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Ashby Ivanhoe FC

Archers of Ashby

Ivanhoe were without three of their regular first team players for this fixture, top scorer Lee Edwards, Tony Donaghy and Tony Rush. Graham Pemberton made his first start of the season for Ivanhoe, and there was also a return for Phil Daley. In the absence of Lee Edwards, Dave Kenning took over as captain.

Calverton started the match with positive attacking football, and Ivanhoe soon found themselves under pressure. Calverton came close to scoring within five minutes of the start from a well struck shot which just went past the post. Ivanhoe found themselves struggling to compete within midfield, and a tactical change was made by moving Anthony Morton in to the left side of midfield and Phil Daley moving in to the left back position. Ivanhoe started to settle and compete within the middle of the park, but Calverton made the first strike of the game on 20 minutes from a shot just outside of the box. Ivanhoe responded well, and Nick Glynn ran on to a loose ball and managed to lob the ball over the Caverton keeper. The teams reached half time with the score at 1-1.

Once again, Calverton started the second half with purpose, and within minutes a fine move down the right hand wing resulted in a shot from a tight angle finding its way in to the Ivanhoe net. From there on, it was a matter of defending for Ivanhoe, and they very rarely troubled the Calverton goal. They lost all shape, and the midfield were unable to make any impact on the game. Calverton went on to secure a fine result with three more goals, and the game ended up 5-1 to the visitors.

The result was hugely disappointing for Ivanhoe, who up and till now had put in good solid performances. For some reason, the team had lost the spirit and balance that was evident in the previous games, and much more commitment would be needed for their next game.