St Ives put the disappointment of a weekend defeat behind them with a 4-3 win over Newport Pagnell.

St Ives Town 4-3 Newport Pagnell

ST IVES Town put the disappointment of their 5-1 defeat to King’s Lynn Town behind them by taking all three points from a thrilling top-five clash with Newport Pagnell Town on Tuesday night.

It was in-form striker Conor Washington who scored the Saints’ only goal of their defeat at The Walks on Saturday – and it was Washington again who scored two brilliant goals in the second half of their win over Newport at Westwood Road.

The Saints were forced to come from behind though after they were sloppy early on and let their opponents take a 2-0 lead from two dead-balls in the 17th and 18th minutes – but by half time it was 2-2 after two headed goals from Ozie Foster and Lee Ellison.

Then it was time for Washington to impress the watching scouts.

“The first goal was a 30-yard lob – it was incredible,” said joint-manager Jez Hall.

“And then he scored one of the best goals I have ever seen at Westwood Road, rolling a Newport player before sprinting in between two defenders and poking it home.”

Newport got their third a couple of minutes from time to make it a nervy end to the game.

“Conor should be playing at a higher level,” Hall admitted afterwards. “He is definitely capable of playing at Conference level, if not higher.”

Washington, 19, turned down a trial at Norwich City during the summer – but it will be tough for the club to keep hold of its star striker if he keeps on impressing the scouts.

“We know they are coming to the games,” said Hall. “We just want to keep hold of him for as long as we can.”