SWPL EAST Ivybridge Town 1 Torridgeside 0

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Created on Monday, 15 August 2022 04:24

Last Updated on Monday, 15 August 2022 08:40

Published on Monday, 15 August 2022 04:24

Written by GRAHAM HABLY at Erme Valley

A SUCCESSFUL 49th minute penalty by Fletcher Williams enabled Ivybridge Town to maintain their winning start to the South West Peninsula League campaign with a 1-0 victory over Torridgeside at Erme Valley.

Ivybridge held on for their third win in three games despite being reduced to ten men when Joe Seery was sent off after collecting a second yellow card in the 62nd minute.

Seery and skipper Scott Pocock were playing in midfield to cover the unavailability of Owen Raven and Ryan Smith who were particularly effective in Wednesday’s 4-0 win at Dartmouth.

Pocock was carrying a knee injury, which he suffered in the previous Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Bridport.

In fact, Ivybridge manager Darren Stewart admitted that Pocock and striker Jordan Ewing might not have been included in the side if a full squad had been available.

Ewing was not feeling well before the game and lasted only 22 minutes before being replaced by substitute Isaac McCue.

Stewart explained: “Jordan was not feeling great and if we had anywhere near a full squad we probably would not have considered him. To be fair to him he wanted to give it a go, but you could see after the first 15 to 20 minutes he was nowhere near it so we had to make the decision to make a substitution.”

There was praise from Stewart for McCue, who was making his first appearance for the club and it was a foul on McCue that earned Ivybridge their penalty.

Stewart said: “Isaac is a young lad who is connected with Torquay and we have had him with us training so we know what he is all about. He has got good quality and he is a local lad which is great. He matches the DNA of our side and fitted in well. He reacted really well to get the penalty.”

Although it was not as polished a performance as Wednesday’s win at Dartmouth, Stewart was pleased with the way his side battled to get the win.

He said: “Performance wise, we were nowhere near it today. But we showed another part of our game, especially going down to ten men with 20 minutes to go to dig out the result.

“We had players who would normally be part of the first team squad who were not available to us. So there were a couple of players out of position and, along with conditions and the pitch, it was all about getting the win. We did just enough to do that.”

Seery’s second yellow card was possibly a harsh decision for the tackle involved with Stewart commenting: “The problem was that he got a yellow in the first half kicking the ball away and he paid the consequence of a bit of stupidity.

“Going down to ten men gave Torridgeside an opportunity to get back into the game but I thought our back four and goalkeeper Kane Gregory were outstanding so Torridgeside did not really create a chance in that 20-minute period."

With Pocock switching to midfield, Josh Zimmerman continued his impressive partnership with Mitch Williams in the middle of the back four.

Stewart explained: “Scott was carrying an injury. If we had a full midfield he would probably have stepped down. He got some treatment on it before the game. It was not his best position and he was struggling with an injury but he is our captain. He did a job today. Fair play to him. Hopefully, we will get him fully fit in the next couple of weeks.”

Ivybridge face another tough game on Wednesday (Aug 17) when in-form Brixham - who knocked Tavistock out of the FA Cup - are the visitors to Erme Valley. That will be followed on Saturday by a visit to Okehampton, who, like Ivybridge, have taken maximum points from their first three games.

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