Western Football League Premier

Clevedon Town 6, Ivybridge Town 0

A SECOND-HALF collapse saw Ivybridge Town suffer a 6-0 defeat away to Clevedon Town in the Jewson Western League on Saturday (Aug 10).

Ironically, Ivybridge looked the better side in the first half, but failed to take advantage and were punished in a disappointing second period.

Clevedon opened the scoring with a shot from Freddie King in the 50th minute and that goal served to turn the game. It was followed by two goals in a couple of minutes with Kieran Ireland applying the finishing touch to a through ball from King in the 59th minute with Harrison Kyte making it 3-0 in the 61st minute after Ivybridge goalkeeper Kane Gregory parried a shot from Oscar Bridgman.

Ivybridge failed to get back into the game and Clevedon remained on top with Brad Probert scoring from a left-wing cross in the 70th minute while James Tait added another five minutes later following a cross from the right.

Sam Ledward completed the scoring for Clevedon in the 89th minute direct from a free kick on the edge of the penalty area.

Ivybridge joint manager Wayne Gamble said: “I thought we played them off the park in the first half, but the wheels fell off after they scored the first goal.

“We did not score while we were on top and we are going to have to learn fast in this league. We are letting teams off the hook.”

Gamble praised the efforts of Sean Thomson and Dane Hewings, who helped Ivybridge control so much of the first half. But Hewings was replaced at the start of the second half after being booked. Gamble admitted: “We took him off to avoid the possibility of Dane collecting a second yellow card, but we missed his influence in the second half. He is a born winner.”

Despite the scoreline, skipper and centre-half Scott Pocock impressed in defence for Ivybridge. Gamble said: “Scott turned in a real captain’s performance and he should not have been on the end of a 6-0 loss.”

Following up losses in the first three Western League outings, St. Blazey awaited on Wednesday evening (Aug 14) 7.30pm, the same team who they beat 3-1 in the FA Cup earlier this month.

Their reward for that success is a home tie against Tavistock in the preliminary round of the competition, to be played at Erme Valley on Saturday (August 17).