IVES FORCE CUP REPLAY AGAINST FAKENHAM
St Ives Town 2-2 Fakenham Town
FA Cup-Preliminary Round-22/08/2026
Ives Manager Ricky Marheineke’s men got their FA Cup journey underway for the 2026/27 campaign on Saturday afternoon as they hosted fellow step four outfit Fakenham Town. Despite a brace from inform forward Mbunya Alemanji, the home side couldn’t manage to keep the door closed effectively enough at the other end as two set-piece strikes saw Fakenham Town do enough to earn a replay, with the game ending 2-2.
The replay at Clipbush Park will take place on Tuesday night, with Ives’ scheduled home league fixture against Corby Town on Monday night rearranged for a later date.
Marheineke made four changes from his side’s 1-1 draw against Grantham Town in midweek, with Jonah Gill, Ben Kaninda, Kai Source and Mark Jones coming into the side. Gill made his first league start for Ives since joining the club in the summer having picked up an injury in a pre-season fixture against Cambridge United U23s.
It was the visiting Fakenham Town who started the game with more purpose and quality, with Ives struggling to get into their passing rhythm. Fakenham Manager Andy Cunningham’s men, despite their good start, didn’t create much in the way of chances to trouble Gill in the Ives goal during the opening 10 minutes.
On the 11th minute however, the away side were rewarded for their fast start to proceedings. A corner to the back post was headed back towards goal, with Ives managing to clear the ball off the line but only as far as Fakenham captain Jake Watts, who slammed home from close range to give his side the lead.
The next 15 minutes or so followed a similar pattern to the opening 10, with Cunningham’s men having more of the ball and looking the more likely to grab the next goal in the game. Some good defending by Mark Jones on 23 minutes saw the forward track back and put in a vital block to deny Watts from close range.
A few minutes later, Ives managed to create their first meaningful chance of the half, with Alemanji receiving the ball with his back to goal, before taking a touch out of his feet and firing a shot towards goal that was palmed away by Luke Pearson.
Following this opportunity, there was a real momentum shift in Ives’ favour, as the home side began to grow into the contest. Junior Varela saw his effort saved from close range in the 35th minute as he got on the end of a long ball, which almost fell for Alemanji, who was fouled in the build-up. Ives went close again a minute later as Dan Lawlor’s free kick from the edge of the area curled just wide of Pearson’s right-hand post.
The home side managed to get themselves level on 42 minutes as the ball dropped to Alemanji inside the penalty area, before the forward danced around the keeper and slammed his effort into the roof of the net to claim his second goal of the season.
Ives were dealt a blow just before the break however as Jones went down injured with a suspected hamstring tweak and had to be replaced by Alfie Shepherd.
The Ives faithful will have been hopeful that their side could continue the positive momentum they picked up at the end of the first 45 into the second period, but unfortunately for the home side, that hope was short lived.
Two minutes after the restart a Fakenham Town player was fouled just outside the 18-yard-box, giving Krzysztof Michta a chance to test Gill from a dangerous position. Ghosts’ number 11 did just that and more as he curled an effort over the wall and into the top right-hand corner, to put his side back in front in the tie.
A poor start to the second half from Marheineke’s men meant the home side had to once again regroup and build some much-needed momentum in the game if they were to get their name in the hat for the next round. Just shy of the hour mark, Ives had a good opportunity to level the scoring through Lawlor, who couldn’t keep his low driven effort on target from just outside the area.
66 minutes on the clock saw another decent opportunity for Ives as they began to turn the screw in the contest, with substitute Shepherd getting on the end of a delicious cross into the box, only for the forward to nod over from close range. Shepherd got himself into a similar position later on in proceedings, with the Ives youngster looping over the keeper and onto the crossbar.
Despite creating some good chances, time continued to tick away for Marheineke’s side, with Ives heading towards a repeat of last season’s short lived run in this competition. The Ives boss made a double substitution on 78 minutes which saw club captain Michael Gash and Josh Ward come on to replace Varela and Source.
Despite being brought into the club as a centre back, Gash spent the last period of proceedings being utilised as a physical forward presence to partner Alemanji in the final third. His introduction to the game certainly made the desired impact as the Fakenham Town defenders struggled to deal with having an extra body to think about when balls were crossed into the area. Gash’s flick on header in the 83rd minute found Dobson, whose attempted cross was palmed away to safety by Pearson.
A minute later, Ives made the all-important breakthrough and got themselves back on level terms. A well-worked move down the right-hand-side saw Shepherd beat his man on the outside and pull the ball back to substitute Ward, who managed to flick the ball into the path of Alemanji, with the forward stabbing home to make it 2-2.
The last 10 minutes of the contest was largely one way traffic in favour of the home side, who were pushing for an all-important winner that would book their place in the First Qualifying Round. Their best opportunity to claim victory came right at the very end of the match, as in the 6th minute of time added on at the end of the second half, Dobson picked up the ball around 35 yards from goal and drove all the way into the Fakenham penalty area, before unleashing a shot which forced a good stop from Pearson at his near post.
Despite some late pressure, Ives couldn’t make the breakthrough in the end and had to settle for a 2-2 draw as referee Darren Lander brought the game to a close. Alemanji’s two goals on the day keeping Ives’ chances of progressing to the next round alive, with Marheineke’s men in the hat for Monday’s First Qualifying Round Draw along with Fakenham, who were good value for the result.
Final Score: St Ives Town 2 Fakenham Town 2 Half Time 1 – 1
Goals:
ST IVES: Alemanji 42, 84
FAKENHAM: Watts 11, Michta 47
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Gill, Miles, Smith, Milne, Alemanji, Varela (Gash 78), Lawlor, Jones (capt) (Shepherd 45), Dobson, Source (Ward 78), Kaninda Unused subs: Ankrah, Griffiths, Riordan, Keogh
FAKENHAM: Pearson, Doy, Bonner, Sturman, Coslett, Wright, Batch, Whiteley, Watts (capt), Reynolds, Michta Subs: Poore, Morahan, Allen, Sawyer, Viscanskis, Maleguka, Junior
Referee: Darren Lander
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Mbunya Alemanji
Attendance: 168
