A GOAL from leading scorer Kai Burrell just before the interval saw Ivybridge Town climb back into the top half of the Western League table as they extended their unbeaten run to six games with a 1-0 away win over Street FC on Tuesday evening (Mar 31), writes Graham Hambly.

It was an impressive result for Ivybridge as they were forced to travel with a young squad because of injuries and the unavailability of some regular team members.

Experienced skipper and central defender Sam Hillson is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury while Josh Pope is also sidelined by injury.

Among the players unable to get away from work in time for the midweek evening trip to Somerset were Hillson’s central defensive partner Joe Cook and key attackers Kaycee Ogwu and Cameron Patterson.

James Forrest continued the captain’s duties and formed an effective partnership with Ryan Geach at the heart of the Ivybridge defence.

Their wholehearted efforts meant that although Street had most of the play in the early stages, goalkeeper Jason Peters had only one real shot to save in the first 30 minutes.

The key breakthrough for Ivybridge came in the 43rd minute when Owen Howard made a good forward run and released Jadore Lawson, who crossed for Burrell to provide the finishing touch for the only goal of the game.

Ivybridge had more of the game in the second half but were denied a second goal by home goalkeeper Jack Arthur, who pulled off some good saves, including one from an excellent effort by Charlie Menear.

Ivybridge joint manager Brad Gargett was particularly impressed by the efforts of the young Ivybridge squad, saying: “Street had the majority of the ball in the first half and Jason Peters made one good save but after the first 30 minutes they did not have another shot on target.

“We were really bright in the second half, and their goalkeeper made some outstanding saves. Street is a hard place to visit, and it was a really good three points away from home for us.”

Ivybridge will be looking to maintain their recent impressive run over the Easter weekend when they complete their home fixtures with two attractive fixtures.

On Good Friday (3pm) they host Buckland Athletic, who will be looking to bounce back from a 5-3 home defeat by Paulton Rovers on Tuesday evening.

That left Buckland sixth in the table, one point adrift of a promotion play-off position. Their visit could see the return to Erme Valley of former Ivybridge players Scott Pocock and Luke Forward.

Then on Easter Monday (3pm) comes a tasty treat with a local derby against Torpoint Athletic, who drew 1-1 at Barnstaple Town on Tuesday and were in third place, four points behind leaders Clevedon Town with two games in hand.

Ivybridge are hoping the visit of their championship chasing neighbours will attract a bumper attendance to round off the home season.

Gargett says: “All due respect to Torpoint. They have some players who have won the league previously with Helston.

“We will be looking forward to the game and expect Torpoint to have a good following.”