The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 0 - 2 Swansea CityTuesday 08/08/2000 Friendly | Nigel Davis |
An ebullient John Hollins waxed lyrically last night having seen his young Swans complete their pre-season with a fine victory. With all bar two of the side under 21‚ the core of whom were YTS‚ the future looks rosy for the club on the eve of their Division Two campaign. “This was excellent. I´m very impressed with the way we played. We got about them in the opening 20 minutes and I felt we had more chances than them in the first half. “We put together some really good moves and it was possibly the best of the pre-season games. “It was really good for the young kids who stood up well to the men of Tiverton who had just beaten Plymouth Argyle 2-0. “Jason Rice and Martin Thomas are the eldest. The rest are under 21. “It was very very pleasing. Our YTS are good. That´s why we played them. And we kept a clean sheet.” Certainly Swansea kept Tiverton on their toes. Their fast wing play created numerous dead ball situations as Tiverton´s defence found their professional counterparts too hot to handle at times‚ conceding free kicks in dangerous situations. And whilst Swansea created the chances‚ it was often the final touch that was lacking in front of goal. That‚ combined with the alertness of Tivvy ´keeper‚ Paul Edwards. To the disappointment of the Tivvy faithful‚ Jason Smith wasn´t with the party. He had picked up a slight calf strain and was being rested in lieu of the impending opening Saturday. And‚ talking of calves... Most home eyes were on midfielder/farmer Kevin Nancekivell‚ who had played 45 minutes for Plymouth Argyle against Everton the previous night. And it was he who‚ after 12 minutes‚ should have given Tivvy the lead when he was clean through. But Jason Jones‚ who commanded his area throughout‚ smothered the shot and Phil Everett´s follow-up hit Steve Ovens before bouncing out for a throw. Midway through the half‚ Swansea came close twice. The first was when James Berry was denied by a finger-tip save from Edwards and then Chris Todd´s overhead kick flashed across the face of goal but was wide. The game flowed from end to end and a Tiverton corner nearly reaped dividends - Nancekivell seeing a shot headed off the line. But the breakthrough came in the 35th minute. Jones launched the ball forwards‚ Tiverton´s central defender Paul Tatterton backheaded the ball towards Edwards‚ but only succeeded in leaving his ´keeper stranded with the ball looping over his head. A bizarre own goal with an undoubted assist from Jones. After the break there were plenty of thrills and spills with Tiverton´s pace up front threatening to reap dividends but‚ despite the pressure‚ the nearest they came was on the hour. Nancekivell outstripped the Swansea defence and quick‚ one-touch passing saw the ball at Scott Rogers´ feet. He span on a sixpence to loft the ball over Jones - but the ball hit the underside of the cross-bar and was quickly tidied up to Jones. A double substitution after 64 minutes saw Dean Jenkins and Craig Draper replace Berry and Jason Price and it was the nippy Jenkins who was fouled in the box four minutes later as Tiverton conceded a penalty. Michael Keegan made no mistake from the spot to secure victory. It was left to Tiverton´s manager‚ Martyn Rogers‚ to wrap things up. “I thought the youngsters in the Swansea side looked really sharp and they gave us a good game. I felt the goals were slightly fortuitous but they thoroughly deserved the win”. Line up: Paul Edwards‚ Dominic Richardson (Luke Vinnicombe 73)‚ Neil Saunders‚ Paul Tatterton‚ Nick Marker (Stuart Smith 73)‚ Scott Rogers (Pete Conning 73)‚ Kevin Nancekivell (Richard Pears 73)‚ Steve Ovens (Pete Varley 73)‚ Phil Everett (Ryan King 73)‚ Steve Daly (Russell Jee 73)‚ Dave Leonard. SWANSEA CITY: 13 Jason Jones‚ 2 Leigh De-Vulgt‚ 3 Chris James (Tino di Batista 82m)‚ 4 Gareth Phillips‚ 5 Chris Todd‚ 6 Andrew Mumfold‚ 7 Michael Keegan‚ 8 Martin Thomas (Chris Sulley h/t)‚ 9 James Berry (Dean Jenkins 64m)‚ 10 Jason Price (Craig Draper 64m)‚ 11 Stuart Roberts. |
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