A SPIRITED second-half performance failed to bring any reward for Ivybridge Town as they suffered a third home defeat, going down 2-0 to an experienced Barnstaple Town side in the Jewson Western League on Saturday, September 6, writes Graham Hambly.

Barnstaple took the lead at Erme Valley with a well-executed free kick by former Kettering player Gabriel Rogers in the 25th minute.

They added a second five minutes later when Josh Parry drove home to round off an excellent attacking movement.

Ivybridge responded well after the interval and dominated much of the second half without penetrating the visiting defence. They were unfortunate not to reduce the arrears when Joe Cook had a header brilliantly saved by Barnstaple goalkeeper Michael Searle following a corner.

Ivybridge joint managers Ben Washam and Brad Gargett drew some comfort from the fact that their young side refused to crumble and kept battling throughout the second period.

Washam said: “We were up against a good, well-established team. In the second half I thought there was only one team in it. We had 11 corners and it was just extremely frustrating that we could not get over the line, but a lot of positives came out of that game today.”

Gargett added: “Barnstaple capitalised on two moments of quality in the first half, but we got on top in the second half and their goalkeeper made a superb save from Joe Cook. When you look at their experience, to be disappointed at not actually coming away with maybe a point is a real positive.”

The Ivybridge managers pointed out that the three home defeats against Saltash, Sidmouth and Barnstaple were all against established Western League sides near the top end of the table with Washam commenting; “We have a really young side who are still adapting to the league. They have done really well up to this point and I could not be more proud of them.”

Ivybridge have two away fixtures this week with the relatively short trip to St Blazey on Wednesday evening (Sept 10) followed by the long haul of almost a 250-mile round trip to Oldland Abbotonians on Saturday (Sept 13).

The opening weeks of the season have already seen Ivybridge undertake long-distance trips to Clevedon, Shepton Mallet and Nailsea.

Looking ahead to this week’s games, Gargett says: “St Blazey are a bit of an unknown quality. Oldland will be a new one. It is part of the reason why we want to play in this league- to challenge ourselves, see new set-ups and enjoy the experience of competing. Hopefully, we can put some more points on the board.”

Photography by Steve Screech.