Marine will look to spark another cup run on Saturday as they take on St. Ives Town in the FA Trophy.

They have already reached the FA Cup first round, where they’ll face League Two Harrogate, but attention turns to the other domestic trophy ahead of the weekend’s trip to Cambridge.

The Mariners are looking to bounce back in the cup having lost two of their last three league games, against Macclesfield and Guiseley respectively. The defeat on Tuesday against Guiseley was a particularly poor showing, with manager Neil Young describing the game “as bad a performance since I’ve been at the football club”. The 4-2 loss followed a disappointing defeat to fellow promotion hopefuls, Macclesfield at home the week before.

Form beforehand had been impressive, unbeaten in 12 games across all competitions, including a famous victory away to National League Halifax in the FA Cup and taking points off league leaders Radcliffe at home.

St Ives, who sit in the same football pyramid as Marine, have been struggling themselves. They currently find themselves 19th and in the relegation zone, of the Southern League Premier Central Division. With one win in their last five league games, and only two league victories all season, it’s been a tough start for Ricky Marheineke’s men.

Marine Crest, by Declan Jones CordobaIf Marine are to progress through to the next round, they will most certainly be relying on their attacking talents of Sol Solomon and Finlay Sinclair-Smith, who have 21 goals between them this year. Neil Young will also hope that his defence, led by skipper Josh Wardle, can rediscover earlier season form which saw them keep five clean sheets in a row.

To reach the first round of the FA Trophy, Marine beat Marske United 4-2 in a thrilling contest, while St Ives had an exhilarating contest of their own, defeating Kettering Town 3-2 in the previous round.

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