St Ives Town VS Nuneaton Town-Match Report
Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands Division-28/09/2026
Ives boss Tommy Cooney will have been hoping for a reaction from his players following last weekend’s 5-1 defeat away at Basford United, and whilst they ended up on the wrong side of the result, it was clear to see that there was a vast improvement in performance level on the pitch despite falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Nuneaton Town. Eesa Sawyers’ 88th minute penalty broke Ives hearts on the night, as Nuneaton nicked a late win that sees them move into the promotion places.
With the number of new faces coming through the door, it was unsurprising that Monday evening’s starting XI featured a number of changes, with Sean Tarima, Phoenix Scholtz and Benji Kakembo making their debuts. Shay Griffiths, another late edition to Cooney’s match day squad, started on the bench.
Visiting joint manager Russell Dodd named an unchanged starting XI, which was maybe somewhat unsurprising, given his side’s impressive 5-0 win over Grantham Town just 48 hours earlier.
It was Nuneaton who had the first big opportunity of the game with only four minutes on the clock as Terry Atem looked to be getting on the end of a lofted ball over the top of the Ives backline, only for Sawyers to take over, move round George Bucknor in the Ives goal, and fire a shot across the face of goal from a tight angle.
That was really a close as it got for either side in the opening 20 minutes, with Ives showing some much needed defensive resolve, but finding it difficult to threaten Finn Osborn’s goal up the other end. Some good defending by Andy Ankrah, who was superb throughout, saw the midfielder make a vital challenge to prevent Atem from getting his shot away from close range in the 15th minute.
There was a break in play on 18 minutes as Josh Green received treatment following an awkward landing, which eventually saw the defender having to be replaced by Luke Softley.
A few half chances for both sides followed, with Bucknor having to punch away a Brad Stretton free kick before seeing Sawyers’ follow up effort fly safely over the crossbar on 26 minutes. A few minutes earlier, it was Aidan Edwards who found himself in space on the edge of the area, only to see his effort easily dealt with by Osborn.
Edwards was involved in Ives’ best chance of the half 10 minutes later, as the midfielder was found just inside the penalty area following a flowing move from Cooney’s men. The number 11 showed good feet under pressure to shift the ball onto his right foot, before unleashing an effort that was tipped onto the post and out for a corner.
Nuneaton also had a big opportunity to take a lead into the break in the 3rd minute of added on time at the end of the first half, when Stretton’s free kick was met at the back post by a Town defender, only to see the effort fly just over Bucknor’s crossbar.
Ives started the second half with purpose and could’ve found themselves in front three minutes after the restart. Another sweeping move by Cooney’s men saw Edwards play the ball in behind for Temi Olowojoba, who took the ball on the left-hand side of the penalty area and unleashed a lofted effort, that was parried over the bar by Osborn.
Soon after Osborn’s save, on 49 minutes, Cooney made his first change of the match, with Kakembo being replaced by Trey Charles.
Ives continued to knock on the door and created two decent opportunities that they should’ve done better with in truth. First on 54 minutes, Edwards once again found space on the edge of the Nuneaton penalty area, but couldn’t keep his shot on target on this occasion. Then, around a minute later, the imposing figure of Oliver Brookes got himself on the end of a corner, but couldn’t keep his header down from close range.
Substitute Liam Murphy had a good chance up the other end on 69 minutes, as the forward cut inside looking to bend his effort round Bucknor and into the far corner, but the Ives shot stopper was equal to it, diving to his left and making the required catch.
Clear cut opportunities were few and far between for both sides in the last 20 minutes of proceedings, with Ives continuing to hold firm whilst looking to make one of their forays into Nuneaton territory pay dividends.
Then, in the 87th minute, the main flashpoint of the match took place. Sawyers, who was a live wire throughout, looked to try and pounce on a loose ball that was bouncing towards the Ives penalty area. Bucknor made the decision to attempt to make up the ground and clear the ball, but ended up colliding with Sawyers just inside the penalty box.
Referee Thomas Cartwright put the whistle to his mouth and brought the game to a halt, with both sets of supporters temporarily unaware of what he was stopping the game for, or what his next move would be. Protests broke out amongst some of the Nuneaton players, who were not happy with Cartwright’s initial reluctance to give a penalty kick, with the challenge taking place so close to the edge of the 18-yard box.
Eventually, Cartwright went over to the linesman that was closest to the incident, and after a brief period of consultation, the referee pointed to the spot. Sawyers stepped up and sent Bucknor the wrong way to give his side a 1-0 lead late on in proceedings. A sucker punch for Ives players, staff and supporters alike, who had watched a battling performance from their side.
Ives had one more opportunity to take something from the game deep into the five minutes added on at the end of the second half, when the home side were awarded a free kick in a promising area, around 30 yards from goal. Edwards stepped up to take, and produced a decent effort, which was kept out by Osborn.
Not long after that chance, Cartwright brought the game to a close, with Nuneaton taking all three points back to Warwickshire. Despite falling to defeat, the Ives players were given a warm reception as they made their way off the pitch, with all those in attendance at Quattro-Tech Westwood Road recognising the effort and desire their side had shown over the course of the game. If Ives can produce this level of performance constantly, whilst also finding a way to carry more of a threat going forward, their chances of survival will improve dramatically.
Final Score: St Ives Town 0 Nuneaton Town 1 Half Time 0 – 0
Goals:
ST IVES:
NUNEATON: Sawyers 88 (pen)
Team Line Ups:
ST IVES: Bucknor, Tarima, Olowojoba (Gordon 70), Ankrah (Brown-Johnson 79), Brookes, Munroe, Scholtz, Miles (capt), Kakembo (Charles 49), Wright (Howell 81), Edwards Unused subs: Griffiths
NUNEATON: Osborn, Green (Softley 18), Chesterton, Elliot (Currithers 60), Roberts (capt), Shilton, Sawyers, Somel, Atem (Murphy 64), Stretton (Hendrie 81), Jones Unused subs: Sweenie-Rowe
Referee: Thomas Cartwright
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES: Munroe (45), Scholtz (61)
NUNEATON: Softley (62), Jones (88)
IVES SUPPORTERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Andy Ankrah
Attendance: 214
