JEWSON WESTERN LEAGUE

Ivybridge Town 1, Saltash United 3

LACK of a clinical finishing touch in front of goal saw Ivybridge Town suffer a 3-1 home defeat against league leaders Saltash United in the Jewson Western League at Erme Valley on Tuesday evening (Aug 12), writes Graham Hambly.

Both sides went close to breaking the deadlock during a goalless first half with skipper Sam Hillson being denied for Ivybridge when he had a shot cleared off the line.

Ivybridge looked the more dangerous side in the second half and opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with a goal from Dan Tate following a pass by Nathan Lang.

There was a quick reply from Saltash, however, with Deacon Thomson getting up well to head the equaliser two minutes later from a cross by Kieran O’Melia.

Then a foul on O’Melia saw Ben Goulty score from the penalty spot to give Saltash a 63rd-minute lead.

Ivybridge battled to get back into the game, creating and missing a number of decent scoring opportunities, and they were made to pay when O’Melia grabbed a third goal for Saltash in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

That made it four wins out of four for Saltash, who are two points clear at the top of the table.

Ivybridge joint manager Brad Gargett admitted: “I am really frustrated. We had one cleared off the line in the first half and I thought we probably edged it in the second half. We came out and started well and took the lead.

“But then we conceded quite quickly. We should have been tighter on the cross for the equaliser although it was a good cross and a good header and then we gave away a soft penalty, which was naive.”

Commenting on the way his side tried to get back into the game after falling behind, Gargett said: “At 2-1 we were pushing for the equaliser with set piece after set piece and looked like we were going to grind them down.

“But they did what good teams do and punished us. Fair play to them. They were a bit more streetwise at this level, and we need to take the lessons on board.”

Ivybridge face another tough test on Saturday 16 when they visit Shepton Mallet, who are currently second in the table with three wins and a draw from their four league matches.

Gargett says: “Although we were frustrated and disappointed at losing to Saltash, there is a lot to be positive about. In our last away match against Clevedon, one of the toughest defensive teams at this level, we were in the game for 80 minutes and now we are looking forward to going to Shepton.”