IVYBRIDGE Town put up a spirited performance away to second-placed Torpoint Athletic in the Jewson Western League on Tuesday evening (Sept 23) but were unable to avoid slipping to a 2-1 defeat at The Mill, reports Graham Hambly.

Torpoint continued their impressive league form with eight wins and a draw from nine games despite Ivybridge’s best efforts.

Skipper Elliott Crawford headed Torpoint into a 12th-minute lead following a corner and Max Gilbert added a second from a pass by Curtis Damerell in the 56th minute.

To their credit, Ivybridge kept battling to get back into the game and were rewarded when the lively Kai Burrell scored from close range a quarter of an hour from the end.

It was only the second defeat for Ivybridge in seven away league matches this season.

Despite the result, Ivybridge joint managers Ben Washam and Brad Gargett were delighted with the performance of their players.

Washam said: “We could not be more pleased with the positive attitude of the players and felt we were really unlucky not to get something out of the game.

“Although we were 1-0 down at half-time, we came out strongly in the second half and missed a really good chance to get back to 1-1.”

Washam felt that Ivybridge were unfortunate with a couple of possible penalty decisions that did not go their way.

A positive note for Ivybridge was the return from injury of defenders James Forrest and Ryan Geach.

There was also praise for the attacking play of goalscorer Burrell with Washam saying: “He played well and could have added to his score.”

Ivybridge will be looking for their first home league win of the season at the fifth attempt on Saturday (Sept 27) when they face Brislington, who lost 3-0 at home to third-placed Paulton Rovers on Tuesday evening.

Washam said: “After the way we played at Torpoint, we will be going into the Brislington game on a positive note.”

Meanwhile, the reward for Ivybridge following last Saturday’s win at Teignmouth AFC in the FA Vase is a home tie in the first-round proper of the competition. They will play Totton and Eling from Division One of the Wessex League at Erme Valley on Saturday, October 18.