Report by Jools Thomas

FC returned from the long drive to Cambridgeshire with just a solitary point and whether it was a point gained or two points dropped remains to be seen. Certainly it was difficult for the team to play their passing game on such a muddy pitch and with St Ives adopting a robust style and having the better chances, perhaps a draw was a fair result.

FC started the brightest. Within the first few minutes Lynton Goss beat the keeper on a one on one before crossing to Gareth Price whose shot was deflected away for a corner. From that corner the St Ives goal was peppered with shots before Kyle Anthony stabbed the ball home through a sea of bodies to give the Moles the lead in the 5th minute.

Four minutes later a Gareth Price corner caused panic and only a punch by keeper Tim Trebes cut out the danger however the very next move saw the home team equalise. A break on the left saw James Hall unleash a strike with FC keeper James Weatherill seeing the ball spill from his grasp before squirming over the line. A few moments later Weatherill and Hall clashed with the St Ives striker tumbling in the box. The referee, who it’s fair to say did not enamour himself with the home support, was not impressed instead awarding a corner ball. From the corner, Weatherill again spilled the ball again however on this occasion the ball trickled to safety.

Bradley Wadkins was enjoying himself in the quagmire of midfield and midway through the half his ball found Lynton Goss. Lynton attempted to play in Price with the home keeper just beating the FC striker to the ball. Although FC were enjoying the lion’s share of possession, they were susceptible to the counter attack, a worrying trait of recent weeks. An attack down the right witnessed a quality ball crossed to Scott Sinclair and his powerful shot just cleared the ball. An identical break on the right was again met on the far post this time by James Hall and his half volley forced Weatherill to make a last ditch save. A Wadkins’ free kick on 40 minutes cleared the bar with the referee soon ending the half with FC enjoying the possession but St Ives having the best chances.

Brian Haule played in Murphy early in the second half to test Trebes but this was to be the last chance for a while as the home team found luck down the wings with Sinclair and Stuart Eason unlucky not to make chances count. Hall then played in Eason and in a one on one situation, Weatherill saved well with his legs. Ben Seymour Shove was the next St Ives man to have a go at the FC goal with Weatherill making another useful save.

As the game draw to its conclusion, it appeared the home team would settle for a point and as FC pushed them deeper into their own half more chances developed. Wadkins played in substitute Aston Goss whose shot curved too far past a post.
On 90 minutes FC had two glorious chances to win the game. Firstly Jeanmal Prosper crossed from the left to an unmarked Daniel Murphy but as the FC defender weighed up his shot, defenders recovered and blocked his effort. Then Ryan O’Toole danced through the middle of the park beating several home defenders but instead of passing to unmarked colleagues, Ryan elected to shoot himself and his shot was blasted well wide of the goal.