Bury Town 1-0 St Ives Town match report: Mikey Davis scores only goal and Charlie Beckwith stars in goal as 10-man Blues win Southern League Premier Central Division encounter

Mikey Davis’ first goal of the season earned 10-man Bury Town a much-needed 1-0 victory over St Ives Town in the Southern League Premier Central Division this evening.

The hosting Blues headed into the contest having won none of their previous seven outings in all competitions, while their last victory at the Getaway Cars Stadium came back on August 25 when they defeated rivals AFC Sudbury by the same scoreline.

But while Davis will go down as the match winner, it is goalkeeper Charlie Beckwith that deserves plenty of plaudits following a performance in which he steadfastly refused to be beaten.

Bury should have gone ahead in the ninth minute. Cemal Ramadan switched the ball out wide to the right to Max Maughn, who quickly put Harley Curtis in the clear, only for the striker to fire into the side netting when the far post looked the better option.

However, when Ramadan produced another long range diagonal pass in the 31st minute, this time there was no denying Bury. On this occasion Maughn jinked his way past Ives’ Aaron Smith and then squared a pass for George Quantrell on the edge of the box. Instead of pulling the trigger himself, the attacking midfielder shifted the ball to his left for Davis, who from a narrow angle hammered in a low shot that went in underneath Ollie Taylor in the visitors’ goal.

The half ended with a succession of St Ives shots from distance, all of which Beckwith was equal to – and it was a sign of things to come. Amir Hadi twisted one way and then the other in the 44th minute before unleashing a dipping shot from 20 yards out that Bury’s number one pushed to safety, while 60 seconds later Beckwith showed good acrobatics to deny Theo Alexandrou.

And Beckwith’s workload ramped up several notches during the second half. In the 49th minute the away side had a golden opportunity to level up the scoreline when Hadi went down inside the box under a challenge from Lewis O’Malley and Taylor Parr, but Beckwith threw himself to his right to keep out captain Michael Richens’ subsequent penalty after the referee had shown no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

St Ives continued to probe and in the 52nd minute Jamal Adams was afforded the time and space a few yards from goal to control the ball with his head, but the overhead kick that followed was off target.

Five minutes later Beckwith was again the source of frustration for St Ives when Jernade Meade’s volley from inside the six-yard box was kept out by the goalkeeper.

Bury forays forward since the restart had been rare up until that point, but they carved open a very presentable opening to extend their lead in the 74th minute. It was a moment of magic from Tommy Hughes, who sliced through the St Ives backline with one reverse pass that sent Quantrell away down the right wing. His low cross was intercepted, yet the loose ball fell kindly for Ramadan, but his finish lacked composure and flew over.

And Bury certainly could have done with that cushion three minutes later when they were reduced to 10 men. St Ives attacker Alexandrou capitalised on some Bury hesitation in possession 30 yards from their own goal but as he looked to race through, he was pulled back by Ethan Mayhew, who was deemed to be the last defender.

Now with a numerical advantage, St Ives threw even more caution to the wind. In the 83rd minute Alexandrou smartly rode a couple of challenges before seeing his near-post attempt turned behind by Beckwith, who got down well again a couple of minutes later to deny substitute Alfie Shepherd.

Five minutes of added time only enhanced the home supporters’ nerves, but some last-ditch defending and a couple more interventions from star man Beckwith rubber stamped a result that has moved Bury up to 12th ahead of Saturday’s trip to Quorn.

Bury Town: Beckwith, Parr, O’Malley, Carroll, Davies, Maughn (Flowers 74’), Mayhew, Hughes (Straw 90’), Quantell, Ramadan (White 83’), Curtis (Conway 54’)

St Ives Town: Taylor, Creary (Miles 82’), Smith (Medrano 82’), Richens (Shepherd 83’), Williams, Idehen, Hadi, Alexandrou, Adams (Nije 74’), Cross, Meade (O’Keefe

Attendance: 510