IVYBRIDGE Town began their preparations for the new Jewson Western League season with a 1-1 draw in a hastily arranged pre-season friendly, writes Graham Hambly.

They took on South West Peninsula League Premier East team Stoke Gabriel and Torbay Police on the artificial pitch at Ivybridge Community College on Saturday, July 4.

The original plan was for an away match at St Austell but the Cornish side were unable to host Ivybridge, who then arranged a match with Stoke Gabriel, but were unable to stage it at their home ground as the Erme Valley pitch is still undergoing preparations for the new season.

So, the match was switched to the Community College where Ivybridge took a 1-0 lead with a 34th minute penalty from Josh Johnson following a foul on Chris Harvey.

Stoke Gabriel hit back to equalise in the 63rd minute with a goal from Elliott Craigwell.

Ivybridge joint manager Brad Gargett admitted: “It was not a game to live long in the memory.”

He added that the changes to the pre-season schedule had been a nightmare and he will now be looking forward to playing on grass as Ivybridge continue their pre-season preparations with a visit to Millbrook on Wednesday evening (July 8) (7pm).

The remaining pre-season games for Ivybridge are at home to Callington Town on Saturday, July 11 (3pm), away to Willand Rovers on Tuesday, July 14 (7.30 pm), home to Elburton Villa on Saturday, July 18 (3pm) and home to Teignmouth AFC on Monday, July 20 (7.30pm).

Ivybridge begin their Jewson Western League fixtures with a visit to Portishead Town on Saturday, July 25 and their first home league match is against Brixham AFC at Erme Valley on Tuesday, July 28.