DESPITE taking an early lead, Ivybridge Town were knocked out of the Jewson Western League’s Les Phillips Cup after suffering a 5-1 semi-final defeat away to Bradford Town on Saturday (Feb 28), writes Graham Hambly.

Ivybridge started brightly following their 118-mile trip to Wiltshire and went ahead after only nine minutes with a goal from Joe Cook.

Bradford equalised ten minutes later with a header from Harvey Woods following a corner by Ashton Shanley.

The tie remained in the balance although Bradford took the lead with a shot from Jensen Wakefield on the half hour.

The turning point came in the 62nd minute when Wakefield grabbed his second goal of the afternoon being the quickest to react after Leo Gallazi had an effort saved by Ivybridge goalkeeper Jason Peters.

Ivybridge were chasing the game from that stage and suffered as Bradford added further goals through Gallazi (70th minute) and Kye Teague (90th minute).

Ivybridge joint manager Brad Gargett admitted that Ivybridge had several under par performances but took some encouragement from the fact that the side had progressed into the last four of the competition.,

He said: “We started well and had a good first 20 minutes but then we made an error which allowed them to score from a set piece.

“It was still nip and tuck at half-time, but Bradford took their chance for a 3-1 lead. After that we had to take some risks in the closing stages and conceded two more goals.

“Although we were disappointed at the result there were some positives to take from the fact that we reached the semi-final of the competition.”

Ivybridge now face a busy time completing their league fixtures, playing two matches most weeks.

Gargett says: “We have a lot of games in quick succession as a result of the wet weather and also our progress in cup competitions.”

Next up for Ivybridge is a rearranged home match against Wellington on Tuesday evening (March 3) (7.30pm) followed by a short trip across the River Tamar to Saltash on Saturday (March 7).