Match Report
St Ives Town V Real Bedford
Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 25-08-2025
Ives may well feel they should have been ending the Bank Holiday weekend with a couple more points in their back pocket, but they were forced to settle for just one as they played out a hard-fought stalemate with Real Bedford in the sunshine.
Both teams came into the game on the back of losses, admittedly to teams that are tipped to occupy the promotion spots come the end of the season, in the form of Harborough Town and Kettering Town. They also weren’t helped by the energy-sapping conditions of the weekend, which were more suited to sandals and sangrias rather than excessive cardio.
Ives manager Ricky Marheineke made three changes to the side that lost 2-0 in Leicestershire, with Michael Richens, Kobe Chong and Gibou Njie replacing Albie O’Keefe, Matty Miles and Amir Hadi. Rob Sinclair also made three changes from his sides outing against Kettering, with former Ives forward Josh Allen, Ben Weyman and Isaac Galliford coming into the side in place of Archie Jones, Ben Stevens and Josh Setchell, making up a new look front line for the Pirates.
The game started in a fairly pedestrian fashion, with both sides looking to feel their way into the contest. The first real opening came in the 8th minute as Connor Tee, who looked the most likely to break the deadlock throughout the 90 minutes, produced a good solo effort to create a bit of space for himself before unleashing a shot towards Ollie Taylor’s far post, but the Ives shot stopper was equal to it.
Taylor was forced into action five minutes later as this time Isaac Galliford turned a cross towards goal from close-range, but his effort was palmed away from danger for a corner that ultimately came to nothing. This would be the last of the clear-cut chances before the teams paused for water in what was an uneventful opening 20 minutes.
The break gave Marheineke and his staff a chance to pass on some instructions to their players and whatever was said seemed to have an impact, with Ives starting to have more of the ball and control of proceedings. However, the home side were still struggling to find the piece of quality that would unlock the Real Bedford backline.
Up the other end of the pitch it was Tee who was again finding space on the edge of the Ives penalty area and asking questions of Taylor as the 25 year-old shrugged off the challenge of Gibou Njie before taking aim at goal, but the goalkeeper was again there to push the effort wide.
Despite a late push from Ives towards the end of the half which saw the ball bounce around the Pirates’ penalty area on a few occasions, no one in a black and white shirt was able to get a clear site of Tyler McGregor’s goal as referee Stuart Lathan brought the half to a close.
No changes were made at the break on either side, with both managers opting to give their starting forwards the chance to break the deadlock. Pirates number 9 Joey Evans nearly did just that as he got on the end of a high quality cross from the right-hand side, but he couldn’t keep his header down from no more than 8 yards out.
It was the visitors who continued to have the early second half momentum and will feel they should’ve made their early dominance pay. With Ives losing the ball in midfield, a four on one counter attacking opportunity presented itself, but Njie demonstrated his ability to read the game as he made a vital interception to prevent the ball finding the onrushing attackers.
The game started to become more open as Ives started to have some chances of their own, with captain Michael Richens finding Liam Cross out wide in acres of space, but his shot was well stopped at the near post by McGregor. The visitors then went straight down the other end and had a good chance of their own, with Evans once again nodding over the crossbar, this time getting on the end of Weyman’s cross.
On the hour mark the visitors looked to the bench for reinforcements as Stevens and Jones replaced Weyman and Galliford. Ives responded in the 64th minute with a double substitution of their own as Chong and Njie were given a well-earned rest and were replaced by Amir Hadi and Matty Miles. Hadi went close to making an instant impact as he was played through on goal, but the onrushing McGregor was equal to his low effort.
Eight minutes later it was Theo Alexandrou who produced some individual brilliance to cut inside his opposing fullback and whip a ferocious curling effort towards McGregor’s far post, but the ball flashed just wide with the keeper at full-stretch.
Both sides continued to have chances right up until the end, with arguably the best chance falling to Ives defender Duncan Idehen, who was once again solid and composed throughout. Ives’ number 6 leaped highest to get on the end of Jernade Meade’s out-swinging corner, but his powerful header was superbly palmed away from McGregor as we ticked into injury time.
In the end, both sides had to settle for a point which leaves both teams on five points from 5 games played, on a day where the 347 in attendance got everything but the goals on a beautiful August Bank Holiday at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road. Attention now turns to the Emirates FA Cup, which sees Ives travel to Berkhamsted whilst Real Bedford play high-flying Bishop’s Stortford, who currently occupy top spot in the Southern Premier Division Central.
Final Score: St Ives Town 0 0 Real Bedford Half Time 0 – 0
Goals:
ST IVES:
REAL BEDFORD:
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Taylor, Creary, Medrano (Smith 80), Richens, Williams, Idehen, Chong (Hadi 64), Njie (Miles 64), Meade, Cross (Dobson 85), Alexandrou (Adams 85) Unused subs:
REAL BEDFORD: McGregor, Davies, Cartwright, Ward, Richardson, Allen, Watkins (Ward 87), Weyman (Jones 60), Tee, Galliford (Stevens 60), Evans (Hitchcock 71)
Unused subs:
Referee: Stuart Lathan
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES: Idehen (77) Creary (82), Williams (82), REAL BEDFORD Watkins (32), Jones (75), Ward (85)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Duncan Idehen
Attendance: 347