WESTERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Ivybridge Town 1 Brislington FC 1

A CLOSELY contested game saw Ivybridge held to a 1-1 draw at home to Brislington in the Jewson Western League on Saturday, November 16, writes Graham Hambly.

Ivybridge survived some early pressure from a lively Brislington side before taking the lead with a shot from Connor Rush following a well-worked move in the 55th minute.

They then had a great opportunity to add a second when Sean Thomson broke clear of the visiting defence following a quickly taken free kick. But his attempt to chip the ball over goalkeeper Ryan Smallwood saw him lift the ball over the crossbar.

A second goal at that stage might have put Ivybridge on course for what would have been their first league win in five matches.

Brislington took full advantage of their escape to secure a point with a late equaliser from new signing Shea Manning in the 82nd minute.

Ivybridge joint manager Wayne Gamble admitted that the draw was probably a fair result but was disappointed to see two home points dropped.

He said: “It probably is a fair result, but we have got to do better and see these games out to start getting three points on the board. We dropped two points at home to Saltash, two points away to St Austell and another two here today. If we have aspirations to get into the playoffs we can’t keep doing this.

“Sean Thomson could have killed the game off when he went through one one-on-one but tried to be a bit too clever there. If he put us 2-0 up we could probably have gone on to win 3-0.

“We could have ended up losing that game come the end. We played so deep. I was trying to urge our team to go up higher and try to go and win the game. I would rather lose a game trying to win it rather than settling for a draw. One point is no good to us. You have got to win your home games.”

Despite the disappointing result, there were a number of positives for Ivybridge including the debut of new signing Owen Stockton, who came on as substitute for the last 30 minutes.

Gamble said: “Owen is a big signing from Buckland and an ex-Bideford player. He is a big, strong boy and is going to do us well. He is a great signing and a great addition for us.”

Another bonus for Ivybridge is the return from injury of defenders Jake Lane and Jordan Powell. The latter took the Man of the Match award and Gamble spoke of how “We have missed him over the weeks. I think he was the best player on the park today. With Jake also coming back we are getting everything together.”

Next up is a home game against Nailsea and Tickenham on Saturday, November 23 with Gamble commenting, “We have got to roll up our sleeves and dig in if we mean business.”