet him it looked like the Ives midfielder had got everything right rolling the ball past the exposed keeper but it went agonisingly wide of the upright.

Even this early in the game the home supporters were already starting to get on the backs of their players and this cannot be an easy ground for any home player to play in at the moment. Clayton was one who was trying hard to lift his team mates and he had a big hand in creating the hosts first opportunity of a sight of goal in two minutes later as he cut out an intended clearance from Callum Milne and played in Montel Gibson who ran onto the edge of the box before letting fly with an effort that was bravely blocked at point blank range by the flying body of skipper Brett Solkhon. The ball ran loose to Jason Cowley who was taken down 25 yards out by Nabi just as he was about to shoot. Ives keeper Paul White was called upon to make his first save of the afternoon plunging to his left to hang onto Cowley’s free kick.

As the half wore on the game evened up with Ives just about shading possession and moving the ball around well. Their hosts trying to match them but generally being a bit more direct in trying to get the ball from one end to the other. Both keepers were called into action within sixty seconds of each other in 39^th minute firstly Fairlamb managed to cut inside his marker before firing in a low 20 yarder that Price saved comfortably low to his left. The ball was delivered out to the left then pumped into Ives territory where for probably the only time in the game Gibson found enough space to bring it down swivel and shoot from just inside the box. Fortunately the cleanly struck effort was straight at White who held on well.

Just when it looked like the two sides would go in goal less at the break Ives switched off as a free kick was delivered into their box by James McQuilkin. Cowley got across in front of his marker and looped a header over White from 12 yards to keep up his record of scoring in every game this season.

Considering themselves unlucky to be behind Ives supporters got a boost even before the whistle blew for the restart as long time injury absentee Robbie Parker returned to the centre of midfield replacing Nabi.

However it was the hosts, buoyed by their goal just seconds before the break, who started the second half strongest. Ethan Moran wasted a good shooting opportunity as he fired over the top from just inside the box having been fed through by Cowley in 48^th minute. The Glassboys followed up with three corners in quick succession all well defended by Ives with Solkhon’s head always to the fore. Clayton was still trying his best to impress at his new club and he showed excellent touch as he wriggled his way through three Ives defenders to get through on goal in 55^th minute. But the excellent White was alert to the danger and quickly off his line to block the young wingers shot at point blank range.

Not to be outdone by the hosts tricky winger Ives own version Fairlamb came within millimetres of putting Ives level only two minutes later his jinked his way inside and out to get past three defenders into the box before cutting inside and firing past keeper Price only to be denied by the head of Liam Daly on the line as the big centre back had got around behind his keeper.

But going this close to getting on level terms seemed to lift the Ives and they went very close again only two minutes later as Cross hung up a teasing ball just beyond the back post where Dylan Williams rose above his marker to head it back into the mix. Daly was again the hosts saviour as he did just enough to knock the ball away as Shariff arrived at pace ready to knock it over the line.

The deserved equaliser duly arrived in 62^nd minute and it came from an unexpected quarter. Williams brilliantly sprayed a ball out from the centre to pick out Flanagan galloping forward into space on the right. Inexplicably the hosts failed to close him down and the youngster showed great composure as he strode on into the box before unleashing an unstoppable shot across the face of Price and into the far corner of the net.

Two substitutions by Yates immediately after the goal failed to change the course of the afternoon and from the moment Flanagan’s effort hit the back of the net only one side looked likely to win this game. Sure enough five minutes later Ives went in front Solkhon seized an opportunity to stride forward and picked out Fairlamb in space on the left. The winger again showed his pace and trickery to get to the bye line before picking Ed Hottor on the edge of the box with his pull back. The midfielders first effort was blocked on the line but he was not to be denied and followed up to slam home the loose ball.

The icing on the cake arrived in 72^nd minute as Fairlamb was again put clear down the left this time by an excellent cross field ball from Flanagan. On this occassion the winger cut inside and went for goal himself. His initial cross shot was parried by keeper Price but once more an Ives player reacted first as Cross pounced on the loose ball to fire it home from inside the six yard box.

One might have expected a reaction from the hosts but it did not materialise and Ives were fairly comfortable in playing out the remaining eighteen minutes with only one scare well into added time. The Glassboys cause was not helped as they went down to ten men for the final seven minutes with Kieran Morris limping off after all three substitutes had already been used by Yates in a desperate effort to find a way back into the game. The one scare in 91^st minute came as a curled ball into the box from the left by Daly somehow evaded everyone and arrived at the feet of Cowley at the back post for what looked like a tap in. But to sum up the hosts afternoon their leading scorer got it horribly wrong on this occasion the ball skimming off the wet turf hitting his shin and rolling wide.

Every player that got on the pitch for Ives today was worthy of a shout for man of the match particularly Brett Solkhon who was immense, Ed Hottor who got through a tremendous amount of work in the middle and Luke Fairlamb who gave the Glassboys defenders nightmares. But I don’t think that any of them could deny the accolade going to the man who got the ball rolling with an early goal of the season contender Josh Flanagan

Final Score : Stourbridge 1 St Ives Town 3

Goals :

STOURBRIDGE : Cowley 44

ST IVES : Flanagan 62, Hottor 67, Cross 72

Teams

STOURBRIDGE: Price, O’Hanlon (Rowe-Turner 63), Vaughan, McQuilkin, Daly (capt), Morris, Moran (Okafor 73), Bushaj, Cowley, Gibson, Clayton (Bustin 63) Unused subs: King, Knights

ST IVES: White, Flanagan, Toseland, Nabi (Parker 46), Solkhon (capt), Milne, Cross (Seymour-Shove 75), Hottor, Shariff (Robbins 84), Williams, Fairlamb Unused subs : Anaele, Heath

Ives Supporters man of the match : Josh Flanagan

Attendance : 494

Report by Nigel Howlett. Video by Dave Hook.

Stourbridge v St Ives Town

BetVictor League Southern Premier Division Central 18-01-20

Once again failure to defend dead ball situations cost Ives all three points as the Glassboys completed a comfortable double over their struggling visitors. To add insult to injury the usually reliable Robbie Parker failed to convert an early spot kick for the second game in a row.

With Dan Clifton and Ben Jackson both back to full fitness and recalled to the starting eleven Ives were only missing long term absentee Jack Snelus and unavailable Matt Foy from a first choice squad. They started the game positively and the penalty arrived after only ninety seconds as Andrew Osei-Bonsu got clear down the left and pulled the ball back to the late arriving Ben Toseland who was unceremoniously taken down from behind by Jordan Williams. Referee Gareth Davis had no hesitation and immediately pointed to the spot. Despite his miss last week Parker seized the ball and confidently whacked his kick past the diving Charlie Price in the home goal only to end up with his head in his hands again as the ball thudded the upright and rebounded to safety.

In another repeat of last week Ives then found themselves behind only a few minutes later in the simplest fashion. Tom Turton delivered the hosts second corner of the game deep beyond the far post where Williams rose above his marker to nod the ball down into the six yard box. The lurking Anthony Dwyer reacted fastest to the loose ball to prod it home from close range with only six minutes on the watch.

Falling behind seemed to instantly drain the confidence from the struggling Ives and the Glassboys looked to take further advantage over their fragile visitors. Defending balls into their own box was proving a real problem and five minutes later a Will Grocott free kick from the right was headed wide at the back post by Jordaan Brown.

The Ives almost self destructed twice in quick succession around the twenty minute mark. Initially a poor pass out of defence by Jackson was cut out by Dwyer who fed in Grocott the pacey number ten was only denied a clear run on goal by a brilliant recovery tackle from Tom Wood. Only seconds later goalkeeper Bradley Lashley was forced into a hurried clearance from a back pass. The ball skimmed along the deck to the feet of Nathan Hayward fully forty yards from goal. He took a touch and curled a return effort over the fast back peddling Lashley who showed excellent footwork and agility to leap backwards and tip the ball just over the crossbar. Unfortunately for the young keeper he was let down by his defenders on the resulting corner which was swung into the near post by Turton where central defender Brown was allowed a free run to power home a header from eight yards.

Ives struggles continued as the rampaging hosts continued to bombard their box. They were perhaps a little fortunate not to fall further behind in 25th minute as yet another Turton corner created an effort on goal. This one was delivered to the back post where Williams rose above his marker but powered his header straight at Lashley who held on well.

A rare effort from open play in 36th minute saw Grocott flash a fierce right foot drive inches wide from just inside the box having been fed through by Alex Nicholls. To add to Ives problems defending high balls they found that their hosts also had a long thrower who could deliver the ball into dangerous territory. One of Tom Tonks arcing throws caused problems in 38th minute. Lashley came through the crowd to try and help his struggling defenders out but the keeper’s under pressure punch fell to the feet of Hayward just outside the box. His low drive through the gaggle of players in the box was hacked off the line by Alfie Powell.

The goal that killed the game as a contest arrived five minutes before the break and just like its predecessors it came from a dead ball situation. Clifton picked himself up a yellow card for clattering Hayward on the left. The resulting free kick was delivered to the back post where Ives defenders struggled to deal with it the ball eventually falling to Hayward who scrambled it home from close range to send the Glassboys supporters into their tea break three goals to the good.

With the game now over the pressure eased on both sides although it was still the hosts in the ascendency but despite creating a few chances from open play they were unable to beat Lashley and his colleagues again. The first opportunity arrived five minutes after the re-start as Nicholls and Hayward combined to feed in Tonks who screwed his shot wide from a good position. Tonks was involved in carving out the next chance in 57th minute as he linked up well with Nicholls and Grocott on the right before delivering a teasing low cross that just evaded Hayward sliding in at the back post.

Clifton was on hand to acrobatically clear a Tonks effort off the line in 59th minute after the little number seven had got on the end of Nicholls cross from the left. Lashley then twice brilliantly denied Hayward in three minutes just after the hour. The Glassboys midfielder thought that he had scored with the first effort as he threaded a low shot through a crowd of players from the edge of the box but the young keeper was sharply down to his left to keep it out. Hayward’s second opportunity was set up by Turton’s low cross from the right. This time he went for power from the edge of the box but again Lashley threw himself to his left to palm the ball away.

Dylan Wilson had been running the hard yards as Ives lone striker throughout the afternoon and his sheer persistence won him reward in 67th minute. Williams tried to head a bouncing ball back to his keeper but made poor contact just allowing Wilson to nip between the two and lift the ball over the out of position Price and into the net to give Ives just a glimmer of getting back into the game.

With Ollie Snaith replacing the out of sorts Osei-Bonsu to bring his bustling energy into the game the next fifteen minutes were Ives best spell of the afternoon. In 75th minute Wilson managed to outpace Williams to get on the end of a long ball down the right from Wood. Again he tried to lob the out of position Price but this time he got it wrong and the ball sailed harmlessly wide. Three minutes later Parker won the ball deep in Glassboys territory before bursting into the box but firing wide. The final Ives chance of the game also fell to Wilson in 80th minute as he hassled Williams into another mistake just outside the box but this time seemed caught in two minds of whether to shoot or again try and lob Price who was well outside his six yard box. Unfortunately he did neither simply firing a tame effort straight into the keepers hands.

With the clock ticking down the hosts were quite effectively retaining possession to kill off the game. They did still manage to carve out a couple more opportunities to add to their tally. Two minutes from time Dwyer fed in substitute Josh Ezewele who drilled in a low cross from the right that Aaron Phillips did remarkably well to take off the toe of Grocott at the back post. There was also time for the impressive Lashley to show off his prowess once more as he leapt high to tip over a fierce drive from Dwyer deep in added time.

The result still leaves Ives in the bottom two but with everyone else around them also losing the hope of lifting themselves out of the mire still remains and with two home games in four days starting next Saturday the recovery must start soon.

Final Score : Stourbridge 3 St Ives Town 1

Goals : Dylan Wilson 67

Team : Lashley, Phillips, Toseland, Clifton (Ward 83), Jackson, Powell (Bailey 74), Osei-Bonsu (Snaith 66), Parker (capt), Dylan Wilson, Curtis, Wood

Unused subs : Seymour-Shove

Supporters man of the match : Dylan Wilson

Attendance : 712

Report by Nigel Howlett. Photos by Louise Thompson.

Stourbridge vs St Ives Town

Stourbridge v St Ives Town

Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division Central – 30-03-19

A rousing second half comeback earned Ives an excellent point on the road at the imposing home of the promotion chasing Glassboys. It was always going to be an interesting clash between the hosts with the best home record in the Division and the visitors with an away record only bettered by champions elect Kettering Town.

With Gavin Hoyte missing injured Owen Wallis was called up for his first start since early January, Ollie Snaith and Andrew Osei-Bonsu also came back into the starting line up as manager Ricky Marheineke again shook things up to keep the squad fresh.

Things almost went disastrously wrong for the Ives straight from the kick off which was played straight back to Martin Conway in the visitor’s goal. He allowed himself to be closed down by Kaiman Anderson who managed to block the keeper’s attempted clearance which caused the ball to balloon up into the air. Anderson reacted first to the dropping ball but steered his header just wide much to the relief of Ives keeper.

The visitors did not learn from their very early escape and fell behind to the hosts next attack in fourth minute. Tom Wood wrestled Anderson to the ground inside the penalty area to prevent him getting on the end of a dangerous Greg Mills cross from the left and unfortunately for the all action midfielder referee Paul Stonier was in the perfect position to spot his misdemeanour and immediately pointed to the spot. Mills did the rest sending Conway the wrong way with the penalty.

The lively Mills continued to create problems down the left flank and Conway did well to tip another of his dangerous crosses off the head of Anderson at full stretch in twelfth minute, Wallis was in the right position to clear up the loose ball.

Ives were slowly working their way into the contest and they carved out their first opportunity to get a shot on goal of the afternoon in 16^th minute when Ty Ward was brought down 30 yards from goal by Brad Birch. Osei-Bonsu went for goal directly but rather than worry keeper James Wren he warmed the hands of a spectator on the terrace behind the goal.

Wren was called into action seven minutes later when Osei-Bonsu’s quick thinking created an opportunity for Snaith to get in an effort on goal. The Ives number ten’s quick throw gave Mark Coulson chance to pick out Snaith on the edge of the box but he did not hit his volley cleanly allowing Wren to make a comfortable save.

Wren’s hands were warmed a little more in 26^th minute when Osei-Bonsu put Ben Seymour-Shove through the left channel. The Ives winger was pushed wide but still managed to power in a fierce left footed effort that the well positioned keeper was forced to palm over the top.

The remainder of the first half was fairly even with the only noteworthy event coming six minutes from the break when Conway missed a Mills cross from the left under heavy pressure from Anderson. But Wallis was again on hand to tidy up the pieces and remove the ball from danger.

Behind at the break but by no means out of the contest manager Marheineke’s half time team talk lifted his charges and they came out for the re-start determined to give it a massive go and managed to wrestle control of the game away from their illustrious opponents and started to create chances of their own. The first of these arrived in 53^rd minute when another quick Osei-Bonsu throw gave Seymour-Shove time and space to pick out a man in the centre but he wasted the opportunity by over hitting his cross with Ty Ward lurking in space at the back post.

Less than sixty seconds later Osei-Bonsu carved out another excellent opportunity for an equaliser as he ghosted past two defenders on the left to get to the bye line but although he picked out Seymour-Shove with his driven cross he hit it a little to hard and the stretching Ives winger failed to keep down his header from the edge of the six yard box.

Ives pressure continued to mount as the pace and movement of their front players troubled the Glassboys back line. In 58^th minute a short free kick on the left provided Osei-Bonsu the opportunity to run at the defence allowing him to unleash a powerful drive from the corner of the box that Wren only managed to hold at the second attempt just ahead of a fast closing Wood.

Despite being under the cosh for long periods the hosts still looked dangerous on the break and it took an excellent recovery tackle from Snaith to prevent them increasing their advantage in 62^nd minute. Robbie Parker lost possession on the half way line and Birch broke away at pace down the right before feeding the ball into the run of Robbie Thompson-Brown who looked like he was clear into the box only for Snaith to appear from nowhere to take the ball off his toe at the vital moment.

The hosts went even closer to doubling their lead in 70^th minute when substitute Nehemiah Zazi sprinted down the right before feeding the ball into the feet of Thompson-Brown on the edge of the box. He in turn teed up George Forsyth who cracked a first time effort that flashed through the crowd of players in the box rattled Conway’s right hand post and rebounded straight into the hands of the grateful keeper.

Having survived that scare Ives again lifted themselves to once more put pressure on the tiring hosts. A 74^th minute Mark Coulson corner from the right picked out Wallis in the centre who had somehow got a free run between the towering Glassboys defenders but the Ives centre back failed to hit the target with his free header from eight yards.

The hosts had one more chance to sew the game up with fourteen minutes to go and again Conway was pleased that the frame of his goal came to his rescue. A deep Mills cross from the left was kept alive by Zazi who delivered the ball back into the near post where Anderson and Jarvis Wilson both challenged for it. It was impossible to tell if the ball came off friend, or foe, but for the second time in quick succession it rattled an upright and bounced straight into the grateful keeper’s hands.

The last ten minutes was all Ives as they pressed forward in search of the all important leveller. There first chance came at the end of a flowing move that put Osei-Bonsu into space on the right. His low driven cross just eluded Wood in the centre and crept inches wide of the far post with all looking on.

Only sixty seconds later a mistake by Glassboys skipper Paul McCone allowed Seymour-Shove to get on the end of a lob over the top. His shot from a narrow angle was deflected off the keeper into the legs of a fast recovering McCone who was very fortunate that Aaron Hayden had got back onto the line to prevent him knocking the ball into his own net.

McCone’s fellow defender Zak Lilly was not as lucky as his skipper four minutes later when Ives finally managed to get the equaliser that their second half performance deserved. Another Ives corner from the left was kept alive by Wilson who fed the ball back to substitute Ben Baker on the right his hanging cross was flapped at by keeper Wren under heavy pressure from Munashe Sundire and the ball rebounded off the knee of the luckless Lilly and rolled over the line to spark wild celebrations amongst the travelling Ives contingent.

The only opportunity for either side to grab a winner came in the first minute of added time when Osei-Bonsu and Seymour-Shove combined well down the left with the move finishing as the latter curled a dipping effort inches over the top from just outside the box.

Overall verdict was yet another excellent point on the road at one of the toughest places to visit in the League. The unbeaten away run stretches to seven games, if only the home record were on a par the Ives would be on the fringes of the play-offs, scary territory indeed!.

There were some colossal performances from some of the usual suspects but the man of the match award went to a player who has not seen to many starts in the recent past, Owen Wallis who did a fantastic job keeping quiet the dangerous Glassboys strikers in tandem with his centre back partner the equally ebullient Jarvis Wilson.

Final Score : Stourbridge 1 St Ives Town 1

Goals : Lilly (own goal) 88

Team : Conway, Jackson, Coulson (Baker 85), Wood, Wallis, Jarvis Wilson, Snaith (Newman 85), Parker (capt), Osei-Bonsu, Seymour-Shove, Ward (Sundire 68)

Unused subs : Patrick

Supporters man of the match : Owen Wallis

Attendance : 621

Report by Nigel Howlett. Photos by Louise Thompson.