OVERNIGHT rain and the forecast of more wet weather to follow resulted in the postponement of Ivybridge Town’s home match in the Jewson Western League against Nailsea and Tickenham, due to be played on Saturday, November 23, writes Graham Hambly.

Local referee Alan Bassett made an early morning inspection of the Erme Valley pitch and ruled it unfit. The decision, at 9am, was in good time to save Nailsea from making a wasted 100-mile trip down the M.5.

The next match for Ivybridge will be the short trip across the Tamar to Saltash on Friday evening (November 29th) with a 7:45 kick-off. They then have a blank Saturday on December 7 before travelling to Shepton Mallet on Saturday, December 14.

Ivybridge will have their next home match on Saturday December 21 when Welton Rovers visit Erme Valley.

Meanwhile, Ivybridge have been drawn away to Plymouth Parkway in the quarterfinals of the Devon County St Luke’s Cup. The fixture will be played at Bolitho Park on Wednesday, January 29.

The other quarter-final ties in the competition are: Barnstaple v Exeter or Torquay, Bideford v Plymouth Argyle and Tiverton v Okehampton.

Ivybridge’s game may have fallen foul of the weather but Buckland Athletic were involved in one of the only two games to go ahead in the Western Football League over a miserable weekend.

Wind and rain battered some areas with snow also wreaking havoc but the Bucks’ away game against Bridgwater United still lasted from minute one to minute 90.

Portishead Town hosting Barnstaple Town was the only other fixture to be fulfilled in the WFL and that ended goalless, leaving Buckland as the sole goalscorers with a 4-0 victory to remember.

Young Ryan Smith opened the scoring on 22 minutes for the visitors and the lead was then doubled on the brink of half-time in Somerset, courtesy of dominant defender Adam Hill. Fullback Sam Morcom with the assist for both goals.

Ryan Richards and who else but Ryan Bush got in on the act after the break to put the game out of reach for the trailing Bridgwater.

This convincing win for Dan Hart’s side paired with the lack of action from elsewhere in the division leaves them in fourth.

Barnstaple stayed ahead of Buckland after they picked up that point at Portishead whilst the Newton Abbot-based team overtook both Portishead and Street FC.

Buckland have a game in hand on Barnstaple who are just one point ahead and three on league leaders Brixham AFC, who are six ahead, meaning there are many more twists and turns still to come in this title race.

Talking of Barnstaple and they will visit Homers Heath tomorrow night, weather permitting, in a mammoth Western League clash.

For Ivybridge, they sit tenth prior to the midweek games but with Bridgwater (11th) and Paulton Rovers (13th) taking to the field, the landscape may well have shifted by the time Wayne Gamble’s men are set to play again on Friday night.