Stratford Town suffer late heartbreak against St Ives

ST Ives Town struck two late goals as they claimed a dramatic 3-2 victory over a shell-shocked Stratford Town at the DCS Stadium on Tuesday night.

Stratford looked set for hard-earned victory when Will Grocott struck with six minutes to go, but the St Ives hit back in sensational fashion to claim all three points.

The manner of defeat will be difficult one for Town supporters to stomach, particularly as it comes off the back of a couple of gritty performances at Weymouth and Chesham.

With six minutes to go, Town should have seen the game out and after the game, manager Carl Adams admitted his team cannot seem to play ‘ugly’ in those situations late in a game.

Stratford were forced into one change from last week’s 1-1 draw at Chesham, with Will Grocott returning to the starting line-up.

Grocott replaced the injured Edwin Ahenkorah, who faces at least two weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Kieren Westwood (groin) was also out, while Ben Stephens and Mike Taylor were only fit enough for spots on the bench.

The game got off to a perfect start, with Stratford going ahead inside the opening 40 seconds.

Charlie Faulkner crossed from the left and Justin Marsden volleyed it home past St Ives goalkeeper Tim Trebes.

The visitors kept their heads and they were on level terms within six minutes. Josh Dawkins played it back to Jack Bradshaw on the edge of the area and he smashed the ball past Niall Cooper for the equaliser.

The game then settled down, with Stratford looking the more likely to grab a second.

Grocott was causing the visitors all sorts of problems throughout the half, showing Town how much they had missed him during his injury lay-off.

Town may have been on top, but it was St Ives who were desperately unlucky not to go 2-1 up in the 39th minute.

Cooper miscued a clearance, with the ball going straight to Dubi Ogbonna, who smashed a shot from 25 yards towards an open goal. Luckily for Cooper and Town, the quick-thinking Liam Francis, on his 100th appearance for the club, was in the right place to head it off the line.

Three minutes later and it was Stratford who should have regained the lead. Grocott’s exquisite through ball put Simeon Tulloch through one-on-one with Trebes, but the Saints stopper made a crucial block.

St Ives improved after the break and the game became a slower affair as a result.

Chances were few and far between until the 60th minute, when another goal-line clearance kept it at 1-1.

This time it was captain James Fry who was back on the line to deny Danny Kelly after Cooper was beaten.

Town kept chipping away and after chances for substitutes Mike Taylor and Ben Stephens went begging, Adams’ men restored their goal advantage in the 84th minute.

Dan Summerfield lauched a long-range free-kick into the area which only cleared as far as Grocott, whose goal-bound shot took a deflection on its way into the net.

Just as it looked as though Town had bagged a hard-earned three points, Saints had other ideas and their persistence paid off with a minute left on the clock when Bradshaw let fly with a blistering shot from all of 30 yards that sailed past Cooper into the top corner.

As the game headed into added time, only the woodwork denied Stephens, whose header from another pinpoint Grocott cross had Trebes beaten.

Then, as referee Matt Law preprared to blow the whistle for full-time, Saints had one last attack in the fourth minute of added time.

Ben Seymour-Shove pounced on an error from Simeon Tulloch, who was back helping in defence.

With Tulloch beaten, Seymour-Stone then sent a looping effort over Cooper, sending the travelling fans into ecstasy and leaving the Town faithful in stunned silence.

Stratford Town: Niall Cooper, Jean Kalenda. Guy Clark, James Fry (c), Liam Francis, Barry Fitzharris (Ben Stephens 77), Simeon Tulloch, Dan Summerfield, Justin Marsden, Will Grocott, Charlie Faulkner (Mike Taylor 60).

St Ives Town: Tim Trebes, Harry O’Malley, Jordan Jarrold, Lee Chaffey (c), Liam McDevitt, Jack Higgs, Ben Seymour-Shove, Jack Bradshaw, Dubi Ogbonna (Jarred Cunniff 70), Danny Kelly (Scott Sinclair 81), Josh Dawkin.