St Ives Town V Redditch United
PitchingIn Southern Premier Division Central-22.11.25
Ives suffered their first home loss of the season as a strong Redditch United side showed their quality on a wet and gloomy November afternoon. A first half strike from Liam Loughlan and a second half effort from Alex Cameron saw the Reds claim all three points at Quattro-Tech Westwood Road, in a game where the home side struggled to make much of an impression on their visitors.
Redditch put Ives under pressure from the off as a barrage of early balls into the box were well dealt with by the home side who will have been well aware of how the big the task of keeping out this in-form Reds side would be.
Nine minutes into the contest Redditch manager Mike Fowler’s side should’ve gone in front as Joel Shambrook whipped in a superb cross from the right-hand side which found Cameron no more than six yards out from goal, only for the Reds number nine to volley his effort over Ollie Taylor’s crossbar.
Redditch did get their deserved early goal on the 20 minute mark as Reece Flanagan’s corner found the head of Loughlan, who saw his effort take a deflection before hitting the inside of the post and creeping over the line.
The half continued with the visitors having the better of the opportunities, with Loughlan having another great opportunity in the 40th minute to double his side’s advantage before the break, but the Redditch number 10 couldn’t keep his header down from close range.
The visitors did make it 2-0 shortly after the break as a deep cross towards the back post by Fabian Reynolds was tapped home from very close range by Cameron who couldn’t really miss as he claimed his 10th goal of the season in all competitions.
A free kick won by skipper Michael Richens after a powerful run towards the 18-yard-box in the 72nd minute saw his shot saved by Redditch United keeper Tyrese Warmington. Unfortunately for the Ives faithful this was possibly the closest the home side came to scoring on what was a difficult day for the forward line.
One positive note from Saturday afternoon was Dan Efobi, who made his first start for the Ives having joined within the last week on a work experience loan from Cambridge United. The 16-year-old used his physical presence to hold up the ball and had some good touches over the course of the 82 minutes that he featured.
However that may be where the positives end for the home side who will be hoping that they can put this result and performance behind them as they prepare to take on Leiston, Monday night at Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.
