Ives denied cup progress by Fakenham
Fakenham Town 2 St Ives Town 0
Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay 25-08-2026
Nigel Howlett reports from the Daly Group Stadium
Ives supporters must be dreading the half time whistle as for the fourth time in six games this season their side shipped a goal inside the first five minutes after the break. The galling aspects of this one were that it came after a first period where the visitors had ruled the roost without managing to get their noses in front and it also meant an early departure from the FA Cup for the second season in a row.
These two sides had shared the spoils in an evenly fought contest at quattro tech Westwood Road on Saturday and few would have bet against it being another close contest at the Daly Group Stadium three days later. The Fakenham ground staff had clearly worked very hard and a lush, green, surface greeted the two sides as the sun set in deepest Norfolk.
Both managers had only made minimal changes from the sides that met on Saturday Ghosts manager Andy Cunningham making a single change at right back where Charlie Mayhew came in to replace Alfie Doy who dropped to the bench. Ives manager Ricky Marheineke went for double that number of changes to his starting eleven with the injured Mark Jones replaced up front by Alfie Shepherd and Josh Ward coming in for Aaron Smith in the back line.
The hosts started the game on the front foot and the tricky Finn Whiteley caused a few early problems. His fourth minute run across the face of Ives goal 25 yards out was ended by a tackle from Callum Milne which referee James Durham deemed a foul. After Krzysztof Michta’s fine finish from a similar distance on Saturday this looked a cause for concern but this time it was Lewis Sturman who struck the dead ball and his effort deflected wide off Ives four man wall.
The Ghosts only other opportunity in this early period came in eleventh minute when skipper Jake Watts fed in Michta through the left channel and continued his run into the box. Michta delivered a perfectly weighted clip into the run of Watts but fortunately for Ives the centre forward made poor contact with his attempted volley allowing Jonah Gill in Ives goal to make a comfortable save.
But having survived that brief early flurry from the hosts Ives began to take control. Mbunya Alemanji the scorer of both of the visitors’ goals on Saturday was again looking a threat and in 17th minute he held up the ball well before releasing Neo Dobson who ran on into the box before firing a low shot that the agile Luke Pearson in the home goal was forced to dive low to his left to palm away. The ball was only half cleared and Alemanji regained possession on the edge of the box before firing just wide.
Ives kept the pressure on their opponents and were harrying them into mistakes. Midway through the half Alfie Shepherd nicked the ball off a defender before again feeding in Alemanji. But an alert Pearson did well to block the rampaging striker’s effort with his legs.
Possibly the best opportunity for the visitors also fell to Alemanji in 27th minute. Dobson did well to wriggle his way past a couple of defenders on the left and delivered a teasing cross to the centre of the goal eight yards out from where the unmarked Alemanji failed to hit the target with his free header.
Ives continued to press with Dobson the next to go close on the half hour. This time he burst into the box at pace before firing in a powerful left footed effort that looked destined for the corner of the net only for the fingertips of the diving Pearson’s outstretched left hand to turn it away.
Pearson’s opposite number Gill had been a spectator for most of the first period but seven minutes before the break he showed that he had kept his concentration well. An excellent cross field ball from Dylan Coslett picked out the run of Whiteley who was in one on one with Gill. But the Ives keeper stayed big and made an excellent block with his legs.
For all of his heroics in the first period Pearson did have one lapse in the first minute of added time as he completely missed an attempt to clear a long ball over the top but Mayhew was covering around behind his keeper to save his blushes and prevent Alemanji latching onto the loose ball.
One final opportunity came Ives way in the third added minute when Dobson again got to the bye line on the left and lifted the ball over the crowd in the centre to pick out Shepherd at the back post. The youngster’s stooping header was on target but Lewis Bonner was on hand to hack the ball away off the goal line.
Ives were out early before the start of the second half and undertook a brief warm up but the slow start to the second period again proved their undoing. They were almost caught out only ninety seconds after the restart as Whiteley and Watts exchanged passes deep in Ives territory. The move finishing with the latter firing wide from a good position.
Only moments later it took an excellent save from Gill to maintain the parity. A poor back pass from Ben Kaninda was seized on by Watts but again Gill denied the Ghosts centre forward as he bravely spread himself to block the shot. But the resulting corner was delivered deep to the back post where Jayden Wright rose above the crowd. The diving Gill did well to keep out the initial header but the ball ran loose and Watts was first to react to fire home from close range.
The stunned visitors tried to react and Dobson was still causing problems on the left. His 56th minute run past defenders got him to the bye line yet again and his pull back picked out Alemanji 15 yards from goal but a poor first touch meant that the big striker snatched at the chance and fired well wide.
But by this point the hosts had their tails up and they were hassling Ives into mistakes all over the park. The usually reliable Dan Lawlor misplaced an attempted ball out of defence to let Watts get clear again on the hour but once more the excellent Gill was equal to the challenge quickly closing on the attacker and bravely blocking his shot at close range. Ives had an even bigger let off four minutes later when Watts turned home a free kick from the left by Bonner only to be denied by the upraised flag of an assistant.
That was the signal for manager Marheineke to throw on his trump card with Michael Gash replacing Shepherd and at the same time Smith coming on for Kai Source. The presence of Gash up front gave the Ghosts defence a new challenge and he started to win the flicks from long balls but no one was running on to them. A 75th minute curler from 25 yards by Dobson was Ives best effort before the hosts effectively killed the game a minute later. Reynolds was given way to much time and space before unleashing a fierce low drive from 25 yards that beat the diving Gill and found the bottom corner of the net.
Ives had one opportunity to get back in it two minutes after that second goal, but again the chance went begging. Alumanji battled his way down the right before picking out Archie Rioran with his pull back. The young substitute directed his effort across the face of goal where Gash managed to get a touch but only to direct the ball straight into the grateful hands of Pearson.
Ives huffed and puffed for the remaining time without really creating another opportunity allowing their hosts to comfortably see out time and claim a spot in the next round when they will visit Ware.
Final Score: Fakenham Town 2 St Ives Town 0 Half Time 0 – 0
Goals:
FAKENHAM: Watts 49, Reynolds 76
ST IVES:
Team Line Ups:
FAKENHAM: Pearson, Mayhew, Bonner, Sturman (Doy 55), Coslet, Wright, Batch, Whitely, Watts (capt) (Poore 80), Reynolds, Michta (Morahan 64), Unused subs: Allen, Sawyer, Viscanskis, Junior
ST IVES: Gill, Miles, Source (Smith 65), Ward (Dawson 80), Milne, Kaninda, Varela (Riordan 46), Lawlor (capt), Alemanji (Keogh 85), Dobson, Shepherd (Gash 65), Unused subs: Jones, Griffiths
Referee: James Durham
Cards: Yellow: FAKENHAM: Reynolds (69), Whiteley (90+3) ST IVES: Kaninda (72)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jonah Gill
Attendance: 233
