Ives take a point at Grantham
Grantham Town 1 v St Ives Town 1
Pitching-In Northern Premier League Midlands Division 18-08-2026
Nigel Howlett reports from the South Kesteven Stadium
Injury hit Ives overcame a hard, bumpy, pitch to claim their first point on the road this season but it could have been so much more. Injuries to Mark Jones, Eze Williams and Sam Tessler added to the visitors already long list and forced manager Ricky Marheineke to scour the country for an available centre back. He came up with a gem, signing Johan Rask on dual registration from Alvechurch. The Danish giant fitted into the back four seamlessly and won every battle both in the air and on the deck.
A lot of water on the South Kesteven Stadium pitch in the last few weeks made it playable but the grass, although greened up by the applied moisture was clumpy with sandy patches between, not really a night for playing out from the back. However Ives did manage to play a bit of football and, similar to Saturday, Neo Dobson had an early chance as he side stepped his marker to get in a low shot from inside the D that forced a diving save out of home keeper Jack Steggles after only ninety seconds.
The hosts went much more route one to create their first half chance on seven minutes as Lee Shaw galloped clear onto a long punt from keeper Steggles but Ives stopper Alex Fisher was alert to the danger and raced from his goal to bravely head the bouncing ball clear. The hosts went close again three minutes later as Shaw played in overlapping full back Abdul Saad who fired wide from just inside the box.
Both sides settled into the game and the next half chance fell to the visitors midway through the half. A poor clearance from Steggles went straight to Dan Lawlor just inside the Gingerbreads half. He laid the ball of to Junior Varela who strode forward before being done by a bobble as he fired well over from 25 yards.
Moments later at the other end Alex Roberts managed to wriggle his way past Harry Dawson before firing straight into the grateful arms of Fisher from just outside the box. Dawson added to Ives injury list in 28th minute as he limped off to be replaced by Kai Source who went into left back with Aaron Smith moving across to an unfamiliar right side.
Source was instantly in the action and was the provider for the opening goal on the half hour as he was fed in down the left by Alfie Shepherd and got to the bye line before picking out Mbunya Alemanji at the near post. The big striker needed two attempts but managed to force the ball home from close range to put Ives in front.
The goal seemed to rattle the hosts and Ives remained on top through to the break and created a number of chances to add to their lead. Only ninety seconds after the opener Shepherd cut in from the left and unleashed a dipping effort that keeper Steggles did well to palm away diving low to his left.
Dobson forced another save out of the big keeper, jinking past a defender before curling in a shot from just outside the box that looked destined for the top corner before the big left hand of the flying Steggles clawed it away. The final chance of the half saw Varela get away down the right before rolling an inviting cross along the six yard line with no one able to turn it home.
Varela started the second half as he ended the first. Only fifty seconds after the restart he robbed Connor Bartle on the right before delivering a teasing cross that picked out the unmarked Shepherd arriving in the centre of goal eight yards out, but the youngster was unable to direct his header on target and the chance was gone.
The game was evening up possession wise, but it was still Ives creating the better opportunities. Rask had come up for a long throw in the 49th minute and he found himself taken down by Louis Czerwak just outside the box. The big centre back is a confident lad and he waved all away to line up the free kick himself. Perhaps unsurprisingly he went for power but only fired his free kick straight into the Gingerbreads four man wall.
Ives final opportunity to make the remaining twenty minutes a little more comfortable came in 73rd minute when patient build up play ended with Dobson feeding the ball into the well timed run of substitute Archie Riordan deep inside the box. The youngster got his shot away but hit it straight at Steggles who made the block at close range.
Having let that opportunity slip by the visitors then found themselves starting to be pegged back. Gingerbreads substitute Will Langford was the first to try his luck in 76th minute when he unleashed a 25 yarder that was well gathered by Fisher.
The pressure on the Ives goal continued to build but with Rask and Callum Milne holding firm in the centre it looked like the visitors were going to hold on especially when they had a huge let off in 85th minute. The hosts had pushed skipper Michael Jacklin forward and it was he who somehow failed to score as he got clear through the centre onto a bobbling ball from the left. He beat keeper Fisher with his effort but was left with his head in his hands as the shot rebounded off the post straight back into the grateful arms of the prostrate stopper.
The visitors continued to hang on and Roberts got down the right past Shepherd and Source before delivering a driven cross to the near post that deflected into the side netting off a covering defender. The resulting corner brought about the equaliser courtesy of a training ground move with the flag kick pulled back to the edge of the box where a late arriving Czerwak fired it low into the crowd. The verdict seemed to be that the shot found a way through the masses without anyone getting a touch and went in off the back post.
There was little time left for either side to create another opportunity and both had to settle for share of the spoils. But to give you a little idea that the hosts felt they had snatched a point their sponsors awarded the man of the match award to goalkeeper Steggles for his heroics in keeping them in the game. Ives small travelling band picked the impressive Rask for their stand out performer.
It looks like another busy week for the physio team at St Ives to try and patch up a few of the walking wounded ahead of Saturdays FA Cup tie against Fakenham Town at the quattro tech Westwood Road.
Final Score: Grantham Town 1 St Ives Town 1 Half Time 0 – 1
Goals:
GRANTHAM: Czerwak 87
ST IVES: Alemanji 30
Team Line Ups:
GRANTHAM: Steggles, Saad (Wood 72), Bartle (Munns 72), Rajter, Jacklin (capt), Wright, J. Smith (Czerwak 46), Dougill (Langford 66), Reason, Shaw, Roberts, Unused subs: Doran
ST IVES: Fisher, Miles, A. Smith, Dawson (Source 28), Milne, Rask, Varela (Ankrah 86), Lawlor (capt), Alemanji (Riordan 64), Dobson, Shepherd, Unused subs: Ward, Jones
Referee: Ryan Calvert
Cards: Yellow: GRANTHAM: Munns (90+4), ST IVES: Shepherd (55), Source (62), Varela (77), Riordan (80)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Johan Rask
Attendance: 296
- Matchday image courtesy of Ed Mayes
