St Ives Town V Bury Town
Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 31-01-2026
There’s no good way to lose a game of football but Ives may have just tasted defeat in the most painful and bewildering way one could imagine. The home side were leading the game by a goal to nil in the seventh minute on added on time at the end of the second half, but having missed a golden opportunity to make it two nil and put the game to bed, Ives conceded two goals in as many minutes as Bury Town completed a remarkable turnaround at Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.
Ives manager Ricky Marheineke, who could only name three players on the bench for his side’s midweek trip to Banbury United, made two changes to his starting XI ahead of Saturday’s fixture, with Gibou Njie and Jernade Meade coming in for Jahrel McKoy and Theo Alexandrou.
Bury Town manager Cole Skuse made one change from his side’s 3-1 win over Alvechurch last weekend, with new signing Callum Page named in the starting XI for the first time since joining Blues from A.F.C Sudbury. He replaced Ryan Jolland in midfield, who dropped to the bench.
It was Blues who had the best of the opening exchanges with the most threatening chance coming from the boot of Ally Conway. The midfielder picked up the ball outside of the penalty area in the seventh minute and unleashed a shot that looked destined for the top corner, only to be denied by a flying stop by Ollie Taylor.
The visitors looked to have gone close again two minutes later as Joe Carroll’s header from a Lewis O’malley free kick crashed off the crossbar, only for the linesman to raise his flag moments later.
Bury Town forward Jamie McGrath will feel disappointed that he didn’t put his side ahead after 11 minutes as a good move by the away team saw Callum Page find Mikey Davies out wide, with Davies delivering an inviting cross that was met by McGrath, who couldn’t keep his header down from close range.
Ives first real chance of the game came from a clever bit of play from Tyrone Baker in the 34th minute. The Ives forward received the ball with his back to goal and managed to find enough space on the turn to fire his effort on target, forcing Bury Town goalkeeper Charlie Beckwith into a good save low to his right.
It was the Ives shot stopper who was back in action before the break as with 40 minutes on the clock, Taylor made a strong save to deny McGrath from giving his side the lead heading into half time.
Ives also had an opportunity to get themselves on the board heading into the interval as a well-struck free kick from skipper Michael Richens just outside the penalty area stung the palms of Beckwith, who did well to push the ball to safety in the 42nd minute of the game.
Just like the opening 15 minutes of the first half, it was Blues who looked the most threatening in the first knockings of the second, as Taylor was called into action on more than one occasion. George Quantrell cut inside on 47 minutes and produced a good effort that forced Taylor into a smart save low down to his left. Two minutes later it was McGrath who found himself through on goal but was expertly denied by the Ives keeper from close range. Taylor produced another superb save moments later, this time with his feet, to prevent Conway from giving the visitors what would’ve been a deserved lead.
An injury to Liam Cross saw the Ives number 10 replaced by youngster Alfie Shepherd in the 52nd minute. Three minutes later, the home side made the all-important breakthrough.
Jonny Edwards, who had not yet managed to fashion a clear-cut opportunity in the game, found himself through on goal. The ball bounced up for the returning Ives forward, who lashed home a volleyed effort past Beckwith to give his side the lead.
From the hour mark onwards, the game became very stop-start, with stoppages in play caused by injuries on both sides killing any sort of momentum that was building. One of the casualties was substitute Shepherd, who made a heroic interception to prevent a good chance for the visitors, but in doing so came off worse from the challenge and subsequently had to be replaced in the 86th minute.
These stoppages saw referee Mario Stetakovic award a minimum of nine minutes of added on time at the end of the second half, a figure that turned out to be all important in the outcome of this contest.
In the 93rd minute of the game, goal scorer Edwards was played through down the left hand side and looked certain to score what would’ve been the goal that sealed all three points for his side. However, a slight hesitation before tapping the ball towards goal allowed the Bury Town defender time to get round and make a superb block on the line to deny Edwards and keep the game alive.
That block proved to be crucial as in the seventh minute of added on time, the visitors broke Ives hearts as substitute Cemal Ramadan produced an effort that flew across Taylor, who could only watch as the ball clipped the inside of his far post and nestled into the back of the net.
Moments later, it got worse for Ricky Marheineke’s side as they lost the ball from kick off, which presented the visitors the opportunity to have one last attack. It was an opportunity that was well and truly taken by Blues as a cutting move by Skuse’s men culminated in substitute Oliver Canfer getting on the end of a pinpoint accurate cross into the six-yard area to tap home past Taylor from close range to complete a frankly incredible turnaround that was inconceivable only a couple of minutes beforehand.
The manner of the defeat an almighty blow for Ricky Marheineke’s men, who could’ve put themselves 10 points clear of the relegation zone had they held on for the three points. They will have to dust themselves down and re-focus on their next assignment, a trip to Worcestershire to face Alvechurch next weekend.
Final Score: St Ives Town 1 Bury Town 2 Half Time 0 – 0
Goals:
ST IVES: Edwards 55
BURY TOWN: Davies 90+7, Canfer 90+9
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Taylor, Creary, Smith, Richens (capt), Idehen, Edwards, Cross (Shepherd 52-Replaced by Forde 86), Miles, Njie, Baker, Meade (McKoy 79) Unused subs: Barratt, Hickinson
BURY TOWN: Beckwith, White, Carroll, Hughes, O’malley (capt) (Parr 70), Conway (Ramadan 70), Maughn, Page (Jolland 85), Quantrell (Flowers 93), Davies, McGrath (Canfer 93) Unused subs: none
Referee: Mario Stetakovic
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES: Meade (16), Creary (44)
BURY TOWN: Jolland (88)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Ollie Taylor
Attendance: 326
