WESTERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Ivybridge Town 10, Welton Rovers 0

IVYBRIDGE Town took full advantage of playing only their second home league match since mid-October to romp to a 10-0 win over bottom of the table Welton Rovers in Saturday’s (December 21) Jewson Western League match at Erme Valley, writes Graham Hambly.

The fixture went ahead after a morning inspection of the rain-soaked pitch and Ivybridge were always in command after taking the lead in the second minute with a goal from Sam Hillson.

He connected with a header from a right-wing corner and the ball hit the crossbar before entering the net after appearing to rebound off a Welton defender. But Ivybridge officials confirmed that the goal was being credited to Hillson.

Further goals followed for Ivybridge through Owen Pritchard (16th minute), Ollie Aplin (36th minute), and Pritchard again with his second in the 39th minute.

Then Hillson made it 5-0 at half-time when he scored with another header, this time from a left-wing corner in the second minute of stoppage time.

There was more to follow in the second half with Sean Thomson scoring twice in the 50th and 57th minutes, before Ivybridge wrapped up their victory with three goals from players coming off the bench as substitutes. Jamie Grinrod opened his account for the club in the 62nd minute, Jake Smelt cracked home a trademark long range effort in the 76th minute and Connor Rush took the total into double figures in the 84th minute.

Despite the ten-goal tally, Ivybridge created enough chances to have scored even more while Welton goalkeeper Mackenzie Welsh deserved some credit for pulling off a few last ditch saves.

Ivybridge joint manager Wayne Gamble was delighted to see his side collect their first league win since a 1-0 success at Ilfracombe on October 5. A combination of cup games and postponements since then have restricted Ivybridge to six league games which have produced four points from four drawn matches.

Gamble said: “If someone had said we could get four points from this game and our match at Shepton Mallet last week I would have taken that.

“Welton had a couple of good chances at the start of the game. It was just a case of keeping calm, staying collected and taking our chances.

“The conditions were bad with a heavy pitch which cut up, but you still have to put those goals past teams.”

“It was a good day at the office today. The pitch took a bit of a battering, but we knew we needed to get it on and get the three points on the board.”

Gamble admitted it was somewhat bizarre that left back Curtis Legrice was the Ivybridge man of the match, adding: “It shows how good he was that we won 10-0 and then our left back gets man of the match.

“He was phenomenal all afternoon. He is a lad who can play numerous positions and he has been fantastic. He was very close to getting it last week and is one of our most important players.

“If we had to stop the season now and I had to give my manager’s player of the season award it would be him. That’s how good he has been.”

Saturday’s result means that Welton have lost all 24 league matches played this season, but Gamble had a few encouraging words for the visitors, saying: “They have a lot of young boys in their team. I hope they will stay together because there are some good lads there. Their goalkeeper has pulled off some great saves.”

Meanwhile, Ivybridge now prepare for their visit to second in the table Brixham on Boxing Day morning (11am). Gamble says: “The win over Welton will have given us a bit of confidence going into the Brixham game.

“They had a bit of a wobble today being beaten 3-1 at St Austell so it could be a good time to play them.”

Ivybridge will then start the New Year with a home match against Wellington on January 1 and Gamble says: “What we need now going into the New Year is to get a run behind us on our own ground because we know that we travel well. We are good away, but we need to get consistency at home.”

Wellington have suffered a couple of recent defeats at the hands of Cornish clubs, losing 2-0 at home to Torpoint on Saturday and going down 1-0 at home to St Austell the previous week (Dec 14).

Gamble says: “It will be an interesting one. We need to get that game on, on New Year’s Day, because I fancy ourselves in that one.”