Barwell VS St Ives Town-Match Preview
Date: Saturday 9th August 2025
Location: Kirkby Road Sports Ground
The 2025/26 PitchingIN Southern League Premier Division Central season has rolled around once again and The Ives will be looking to hit the ground running as they make the trip to Barwell on Saturday.
Ives manager Ricky Marheineke may feel that preparations for the new season haven’t run as smoothly as first hoped, with an injury-hit pre-season campaign making it difficult to field a settled side.
However, despite also having some key men from last season move onto pastures new, there has been some exciting work done in the recruitment department this summer that has seen nine new faces enter the building.
A particular focus seems to have been placed on reinforcing forward areas, with Jamal Adams, Liam Cross, Theo Alexandrou and Neo Dobson all signing on the dotted line in the last few months.
Jiah Medrano, Gibou Njie, Duncan Idehen and Matty Miles have also made the trip to Cambridgeshire, with all four players brought in to bring stability to a backline that will no doubt be thoroughly tested throughout the next nine months.
With the departure of the ever-reliable Dan Wilks over the summer, the recruitment staff identified former Stourbridge goalkeeper Ollie Taylor as his replacement, who will make up an important part of this new-look defensive unit.
With some more positive news coming in the form of Kobe Chong making his long awaited return from injury, the squad at Marheineke’s disposal is starting to take shape ahead of what will no doubt be a testing season for his men.
Barwell
The Leicestershire-based side will be looking to start this season in a more convincing fashion than they finished the last, with a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Spalding United rounding off a difficult season for the Canaries.
Despite finishing in the relegation zone last season, Barwell received a reprieve from the FA following the news that step 2 side Farsley Celtic had not been granted a licence to compete in step 3, despite being relegated from the National League North last season.
Jimmy Ginnelly, who was appointed as Manager ahead of the 2024/25 season after initially taking over on an interim basis, will be buoyed by his side’s pre-season campaign, which saw Barwell win four out of six, including a 7-1 win over Norwegian side Larvik Turn.
Last time out
The last time Ives made the trip to the Kirkby Road Sports Ground was back in March, with goals from Ash Chambers and Kane Richards cancelling out efforts from Will Glennon and Amir Hadi in the first half, which saw the hosts run out 3-2 winners and pick up a vital three points in the race to avoid the drop.
Last 5 Meetings
Barwell 3-2 St Ives Town-March 22nd 2025
St Ives Town 0-1 Barwell-October 12th 2024
Barwell 3-4 St Ives Town-April 6th 2024
St Ives Town 3-1 Barwell- November 27th 2023
St Ives Town 1-1 Barwell-February 25th 2023
