IVYBRIDGE Town are through to the last eight of the Jewson Western League’s Les Phillips Cup following a 3-1 away victory over Helston Athletic on Tuesday evening (Jan 13) writes Graham Hambly.

They will now be at home to third-placed Paulton Rovers in the quarter-final on Saturday (Jan 17).

The victory at Helston was the fourth attempt at staging the second-round tie after three previous dates fell victim to the winter weather.

Ivybridge began brightly despite having to make the long journey to West Cornwall for an evening game and took the lead with a goal from Dan Tate in the ninth minute.

Helston equalised shortly after the interval when half-time substitute Jude Tripconey followed up to score after a shot from Liam Eddy had been blocked.

But Ivybridge regained the lead midway through the second half with a goal from Kai Burrell and the visitors went on to secure their win a quarter of an hour from the end when Burrell converted a penalty following a foul on Ryan Smith. It was leading scorer Burrell’s 15 goal of the season.

A disappointing evening for Helston was completed in the closing stages when goal scorer Tripconey was sent off for a bad foul.

It was the second win at Helston for Ivybridge in recent weeks as they enjoyed a 2-1 win on their league visit to Kellaway Park on November 25.

Ivybridge joint manager Brad Gargett said: “It was a long way to go for a game on a Tuesday night. But we put in a professional display.

“After they equalised, we took charge of the game and created a number of chances and could easily have scored a couple more goals.”

With their home quarter-final on Saturday, Ivybridge now have a run of three successive home fixtures with Wellington visiting Erme Valley on Saturday, January 24 followed by Helston on Saturday, January 31.

The cup clash will be the first time Ivybridge have played Paulton this season and Gargett says: “They are near the top of the table so it will be another hard game, but we will be fully prepared.”