CSWPL
premier division
Bodmin Town 1,
Ivybridge Town 4
Ivybridge Town's general manager is urging his team to keep on going when they welcome Witheridge to Erme Valley tomorrow afternoon having played half their league games writes Tim Leigh.
The Bridgers are top of the table at the moment and beat Witheridge at their place recently, but Howard was nonetheless expecting a tough game. He said: 'It's not going to be an easy ride, Witheridge have a good record coming here.'
Town have pretty much a full squad to pick from, with Jordan Walton the only major absentee after Lewis Plackett and Dan Warren are fit again after knocks.
Confidence should be high going into the game as Town extended their lead over second-placed Bodmin to 12 points after they handed them their heaviest home defeat in the Peninsula League with a 1-4 victory at Priory Park.
This fine victory was hailed by Howard as Ivybridge's best display of the season so far, and he reserved particular praise for star substitute Steve Sutton, who sparked the team into life when he came on.
The eventual scoreline seemed an unlikely one when Bodmin took the lead with just six minutes played, some hesitant defending allowing Darren Hicks to give the home side the lead.
It took until midway through the first half for the Bridgers to find their rhythm, with Howard admitting his side could have been further behind when the referee ended the half with the hosts leading 1-0.
However, the half-time team talk certainly did the trick as the visitors dominated the second half, with Sutton's appearance on 55 minutes the catalyst for the goals that were to follow.
He set up the equaliser with a delicious cross which striker Mike Smith headed home at the far post midway through the second period. Mark Berry was the next to provide an assist, floating in another cross for Smith to score his second header of the day and give Ivybridge the lead.
The third goal was deservedly scored by Sutton after good work down the right-hand side before Smith finished off his hat-trick in injury time, Sutton once more turning provider.
Howard was willing to say his side had done better than expected this season, sitting top of the tree after 18 games, but felt that suggestions they had overachieved were wide of the mark.
He said: 'The table doesn't lie, I don't think you can say we've overachieved after winning 14 games. Our challenge now is to keep on for the rest of the season.'
While having played more games than the rest means that theoretically St Austell and Saltash can both overtake them if they win their games in hand, with winter fast approaching having points in the bag is no bad thing.
Bad weather-induced fixture congestion like last season can play havoc with a team's ambitions.
As the firsts were ripping apart their nearest challengers, Town's reserve side were knocked out in the second round of the Devon Premier Cup by Vospers Oak Villa's first team, losing 1-4 at Erme Valley.
They return to action tomorrow in the SDFL premier division when they visit Kingsteignton Athletic in a 2.30pm kick-off.