Ives Continue Play Off Push - St Ives Town vs. Petersfield Town

Side on view of the stand at Westwood Road

The weather seems to have finally turned and I was again able to pick a match in midweek and not spend a morning on Twitter working out which games have survived. I've been wanting to go to St Ives ever since I first saw pictures of the ground and read up on the town itself and so last weekend I visited Westwood Road for The Southern League Central Division match up between St Ives Town and Petersfield Town. The visitors were the hosts when I went to a Wessex League match for the first time when they played Cowes Sports in Division One. The Rams have clearly come a long way since then and this was their first season at this level. They have adapted fairly well to this level and sat just below half way while St Ives were in the final play off place despite losing their last two games. Petersfield won the reverse fixture 2-0 at Love Lane back in October.

Kick off at Westwood Road

Petersfield have a great early chance as a free kick from deep finds the man in the area and the St Ives goalie makes a great low save to keep the header out. It is St Ives who take the lead when after a ball forward the attacker is first to the ball and chips the ball past the advancing keeper and in to the net. The visitors then think they should have a penalty when the forward is chopped down when driving in to the area but the referee is not interested. They have another half chance as the St Ives keeper almost spills a cross but he is able to regain his composure and deal with the threat. The final chance of the half is a St Ives free kick which goes just wide.

Petersfield stop a first half St Ives attack

It is again Petersfield who are quick out the blocks at the start of the half as the St Ives keeper has to be alert to tip a snap shot over the bar. And also like with the first half, it is St Ives who score first. A Petersfield goal kick is returned with interest when the St Ives forward runs at the defence and lashes the ball past the keeper to make it two nil. They make the game safe when a throw in finds the winger in space and his ball is volleyed in from close range to make the game safe. They have a great chance for a fourth as the forward is found with a ball from the byline but the eventual shot fails to seriously trouble the keeper. Petersfield have a chance to get on the score sheet when the attacker is able to play his way through and the St Ives keeper makes a decent stop.

St Ives attack in the second half

There is no train station in St Ives with the closest station being Huntingdon which can be reached with trains from Kings Cross with the journey taking just over an hour. From just outside the station you can catch the B bus which takes you right in to St Ives. They seemed to be fairly regular and this portion takes twenty or so minutes. St Ives is a gorgeous town which is worth exploring before a game, especially the bridge over The Great Ouse which is one of the few in country with a chapel on. There a lot of pubs in the town and just by the bridge is The Oliver Cromwell which had a great selection of beers. Then just off The High Street is The Royal Oak which had a couple of Oakham Ales on as well as BT and Sky Sports. The ground is then a five / ten minute walk away. The clubhouse had a good selection of drinks and was extremely welcoming which is a general vibe I got from the club. A great day out!

First half wing play