"Bucks looking to get going again against St Ives"

Match Date : November 23rd, 2024 3:00 pm
Competition : Southern League Premier Central
Ground : New Bucks Head
Kick Off : 15:00

The Bucks are back in league action this Saturday, when St Ives Town will be the visitors to the SEAH Stadium.

The Ives are one of the division’s more mercurial sides. Last season they won 18 and lost 18 of their 40 league games en route to a 9th place finish, which was the Cambridgeshire club’s highest ever finish. A similar pattern is playing out again this campaign, with Town having won seven and lost eight of 16 Southern League matches so far to see them currently sitting in 12th. Notably, St Ives had the division’s best attack last season, scoring 87 goals, although that came with the 4th-worst defence, conceding 72.

Ricky Marheineke’s side have, of course, lost star man Jonny Edwards, who joined Kettering Town in October, while talented young attacker Theo Alexandrou also departed for Dorking Wanderers after an impressive start to the campaign. But reinforcements have arrived in the shape of winger Johnson Gyamfi (Barwell) and forwards Amir Hadi (Biggleswade) and Josh Allen, who had scored five league goals for AFC Sudbury this year before making the switch to Cambridgeshire.

Marheineke, who is now in his eleventh season in charge at Westwood Road having been appointed in the summer of 2014, also made a number of summer signings in a bid to strengthen his team’s defence. Keeper Dan Wilks (Billericay), right back Benjamin Mensah (Rushall) and centre back Alex Collard (Bedford) have all arrived and now play regular roles for the Ives. Elsewhere, former Buck Kobe Chong joins after stints with Alvechurch, Barwell, King’s Lynn and Kettering last season.

The Ives have won three of their last four league games on the road, but the Bucks completed a double over Town last season, running out 3-2 winners at Westwood Road then winning 2-1 at home last December. And after back-to-back defeats to Kettering and Hadley, Kevin Wilkin’s men will be looking to bounce back with three points this weekend.

MATCHDAY INFORMATION

Tickets for Saturday’s fixture will remain on sale up until kick-off and are available for purchase online in advance. See our ticketing page for further details.