Match Preview | St Ives Town (A)

Halesowen travel to St Ives with both sides in need of a vital three points

Written by Ben Ditchfield

The Yeltz make the trip to Cambridgeshire and Westwood Road to face a St Ives Town side that are on the verge of dropping into the relegation spots as the two sides at the opposite ends of the table battle it out for pivotal points.

The sides have met just five times before, and Halesowen's only wins in the fixture came in the two most recent meetings. The Yeltz have kept just one clean sheet, in the match in August, and have conceded 10 goals across those five games. In the two away matches against The Saints, the Yeltz have lost both, and conceded six goals. Six of the eight goals Halesowen have scored against St Ives have come in the second half. Which has included two stoppage time goals, Lee Hughes' equaliser at The Grove in 2018, and Simeon Cobourne's consolation goal in the 4-2 defeat at Westwood Road in 2023.

Last time out against The Saints, Conor Tee scored the only goal six minutes into the second half in a 1-0 victory. Former St Ives striker Jonathan Edwards went close early on, when he striked wide after being sent 1v1 with Dan Platt. Edwards then turned provider when he played through Kobe Chong who set us Patrick Casey who forced Platt into the stop. Either side of two halves, Tee went close, before he finally struck. Kieren Donnelly was brought down twice in the box, which allowed the ball to spill out to Tee for his first Yeltz goal. Tee and Ben Cassidy went close to a second goal, and Penn's side limited St Ives to just one second half effort through Jonathan Edwards, to help see out the 1-0 win.

St Ives boss Ricky Marheineke has been in charge of the side for 11 years, 3,930 days to be exact. The 40 year old has spent his whole managerial career at the Cambridgeshire club. While at the helm, he has racked up a total of 290 league games in charge across step 3 and 4, and has won two Huntingtoshire Senior Cups along his current 11 season tenure. Marheineke led The Saints to a ninth place finish at step 4 in his first season at the club in 2014. He proceeded to lead them to step 3 in the 2015/16 campaign where they have remained since. The Saints boss has been in charge for a total of 423 games, where he has a 43% win ratio and his side have scored 624 goals and conceded a huge 748 times.

St Ives were renowned for having the league's top scorer, Jonathan Edwards. However since the Yeltz last played The Saints, Edwards left to join Kettering Town. Marheineke sides' current top scorer is defender Will Glennon, who has scored a very impressive 11 goals from his centre half position in 28 games across all competitions since he joined from Stamford. Josh Allen appears second on their goalscoring list, alongside George Munday. The latter is on loan at the club from Peterborough United, and is no doubt a huge threat having scored six times in just 11 appearances.

St Ives have had 19 different goalscorers this season, only Spalding United have had more. Marheineke's side have used 156 of their 185 allocated substitutions this season in the league, more than any other side. In fact six Saints players have been subbed on at least 10 times, Ethan Creary, David Adegbola, Gregory Kaziboni, Edmund Hotter, Darko Obeng and Coree Wilson. The use of those substitutions have led to some very effective scenarios. Only Stourbridge (15), and Kettering Town (10) have got more goals from the bench than St Ives' eight.

The Saints have kept the fewest clean sheets in the league season, with just three. In an even more damming statistic, they have not had a single home clean sheet. Across this and last season they have gone 21 home matches without one. Despite their low league position and poor defensive record, things have not been so bad at the opposite end of the pitch. Only Telford United (34), Spalding United (32) have scored more goals in the first half of matches this season, than The Saints' 28. Their productive period in the first 45, has meant that they have gone 20 matches without a second half goal. Only Royston Town, with 23, have had more.

Marheineke's team have scored 13 goals in the 15 minutes plus stoppage time period before half-time. Only Spalding United (17), Telford United (16), and the Yeltz (14) have scored more. Their purple patch before half-time very rarely continues into the second 45. Only Royston Town, Spalding United and AFC Sudbury (5) have scored fewer goals between minutes 46 and 60 than St Ives' six. On the flip side, the Cambridgeshire side have conceded more than anyone else in that period, with 13 goals. A rather surprising statistic, late on in matches, has shown St Ives rarely concede after the 75th minute. Only Stratford Town (4) have conceded fewer goals in the 15 minute plus stoppage time period before the full time whistle than The Saint's, who have let in just eight goals.

Key Seasonal Stats

St Ives

League Position - 17th

Season Record - PL45 16W 8D 21L 74GS 66GC

Form (Last 5 Games) - WLLLL

Top Scorer - Will Glennon (11 Goals)

Most Appearances - Dan Wilks (45)

Most Starts - Dan Wilks (45)

Biggest League Win - 5-1 vs Spalding United (Home - 26th August)

Biggest League Defeat - 3-0 vs Redditch United (Home - 2nd November)

Longest Unbeaten Run - 7 Games (1st February - 15th March)

Longest Winless Run - 5 Games (8th February - 8th March)