Ives finish the season with entertaining draw
St Ives Town v Stratford Town
Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central 19-04-2025
Four games in eight days caught up with the play-off chasing Bards as they tired before the end squandering a two goal advantage to allow the hard working Ives to complete their season with a five match unbeaten run that proved sufficient to ensure a tenth successive season at step three to come.
Perhaps surprisingly having only completed their replayed game against Alvechurch on Thursday evening only just over 41 hours before this game the visitors head coach Paul Davies only made one change to his starting eleven with Cyrus Bruce coming in for Kasway Burton. However he was forced into one more late change before kick off when Josh Hawker picked up an injury in the warm up to be replaced by Ashley Sammons. Ives manager Ricky Marheineke also made two changes from the side that had picked up a vital point at near neighbours Royston on Easter Monday both in central midfield with Jernade Meade returned from illness he replaced Ed Hottor and Habib Makanjuola replacing Claudio Dias.
With both teams in a position where the result was unlikely to have any effect on the final outcome of their season but with both just having a slim chance where it might. The Bards sitting two points behind Harborough and Stamford needed both of those two to lose whilst they won. Ives even a little more assured as they needed both Barwell and Redditch to win and in doing so turn around a ten goal difference plus Bishop’s Stortford to win for them to possibly slip into the last relegation place. Basic outcome the result was very unlikely to matter to either side and that was how it proved to be but they served up an entertaining game none the less.
Ives were first out of the traps with Bards goalkeeper Jacob Weaver pulling off a save to keep out Will Glennon’s well struck shot in only the second minute. The chance coming about after Aaron Smith’s long throw had been knocked down to Glennon on the edge of the box.
Quick thinking from Ives keeper Dan Wilks almost earnt him an assist in tenth minute as he spotted Josh Allen’s well timed run and almost picked him out with a well struck half volley. The host’s striker looked to be going clear only to be denied by a brave block and clearance from Weaver who had sprinted from his line to meet the ball at almost the same instant that Allen got to it.
After those early Ives forays into Bards territory the game swung around and the visitors enjoyed a good spell. The speedy Charlie Williams was bundled over 30 yards from goal on the right by Peter Abimbola in thirteenth minute. Sammons delivered a teasing in-swinging free kick that picked out Calum Flanagan but the visitors centre back failed to hit the target with his header from ten yards. Three minutes later it took a well positioned Smith at the back post to prevent Finley Brennan’s in-swinging corner arcing in over Wilks.
It took the eagle eye of referee Joshua Evans to spot an infringement inside Ives box as they defender a Lewis Ludford-Ison long throw in 20th minute. Although the contact in the crowd seemed minimal it was sufficient for Mr Evans to decide that a foul had been committed and a penalty was the result. The in-form Williams scored his fourth goal in two games by sending Wilks the wrong way from the spot.
Bards pressure continued and another Sammons free kick into Ives box caused problems as Dan Lafferty won the header to set up a shooting opportunity for Flanagan but the big centre back was denied by an assistant’s upraised flag.
Ives had one opportunity to get level seven minutes before the break with Makanjuola picking out George Munday on the right and Glennon attacking his low cross at the near post. But Weaver reacted well getting down to his left to turn the ball around the post.
But the final chance of the first half fell to the visitors who broke at pace with Lafferty playing in Bruce through the left channel. But a well positioned Wilks was equal to the striker’s powerful effort blocking the shot away with his legs.
Ives needed to make a good start to the second half, but not for the first time in recent weeks they were caught cold and conceded a soft second goal within three minutes of the restart. Once again it was Williams who caught them napping ghosting through the centre to take down a bouncing ball before slotting low past the exposed Wilks from just inside the box.
Seconds later the tricky striker should have claimed his second hat trick in less than 48 hours as he once more managed to lose his marker to get on the end of Owen James delivery into the box. But fortunately for Ives his header was straight at Wilks who held on well.
But as the second half wore on it became clear that perhaps Davies’s decision to not freshen his line up for this game was working against him as a number of the Bards players began to visibly tire. Ives wrested control of the game. That swing seemed to start in 64th minute Munday battled to dispossess Alex Worley deep in his own territory. Munday then jinked inside and struck a fierce low effort from the edge of the box that Weaver dived to push away.
Hadi was next to go close, three minutes later, as he battled his way into a shooting position only to fire straight at Weaver from 20 yards. Ethan Creary should probably have done better with his 69th minute header as he rose from the crowd to get above Weaver and get on the end of a Smith long throw but his header drifted across the face of goal and wide.
Skipper Alex Collard spurned an even better opportunity two minutes later as a short corner routine allowed Creary to deliver an inviting ball into the box from the right. Collard lost his marker and met the ball powerfully heading it down and goalwards, only trouble was he picked out the piece of goal where keeper Weaver was standing and the ball bounced away off a keeper who knew little about the save.
The tiring Bards were struggling all over the pitch by this point and Hadi was unfortunate to have a 73rd minute penalty appeal turned down as he appeared to get around Brennan on the bye line only to be taken down inside the box by a desperate lunging tackle from the struggling defender. But referee Evans waved away the appeals.
Finally Ives found a route back into the game with twelve minutes to go Munday fired in a low cross from the right, a clever step over by Meade at the near post allowed Hadi to just get in front of Brennan and stab the ball home low past Weaver to set up a grandstand finish.
But there was one man in the visitors line up who still had the legs to cause trouble and Williams forced another save out of Wilks as he picked up a long ball and cut inside from the left before firing in a low shot that the big keeper did well to keep out at his near post.
Back at the other end there was still time for a final twist in the tale as Creary delivered another dangerous ball into the box from the right. It rebounded off a defender and looked like it was going to drop at the feet of substitute Johnson Gyamfi on the edge of the six yard box. But a tug from the struggling Worley prevented him getting clean contact on the ball. An offence that did not escape the eagle eye of referee Evans who had no hesitation in pointing to the spot to award the second penalty of the game. Glennon stepped up to fire powerfully past Weaver and level things up.
It still took a brilliant reaction save from Wilks to keep out Worley’s volley at the back post in the last of four added minutes and perhaps fittingly the impressive stopper was the last man to get a touch of the ball to end Ives season as he rose imperiously to claim the resulting corner.
So ends an exciting season, as ever there were lows, the defeat at rock bottom Biggleswade and relegated Barwell the only team all season to claim a double over Ives, and highs, away wins against both of the top two and an impressive double over fifth placed Harborough Town.
Enjoy your summer and a date for your diary Ives tenth league season at step three will begin on 9th August
Final Score: St Ives Town 2 Stratford Town 2 Half Time 0 – 1
Goals:
ST IVES: Hadi 78, Glennon 89 (pen)
STRATFORD: Williams 20 (pen), 48
Line Ups:
ST IVES: Wilks, Creary, Smith, Meade, Abimbola, Collard (capt), Allen (Pereira 58), Glennon, Hadi (Gyamfi 81), Makanjuola (Hottor 58), Munday, Unused subs: Watkins, J. Williams,
STRATFORD: Weaver, Brennan, Sammons (Burgess 68), Ludford-Ison (capt), Lafferty, Flanagan, James, Bruce (May 79), Worley, Lacey (Joshua 46), C. Williams (Molyneux 83), Unused subs: Hawker
Referee: Joshua Evans
Cards: Yellow: ST IVES: Hadi (22), Meade (34), Abimbola (36) STRATFORD: Williams (28)
SPONSORS MAN OF THE MATCH: Jernade Meade
Attendance: 389
