The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 0 - 1 Bedworth UnitedSaturday 23/09/2000 Southern League First Division | John Reidy |
Tivvy slumped into the bottom third of the DML Western Division table after this 1-0 reverse against weekend guests Bedworth. A 16th minute strike from defender Guy Sanders was one of only a handful of chances created by either side. "It was a disappointing performance‚" admitted Martyn Rogers‚ who handed a debut to on-loan Plymouth defender Jamie Morrison-Hill. "We had lots of possession again but didn´t look like creating the chances to win the game. "I hope we´ve addressed that with the signing of Dave Toomey. He´ll definitely start tomorrow night (at Evesham). Striker Richard Pears came closest to breaking the deadlock for Tivvy when he shot wide in the first half‚ while Nicky Marker later headed wide. Sanders grabbed the lead after 16 minutes when everybody else missed Ian Drewitt´s cross and he bundled the ball past Paul Edwards at the far post. After that Bedworth were content to get everyone behind the ball and defend their lead. "We just need a goal‚ even a fluke goal‚ to get ourselves going again‚" said Rogers. "The players are good enough but sometimes you go through spells where things just don´t go for you." Martyn Rogers is hoping to make up for the loss of prolific goalscorer Kevin Nancekivell by throwing former Cinderford striker Dave Toomey into action against Evesham United tomorrow night. Oh Dear! This wasn´t in the script. Tivvy were supposed to have made a miraculous recovery from their malaise‚ and have come out against Bedworth with all guns blazing‚ scored a hatful‚ and stormed up the league table to clinch the Championship by Christmas. In our dreams. The truth of the matter is that the Dr Martens League has learnt from last season. There are some wise heads around the clubs that we face. Last season they came‚ they saw. This year they know what to expect and they will conquer unless Tiverton do something different. Last year Solihull Borough ´peed in our kettle´‚ this year the same two managers brought half the same team‚ this time under the name of Bedworth United and did exactly the same. For the first quarter of an hour there was promise of better things than we´ve seen in the last couple of games. On reflection it was not much different. Our heros looked quite comfortable‚ but then so does an old dog before the lethal injection. Nice moves down the right wing gave firstly Pearsy‚ then Phil‚ scoring chances. Pears tried to blast the Mir Space Station back to earth and Phil´s shot tested the strength of the keeper´s stomache muscles. Sound familiar? Yes‚ Tivvy were once more creating more chances‚ controlling midfield‚ but NOT finding the net. The visitors had no such problem. Their first chance came when Stuart Smith and debutante Jamie Morrison-Hill contrived to let Drewit get in a low cross. Note that description - low‚ not the high one that has been causing problems. The central defenders failed to clear the cross and Sanders managed to bundle the ball past Paul Edwards. Here we go again. The fans were patient‚ for a while at least. Tivvy were still having the better possession. Tivvy were still doing most of the attacking. Tivvy were still creating most of the chances. Tivvy were still firing blanks. It was the last fact that began to get to the terraces. There was one pass too many or one too little. The men in yellow just couldnt seem to get it right. The fans got frustrated‚ and the team got frustrated‚ and with that frustration came desperation and a lack of judgement. Passes were misjudged‚ shots hurried and snatched at. Little wonder the visitors led as the players went in for their half time pep talk‚ or rollicking‚ depending on your shirt colour. That is‚ the players except Scott Rogers who was left unconcious in the middle of the pitch. An elbow had collided with his face in an off ball incident just as the half time whistle had been blown. Nasty it looked and nasty it turned out to be. Scotty kept Dai and his aides busy for a good few minutes and was moved to the medical centre still unconcious. It was twelve and a half minutes before he regained conciousness. The ambulance that had been called arrived midway through the second half but Scott declined the ride to hospital. By the time the blue lights flashed into view‚ the second half had continued where the first half had left off. Paul Tatterton had replaced Rogers but there was no change in the game. Solihull - whoops no it was Bedworth - continued to frustrate Tiverton‚ and when they didn´t Tiverton frustrated themselves. Not a pretty sight‚ believe me. It would be wrong to report specific incidents unless names could be changed to protect the guilty. To name individuals would be unfair - this was a team performance‚ and to be fair to the players‚ they knew it was not good. So where do we go from here? Firstly we go to Evesham. We encourage the team. We hope they respond by playing the football we know they can. We hope ´The Two Martyns´ can do whatever it takes to bring a return of the confidence that is lacking. Then we start to look up the table as we climb it. But first I´m gonna have a cup of tea. Nobody gets near my kettle! Report by John Reidy Line up: Paul Edwards‚ Jamie Morrison-Hill‚ Neil Saunders‚ Stuart Smith‚ Nicky Marker‚ Scott Rogers (Paul Tatterton‚ 45)‚ Pete Conning‚ Richard Pears‚ Phil Everett‚ Steve Daly‚ Dave Leonard, Subs: Pete Varley (Neil Saunders 71) Paul Tatterton (Scott Rogers 45), Luke Vinnicombe. BEDWORTH UNITED: Jordan King, Tom Carroll, Matt Ward, Guy Sanders, Tom McGinty, Martin Hier, Stuart Holt, Scott Clamp, Adam Webster, Ian Drewitt (Chris Davis,51), Craig Whitmore (Neil Austin,63). Sub not used: Jamie Richardson. |
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