WESTERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Ivybridge Town 2 Paulton Rovers 1
A BATTLING performance saw Ivybridge Town extend their unbeaten run to five matches with a 2-1 home win over Paulton Rovers in the Jewson Western League on Saturday, February 8, writes Graham Hambly.
Goals from Jake Lane and Sean Thomson enabled Ivybridge to establish what appeared to be a comfortable two-goal lead but there were a couple of anxious moments during six minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game.
Lane cracked home a well-taken free kick from just outside the penalty area to open the scoring in the 23rd minute. Then Thomson scored a second goal after good work by Chris Wright and Curtis Legrice on the hour.
But Paulton were given a lifeline in the third minute of added time when Ivybridge defender Jordan Powell was penalised for handball and visiting substitute Kitan Jaiyeoba converted the spot kick.
There was still time left for Paulton to come desperately close to equalising when Will Hailston saw a shot crash against the crossbar.
Nevertheless, Ivybridge held on to clinch their third win in their last four league matches, following previous away victories at Saltash and Welton. Added to the mid-week penalty shoot-out success against Plymouth Parkway in the Devon St Luke’s Cup, it left Ivybridge joint manager Wayne Gamble enthusing: “It has been a good few weeks for us. Today was a proper rugged performance and it was good to get the win.
“When the pitches are all cut up and heavy it comes into our favour a little bit. We have got a lot of warriors in our team.”
Regarding the anxious moments at the end of the game, Gamble commented: “Our defenders are defending for their lives out there but we’re not putting teams away. We are good defensively but not sharp enough in that final third.
“On the budget that we are on you can’t go out and sign a striker on £150 a game. We are lucky that we have a good defence.”
With reference to the two goals they did score, Gamble said: “It was a great free kick for the first goal. Chris Wright wanted to take it, but it was a left-footed side where we had to take it, so we called Jake Lane over and he slotted it into the corner.
“Jake has been immense since he came back from his injury. He is a great player.
“Our second goal, one of the best we have scored all season. There was some nice link0up play with Chris Wright and then CJ (Legrice) got into the 18-yard box and passed to Sean Thomson, who dropped his shoulder and smashed it into the top corner.”
Taking the man of the match honours for Ivybridge was Lane, who has recently switched from the left-back position to play in a midfield role.
That decision was endorsed by vice-captain Powell, who joined Gamble for the post-match interview, saying: “Jake has been monumental for us. He has moved into midfield and been a breath of fresh air for us.
“He likes to play out from the back while Sam Hillson and I just want to defend. Jake takes the stress away from us. It helps the defence out all day long.”
Commenting on the fact that Ivybridge went into the match with three clean sheets in their previous three league games, Powell said: “Today should have been another clean sheet but I gave away the penalty. Realistically, that’s four clean sheets in a row if I did not make that mistake. Not many teams get four clean sheets in a row in this league. We defended well and are getting better and better as the season goes on.”
Next up for Ivybridge will be another home fixture on Saturday (Feb 15) with Wellington visiting Erme Valley.
Meanwhile, the reward for Ivybridge following their win over Plymouth Parkway in the Devon St Luke’s Cup will be a home tie in the semi-finals against the winners of the quarter-final between Bideford and Plymouth Argyle, being played on March 4.