Devon St Luke’s Challenge Cup

Ivybridge Town 1, Bideford 2

BIDEFORD scored two late goals to deny Ivybridge Town a place in the final of the Devon County St Luke’s Bowl with a 2-1 victory in the semi-final at Erme Valley on Wednesday evening (April 2), writes Graham Hambly.

Ivybridge opened the scoring with Bailey Mabin on target shortly after the interval, but Bideford grabbed a stoppage-time winner with former Ivybridge forward Jordan Ewing scoring against his old club.

The main cause of Ivybridge’s disappointment, however, was the fact that they suffered a couple of controversial decisions by referee Ryan Cornelius, who harshly dismissed Owen Pritchard and then awarded Bideford a hotly disputed penalty.

The game remained all square during an evenly contested first half in which Mabin had a couple of decent chances. With one he opted for a pass to Sean Thomson rather than finishing himself and also had a goal-bound header brilliantly saved by Bideford goalkeeper Mike Searle.

Mabin eventually put Ivybridge ahead in the 51st minute with a delightful chip over the goalkeeper.

A turning point came ten minutes later, however, when Ivybridge were reduced to ten men with Pritchard being sent off for a challenge on Ollie Gardner, which hardly seemed worthy of a yellow card.

Despite that blow, Ivybridge stuck to their task and looked set to hold on to their slender lead until the 89th minute when referee Cornelius awarded Bideford a penalty for a handling offence which looked a classic ball to hand rather than deliberate handball.

Finn Roberts converted the resultant spot kick to level the scores and then Ewing headed the dramatic winner in the second minute of added time.

Bideford will now meet their North Devon rivals Barnstaple in the final of the competition.

Ivybridge joint manager Wayne Gamble was left criticising those decisions which robbed his side of a potential victory, saying: “I feel sorry for my team tonight. The referee should be ashamed of himself for what he has done to our lads.”

Regarding the dismissal of Pritchard, Gamble said: “He sent off Owen and just ruined the whole game. People have said it is not even a yellow let alone a red.”

Commenting on the award of the late penalty, Gamble said: “Our player has got his hand down by his side, little more than a yard away. No one has even appealed for it, but the referee has pointed right to the spot.”

Reflecting on his team’s overall performance, Gamble commented: “I feel sorry for the lads. We scored a good goal and played some good stuff against Bideford, who are a good side.

“We had chances in the first half and their ’keeper has pulled off one of the best saves I have seen at this ground from Bailey Mabin’s header. The ’keeper was already on the floor, but he has tipped it over the bar. It was a fantastic save.”

The man of the match for Ivybridge was striker Ollie Aplin, who dropped back to a defensive role in the absence of the suspended Sam Hillson and injured Curtis Legrice.

Gamble said: “A special mention to Ollie. He has gone from striker to right wing-back. He was phenomenal and did not deserve that result tonight.”

Ivybridge have suffered on a number of occasions through controversial refereeing decisions this season with Gamble adding: “Even if we won tonight and the other team had that officiating done against them, I would still have had something to say.

“Let’s hope the officiating is better next season because it is not just tonight. It has been a catalogue all season. There is no consistency whatsoever.”

Ivybridge will round off their season with three away Western League matches against Nailsea, Portishead and Wellington, starting with the 100-mile trip to Nailsea on Saturday (April 5).

Gamble says: “We will just enjoy the last three games.”

He will look to give some game time to youngster Rhys McShane, who came on as substitute for the final 20 minutes against Bideford, adding: “We will give Rhys some very good minutes. He was fantastic again. He is a big six-foot player who is quick and can play. He is going to be a special player for us next season.”