SWPL premier division

St Austell 3,

Ivybridge Town will be hoping to continue their recent good form when they tackle Exmouth tomorrow, with general manager Brian Howard vowing to play the east Devon outfit off the park writes Tim Leigh.

The Bridgers have certainly got into gear after a slow start to the season, with a superb 3-2 win against Plymouth Parkway followed by a last-gasp defeat to champions St Austell on Tuesday night.

The results are made all the more impressive because of the injury crisis afflicting the club, the most serious of which is the broken leg Marc Bonney suffered against Elburton.

Last Saturday’s game was a come-from-behind win for the Bridgers, who were a goal down at home after just five minutes.

They responded be­fore the break through Josh Fenwick, who headed home Luke Brown’s corner, to leave things all square at the half-time whistle.

With 20 minutes of the second half played, the home side took the lead for the first time when 17-year-old substitute Tommy Phillips scored from a rebound after his initial shot was well saved.

The Bridgers gave themselves some brea­thing space through Sam Stephens after being set up by 19-year-old James Rowe, and despite striker Levi Landricombe grabbing his second of the match for Parkway, Town held on for a deserved victory after a fine performance.

Tuesday’s game saw Ivybridge face the imposing prospect of a trip to take on last year’s title winners St Austell on their own turf, with Howard admitting he was a little fearful before the game. However, on the night the Bridgers were superb, playing with pace and fluency, only to lose at the death in cruel fashion.

Again the Bridgers had to come from behind, going 2-0 down before pulling one back to trail 2-1 at the break.

They levelled matters through that man Stephens on 70 minutes, with teenagers Rowe and Phillips then going close to adding a third.

On 88 minutes the home side were given a controversial free kick, and this led to the winning goal that left Howard fuming.

He said: ‘The free kick itself was controversial to me, then I’m adamant the striker was three yards offside for the goal.

‘There’s nothing you can do, but we definitely deserved something from the game, even St Austell were impressed with the way we played.’

‘Overall, we’ve put in two fantastic performances.

‘If you’d have offered me three points from those two games, considering the players we’ve lost, I’d have snapped your hand off. It’s really encouraging, things are definitely looking up.’

Another busy week for the Bridgers sees them take on Exmouth at home tomorrow be­fore welcoming Corn­ishmen Calling­ton Town on Tuesday night.

Howard was looking forward to the fixtures, saying: ‘We’ve got Ex­mouth this Saturday, they’re a big, tough team with a lot of experience.

‘The plan will be to try and play with pace, I don’t think they’ll be able to handle that.’

If Ivybridge play with the pace and intent they did against Austell, they stand a good chance of a win and improving on their current fifth place in the league.