ST IVES Town got the defence of the League Cup off to a perfect start with an impressive home win over Harborough Town.

UCL League Cup

St Ives Town 3

Harborough Town 0

ST IVES Town got the defence of the League Cup off to a perfect start with an impressive home win over Harborough Town.

A goal from man-of-the-match Lee Ellison got the Saints rolling and Scott Fielding added a second-half brace to tie up his team’s progress to the second round.

The game started scrappily, with the game being regularly stopped by the referee but the home side kept their frustration in check.

It took a first-half rocket from Ellison to break the deadlock, but thereafter Ives showed their superiority over their UCL Division One opponents.

Ellison broke the deadlock with a first-time thunderbolt from 25 yards that went in off the bar, but it took Ives the majority of the second half to add to it.

Fielding got the first of his two goals when he finished off a good run from Ozie Foster on 75 minutes, and he got his second goal shortly after when Dan Newman fed him a delicate through-ball.

Saints boss Jez Hall said he had been pleased with the application shown by his team.

“They were a decent Division One team, and the first half was fairly tight as the ref kept blowing up.

“Lee Ellison scored a screamer to get us off the mark, and in the second half we were comfortable.”

He added: “We could have had more, but it’s good to get another win – three on the bounce now, and three goals in each, so confidence is rising.”