St Ives Town 0 Marske United 3

St Ives Town 0 Marske United 3

ST IVES bowed out of the FA Vase at the fifth round for the second year running on Sunday as they were soundly beaten by Marske United at Milton Road.

Despite a promising first half display that saw Ives force several good saves from visiting goalkeeper Brendan Ledgeway, the hosts were unable to take the lead. Liam Kennett and Junior McDougald both had good chances and Scott Fielding picked up a yellow card after trying to nick the ball from Ledgeway.

Ives were punished for their inability to turn chances into goals when a Marske corner saw Ben Thompson flick to Dane Wilson who headed the visitors ahead from close range after 43 minutes. Ives almost equalised minutes after but had a shot cleared off the line to go in 1-0 down at half time.

The hosts came out strong in the second half as Kennett surged through but found his shot well saved by Ledgeway. Their open play almost saw them go two down when they were forced to clear a Marske shot off the line. The first of two big decisions went against the Westwood Road side mid-way through the second half, when Fielding received a second yellow for a clumsy tackle to leave the hosts with 10 men after 63 minutes.

Ives continued to attack with 10 men and were denied a penalty a minute later when Tim Quy appeared to have been fowled in the box. Free kicks from Will Fordham and Kennett failed to test Ledgeway, who made a superb save from a Fordham header after 74 minutes.

Another big decision went against Ives when Marske were awarded a penalty after 85 minutes. Thompson converted from the spot to effectively send Marske into the quarter finals. The game was not over yet though and as stoppage time begun Marske took advantage of some poor defending as Ives goalkeeper Rob Mackney was caught badly out of position and the ball was passed beyond him for half time substitute Mark Swailes to make it 3-0.

St Ives Town co-manager Jez Hall said: "A few big decisions didn't go our way. After about 20 minutes I could tell that it wasn't going to be our day. We attacked them in the last 10 minutes and were unfortunate to concede twice as we looked to equalise but that's the way it is.

"Their goalkeeper was excellent with good hands and he probably had the game of his life. We kept putting the ball under the bar but he was up to it time after time. I'd say we were the better team in the first half but little things went against us. We had two or three good opportunities but the final ball let us down.

"We kept playing strong with 10 men in the second half and pushed forward as we weren't just going to sit back and lose 1-0. They defended very well from set pieces with eight or nine men always behind the ball. We should have been given a penalty at 1-0 down but it wasn't our day and the decisions proved that.

"It would be nice to go all the way next year. The league is a big ask for us at the same time put we still hope for a better run in the Vase next season. We have to keep upbeat as we are still in four cups and doing well in the league. We'll have 24 hours of upset and then get back on with the job in hand"

The game took place at Cambridge City's ground Milton Road due to bad pitch conditions at Westwood Road. The game had been postponed four times, originally being cancelled on Saturday 7, before being called off on Saturday 14, Sunday 15 and last Saturday (February 21).

St Ives Town next play Eynesbury Rovers at Hall Road in the semi-final of the Hunts Senior Cup on Saturday 28.