Match Report
St Ives Town v Stourbridge
Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 04-01-2025
Two out of form sides went into this game desperate to get their seasons back on track after both had come out of the busy Christmas and New Year period without a win in four games. Glassboys manager Liam McDonald had gone into the transfer market to try and reinvigorate his misfiring squad who have tumbled from the play-off places bringing in loanees O’Shea Ellis from Birmingham City and Nile Timson from Aston Villa in addition to permanent signing Blaine Rowe from Hednesford Town, all three going into the starting line up. Ives manager Ricky Marheineke went for the opposite tactic naming an unchanged side following the New Years Day defeat at Spalding where a mad two minutes cost them a game where they were otherwise the better side.
Marheineke’s tactics proved right as an all around team performance topped off with some very well taken goals saw Ives take a well deserved three points to pile the pressure on his opposite number. Having said that the hosts can thank the width of their goalposts at the quattro tech Westwood Road for preventing them from falling behind inside the first minute. A very early Alex Moore corner was missed by everyone in the centre and bounced off the knee of skipper Alex Collard onto his own goalpost and straight into the hands of a much relieved Dan Wilks.
Picking up on the positive from Spalding Ives very mobile front line looked threatening and Josh Allen was denied by an offside flag as he ran clear onto Will Glennon’s fifth minute through ball, all following excellent work by Amir Hadi.
After those early exchanges the game settled down with the visitors just about shading possession but unable to make any inroads into Ives well marshalled back line. They were restricted to long range efforts with Moore clipping the top of the crossbar with a rising 17th minute effort and centre back Jordaan Brown forcing a diving save out of Wilks on the half hour.
Moments later Ives first real attack since Allen was flagged offside in fifth minute saw them get their noses in front. Peter Abimbola got down the left and delivered a low cross that no one could get on the end of but the visitors struggled to clear. The ball eventually arriving at the feet of Jernade Meade 25 yards from goal. He sidestepped a defender before letting fly with a dipping effort that skipped off the surface on it’s way into the bottom corner of the net past the despairing dive of Callum Smith in the Glassboys goal.
Getting in front appeared to lift the hosts and Hadi came close to adding a second nine minutes later. Cleverly turning his man on the edge of the box the striker ran straight into the heart of the visitors back line bursting through two attempted tackles before being dispossessed by a well timed tackle from Joel Kettle just as he was about to shoot.
Rowe had delivered a couple of long throws into Ives box which the hosts had defended well but they were almost caught out by another projectile hurled in three minutes before the break. The initial flick fell to Alex Jones ten yards out but poor contact by the Glassboys skipper allowed Wilks to make a comfortable save.
The ever willing Hadi created another opportunity for the hosts on the cusp of half time as he battled his way to the bye line on the right. His pull back picked out Allen in a little bit of space. The Ives number ten went for the curled option and just missed his intended target Smith’s top right hand corner.
In the freezing conditions it was perhaps no surprise that neither side seemed eager to return for the start of the second period. But it was the visitors who were caught cold as Ives doubled their lead in simple fashion only ninety seconds after the restart. Abimbola’s in-swinging corner from the left was met powerfully at the back post by Jordan Williams his downward header being swept home from close range by fellow defender Ethan Creary.
This was Ives purple patch as they continued to push forward for the next fifteen minutes looking to kill off their struggling opponents. Benji Mensah was causing all sorts of problems down the right. In 53rd minute he outpaced his marker to get to the bye line. His powerful low cross beat the diving Smith but a stretching Hadi arriving behind the keeper got to much on his effort and lifted it over the vacant net.
Hadi’s strength and skill were also proving a handful for the visitors back line and Miro Pais was forced to bring him down just outside the right edge of the box in 58th minute. Meade seemed to be caught in two minds with the resulting free kick ending up going for goal and curling it over the top with team mates ready to pounce onto a clip into the no mans land between keeper and defenders.
Wilks in the Ives goal had very little to do in these early stages of the second half but when he was called upon on the hour the big keeper showed his brilliant best tipping Jones close range diving header over the top after the Glassboys skipper had got onto the end of Rowe’s near post cross.
Desperately looking for a route back into the game McDonald made a triple substitution replacing Timson, Ellis and Ethan Freemantle with Alex Worley, Elliott Durrell and Ethan McLeod respectively. But before the newly introduced trio had been able to offer any impact Ives clinched it with a brilliantly taken third goal. Mensah did fantastically to outmuscle Worley and keep in a long Wilks punt. He then delivered to the near post where Allen deftly flicked the ball past the bemused Smith.
It could so easily have been four in 73rd minute, but for a full length diving save by Smith. Glennon and Allen interchanged passes through the centre. The move ending with Allen firing a skimming shot from inside the D that was destined for the bottom corner until the outstretched fingertips of the diving keeper diverted it onto the base of the post. Hadi following up was just prevented from forcing the loose ball home by the covering Kettle.
That was the signal for McDonald to make his final two changes whist Marheineke made his first with Hadi departing to rapturous applause to be replaced by Coree Wilson with fifteen minutes to go.
Ives have struggled to keep clean sheets this season and sure enough they were caught out and conceded what proved to be nothing more than a consolation to their visitors in 78th minute. The smallest player on the pitch Durrell managed to time his run to perfection to get across in front of his marker and head home Rowe’s deep cross from the right.
Far from getting the nerves jangling conceding the goal simply seemed to lift Ives to go in search of more. It took an excellent double save from Smith to deny them a fourth only seconds after conceding. Mensah and Glennon combined well down the right. The move ending with Glennon’s clever back heel putting Mensah through. This time the young wing back went for goal and Smith stayed tall to parry his fierce effort away. He then did well to cling onto Allen’s follow up effort.
Keeper Smith was then saved from embarrassment by the match officials as he tried to side step Allen before attempting to clear a back pass only to be dispossessed by the Ives striker and then attempted to pull him down. Fortunately for the red faced custodian the officials decided that Allen had fouled the keeper in taking the ball off him.
Ives were then able to comfortably run down the clock to claim their first win of 2025. The victory moves them back up to twelfth in the table now only one point behind the Glassboys who went into the Christmas period very much in the play-off mix in fifth. Both sides will be very pleased of a full seven day break before their next fixture after each completing four tough fixtures in ten days through the festive period.
Final Score: St Ives Town 3 Stourbridge 1 Half Time 1 – 0
Goals:
ST IVES: Meade 31, Creary 47, Allen 69
STOURBRIDGE: Durrell 78
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Wilks, Mensah, Abimbola, Meade (O’Keefe 90+1), Williams, Collard (capt), Skyers, Glennon, Hadi (Wilson 76), Allen (Kaziboni 90+3), Creary, Unused subs: Smith, Gyamfi
STOURBRIDGE: C. Smith, Rowe, Lewis (Fletcher 75), Brown, Kettle, Ellis (Durrell 62), Moore (Mandey 75), Freemantle (McLeod 62), Jones (capt), Pais, Timson (Worley 62), Unused subs: none
Referee: Oliver Sadd
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES: Hadi (32), Meade (83) STOURBRIDGE: Worley (84), Brown (90+2)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Benji Mensah
Attendance: 289
Full match highlights available below.