WESTERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Ivybridge Town 0, Street 2

A DISAPPOINTING display by Ivybridge Town saw them suffer their third home league defeat of the season as they lost 2-0 to Street FC in the Jewson Western League at Erme Valley on Saturday, October 12, writes Graham Hambly.

A couple of defensive mistakes in the early stages of the game proved costly with both the Street goals coming in the first 20 minutes.

The first came after only six minutes with Harry Foster grabbing the opportunity to open the scoring.

Then a foul on Josh Radford resulted in a penalty for the visitors, which was converted by Foster for his seventh goal of the season.

The defeat ended a six-match unbeaten run for Ivybridge and there were no excuses from joint manager Wayne Gamble, who admitted: “There are no two ways around it. We were beaten by a better side.

“They were more organised than us and had more desire. They were better than us all around the park. They pressed us in all different areas. By the time we settled ourselves down, we were already 2-0 down after gifting them two goals.

“We have been on a great run, and everything has to come to an end. We have to dust ourselves off and lick our wounds.”

Gamble is concerned, however, that Ivybridge are struggling with their home form after completing last season with an unbeaten home league record.

He said: “We just can’t find our home form. Our away form is impeccable, but our home form is disastrous.

“Last season we did not lose a home game in the league. Now this is three games we have lost at home and, if you include the Tavistock FA Cup game, that is four games. That is not us.”

Gamble says he took it easy on the team in the half-time talk, explaining: “We were 2-0 down and if you get one back early doors at any level of football you often get a second, but it just wasn’t to be.

“We never looked like we were going to score. They were sharper than us all around the pitch. We got caught cold with two silly mistakes and that was it. The way they defend we would never get back again.”

Ivybridge are now back on their travels with a visit to St Austell on Wednesday (Oct 16) before facing two cup games with a trip to Tadley Calleva in the FA Vase on Saturday (Oct 19) and the next home game is a League Cup clash against Buckland on Wednesday (Oct 23).

Gamble says: “St Austell will be a very tough game. If we get the three points down there, going into two cup games, I will be over the moon.

“We need a reaction. It might be good for us to take our eye off the league and have a bit of freedom in the cup games.”