A MOUTH-WATERING Hunts Senior Cup final with holders St Neots now awaits St Ives Town after they defeated lower division Huntingdon Town in Saturday’s re-arranged semi-final at Westwood Road.

Hunts Senior Cup semi-final

St Ives Town 2-1 Huntingdon Town

A MOUTH-WATERING Hunts Senior Cup final with holders St Neots now awaits St Ives Town after they defeated lower division Huntingdon Town in Saturday’s re-arranged semi-final at Westwood Road.

Ives, who last won the competition themselves two seasons ago, shot out of the blocks and were two-up after just five minutes thanks to goals from David Cobb and Lee Ellison.

To their credit, Huntingdon refused to lie down, with Dan Drane twice hitting the post and Charlie Bowen’s headed goal being disallowed after the referee adjudged there to have been a foul in the build-up.

The visitors did manage to make a game of it in the second half after getting a lifeline on 55 minutes, when Chris Talton was fouled inside the area and Joe Furness confidently stuck away the resultant penalty.

But Ives, who missed a hatful of chances in the second half, held on and now meet Dennis Greene’s St Neots in the final at a yet to be confirmed neutral venue on Bank Holiday Monday, May 2.

Co-boss Jez Hall said: “It’s always a bit nervy when you’re only 2-1 up in a cup tie and we had numerous chances to get that third one and kill it off.

“Hopefully we’ll have a real good go at St Neots and it’ll be a nice way to finish the season, as the final falls once all our league fixtures are done and dusted.”

St Ives, currently holders of the UCL League Cup, could also meet St Neots at home in the semi-final of that competition, should Saints see off King’s Lynn in their quarter-final tie on March 19.

With glory in two cup competitions still potentially on the cards for Ives, Hall also wants to finish the UCL Premier campaign on a high.

“From our 14 remaining league fixtures, we really want to be looking at collecting at least another 25 points,” said Hall.

“Apart from another game at St Neots in the league, we’ve played all the big sides now and have a lot of fixtures against mid-table teams.

“It would be good if we could sneak into that top eight come the end of the season.”

Ives are scheduled to host Wellingborough Town 2004 in the league tonight (Tuesday) before entertaining Blackstones on Saturday.

Huntingdon, meanwhile, must now focus their efforts on pulling away from the bottom two in UCL Division One, starting with a home fixture against fifth-placed Northampton Sileby Rangers on Saturday.

Ricky Marheineke’s first game in charge ended in defeat last Tuesday night, a late 2-1 league reverse against Wootton Blue Cross at Jubilee Park.

Josh Crick was on the scoresheet for Huntingdon.