St Ives Town V Stourbridge
Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 16-08-2025
Ives were going into their first Saturday home league game of the season looking to build on their impressive 1-0 win over Stamford with another three points, but as fans left the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road, many will feel their side were fortunate to take anything out of the game at all as some heroic last minute defending saw Ives preserve a 2-2 score line against Stourbridge.
The biggest news with regards to team selection was Ives manager Ricky Marheineke’s decision to include Michael Richens from the beginning, with the midfielder starting his first game in almost 16 months due to a lengthy injury layoff. The 29 year-old replaced Gibou Njie in the starting XI, who put in a strong display on Monday night. There was also a welcome return to the squad for Liam Cross who was forced to miss the last fixture with a suspected hamstring injury.
Stourbridge made three changes from the side that managed to salvage a late point against new boys Quorn, with Ruben Freeman, Fin Holmes and Jack Concannon all making their way into Darryl Knights’ side. Their attacking players would’ve been looking forward to coming up against a familiar face in the opposition goal, with Ives keeper and former Glassboy Ollie Taylor tasked with keeping out the new look Stourbridge front line.
It was the visitors who started the brightest, with Taylor getting in a good position to claim a wicked ball in by Tom Solanke. An action in the game which may not seem important on the face of it, but this passage of play in the 3rd minute would serve as a precursor for events to come for the Ives defence.
Just six minutes later, Stourbridge won a free kick just outside the Ives penalty area, with the left-footed Brad Bood poised to deliver. His subsequent cross was whipped across the face of Ives defenders who had failed to pick up Jenson Sumnall on the penalty spot, with the 19 year-old planting his header past the diving Taylor to claim his second goal of the campaign and the visitors first on the day.
Whilst Ives found themselves one behind, they still managed to carve out some attacks of their own with fullback Jiah Medrano providing some attacking threat on the left, in similar fashion to that which resulted in Theo Alexandrou’s winning goal against Stamford on Monday night.
However, it was Knights’ team that continued to produce the highest quality opportunities as Taylor was forced into a sharp stop from close range to deny Holmes in the 20th minute. This was followed up only a couple of minutes later as Ethan Freemantle’s header was well cleared off the line.
However, whilst it looked for all money that the next goal would come from the team in red and white, it was Ives who got a break in the 28th minute. The Stourbridge defence failed to deal with a long throw, which allowed the ball to find Ethan Creary, who’s effort hit the inside of the post and in to level the scores in somewhat bizarre fashion.
The half ended with both teams trying to exploit the aerial frailties of either side, with a Concannon cross finding the head of Freemantle, who couldn’t direct his effort on target, before a good move from Ives saw Jernade Meade find Alexandrou in space, with his cross just evading the on-rushing Ives attackers.
With unwanted injuries already seemingly finding their way into the Ives squad only a few games into the season, the loss of Monday’s match winner at half time felt like another big blow, with Alexandrou picking up a knock just before the break that resulted in a half time change which saw him replaced by Cross.
Whatever was said in the interval clearly had the desired effect as Ives found themselves in front on 49 minutes. Good pressure from the home side saw Stourbridge turn the ball over in midfield, which resulted in the returning Richens being played through on goal, one-on-one with Stourbridge shot stopper Stan Amos, with the Ives number four slotting home from close range to cap his full return to the team and put his side in front.
His substation in the 60th minute would also prove to be a big momentum shifter in the match, with Marheineke making the sensible decision to manage the midfielder’s minutes as he continues his path back to full fitness.
Seven minutes later, substitute Jez Abbey produced a searching ball to the back post which found fellow substitute Ty Barnett, with the 39 year-old’s towering header too good for Taylor in the Ives goal, who couldn’t keep the ball from crossing the line to leave the game all-square at 2-2 going into the last 20 minutes.
The second half subs from the visitors were really starting to make their mark as Ives looked like they were carrying some tired legs. First, Sumnall failed to double his tally for the afternoon in the 73rd minute as his header drifted wide of the post, before another close range header from Barnett met the same fate just a minute later.
The Glassboys remained firmly on top of proceedings, with Ives throwing bodies in the way and trying everything in their power to salvage something from the game. However, Marheineke’s men were standing firm amidst the aerial bombardment.
As the clock ticked into injury time many in the ground couldn’t quite believe that the visitors had not made their dominance count as chances continued to go begging. A 93rd minute goalmouth scramble which saw four Stourbridge players have efforts at goal was eventually cleared for a corner. If the second half was a Hollywood blockbuster, that passage of play would serve as a sufficient trailer.
Not long after that the referee brought the game to a conclusion and Ives managed to hold on to claim a point which they may not feel they deserve, but an important point nonetheless, with games against Harborough and Real Bedford to come.
You can hear manager Ricky Marheinke’s thoughts on the game here:
Final Score: St Ives Town 2 2 Stourbridge Half Time 1 – 1
Goals:
ST IVES: Creary 28, Richens 49
STOURBRIDGE: Sumnall 9, Barnett 68
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Taylor, Creary, Medrano, Richens (O’Keefe), Williams, Idehen, Chong (Dobson 63), Miles, Meade (Njie 94), Hadi, Alexandrou (Cross 46) Unused subs: Adams
STOURBRIDGE: Amos, Freeman, Bood, Solanke (Harland 72), Sumnall, Kettle, Rowe (Kirton 83), Lewis, Freemantle (Barnett 58), Concannon (Abbey 58), Holmes, Unused Subs: Joe Morris
Referee: Oliver Potter
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES: Miles (71), STOURBRIDGE: Kettle (52),
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Michael Richens
Attendance: 228
