TIVVY ARCHIVE

Tiverton Town 2 - 1 Boston United

Almost a thousand more people turned up for this FA Umbro Trophy battle than had seen Tivvy belatedly crush Cinderford three days earlier - and most went home with a smile on their face. In fact‚ overheard in the bar afterwards‚ a couple were proclaiming what a wonderful time they had had that‚ wherever Tivvy are drawn‚ they want to go and see the game. We´ll find out on Monday.

Certainly this match did the Ambers no harm - front page in the Non-League Paper‚ highlights of the game on BBC on Monday‚ Team of the Day in the Sunday Independent and the smallest team (in terms of league placing) through to the last 16 of the national competition that has‚ for so long‚ been the Conference League Cup with added guests. Only Matlock or Evesham‚ should they win their replays at Forest Green and Morecambe respectively‚ or Histon (whose game against Billericay fell foul of the weather) are of a similar level. Indeed‚ with at least eight‚ and possibly ten‚ Conference sides still in the competition‚ it would take a brave man to predict anything other than an all Conference final.

But then again‚ who would have thought that Tivvy would beat Boston? Yours truly just wanted them to keep the scoreline respectable. Well‚ we did that - and more.

A lone penalty late in the game was the only blemish on the scoreline but it had needed defending of the highest calibre to keep it this way. Paul Edwards‚ when rarely called upon‚ was outstanding and his overworked counterpart‚ Paul Bastock‚ likewise pulled off some amazing saves.

If Boston´s manager Steve Evans is to be believed‚ he reputedly criticised the officials for letting the game go ahead. Yet the pitch was no worse than many that are in use up and down the land this wet season. Certainly it was better than Hendon´s and‚ according to many of the Lincolnshire fans‚ better than Boston´s own park. And if he felt that it meant that a passing game was not possible - then how did Tivvy manage it??? No‚ it was a question of attitude and commitment and I´m afraid to say that not all the Boston players were willing to roll up their sleeves and graft for 90 minutes. Tivvy were and they reaped their rewards.

One piece of bad news for the travelling fans was that influential midfielder Paul Wilson (who I am pretty sure played in the FA Cup against Tivvy many moons ago when he was with Barnet) was not fit to play despite rumours to the contrary flying around 24 hours earlier. They do say that when he plays well so do Boston. Tivvy‚ meanwhile‚ gave a late fitness test to Steve Winter who has been struggling with a leg injury.

A minute´s silence was held in the memory of the Southern League´s President‚ George Templeman‚ who died the other day. He had been with Yeovil Town and Dorchester‚ indeed Chairman of Yeovil for three years in the late 60s‚ and was elected to the Southern League committee in June 1961 before becoming President in June 1977. He had also been President of the Western League.

When the game got under way‚ Paul Edwards was called upon to make an early save to deny Mark Rawle who scampered through only to find Edwards had spread himself superbly to smother. Then‚ with both sides having been caught offside on numerous occasions‚ Tivvy got their brains in gear. It started with a dangerous corner by Boston that was eventually cleared to Steve Daly in the middle of the pitch. With Nancekivell in space and hollering for the ball Dales knew the obvious ball to play. So he didn´t. This gave Dave Toomey the time to glide through in front of him and with Boston´s defence split‚ that was when the ball was released - straight into Toomey´s path. He nipped in‚ upping a gear as he zipped through‚ before hitting a shot to Bastock´s right. The keeper did well to get a hand to the ball but all he did was divert it upwards‚ failing to stop the ball sailing into the net. 1-0 to the minnows and just twenty minutes gone.

Five minutes later and Tivvy broke through once more through Dave Toomey but his shot was well blocked by Bastock. Toomey recovered his balance to then steer the rebound wide of the Boston keeper but the ball hit the far post before bouncing back across the face of the goal where that predator Kevin Nancekivell was steaming in. Unfortunately for the midfielder he was beaten to the ball by a fraction of a second and it was bundled over for a corner.

When this was only half cleared‚ Tivvy were in with another chance with three able to attack the ball. It was Toomey who got there first. He just had Bastock to beat but he skied his shot just over.

It was end to end stuff now as Boston looked for the equaliser and‚ with their pacy forwards finding space to run onto through balls‚ they came very close after 31 minutes when Colin Hoyle´s shot was cleared off the line by Neil Saunders. Two minutes later the mouthy Paul Raynor took a break from telling the ref what to do and was unlucky with a rasping shot that Edwards recovered at the second attempt. (Apparently Raynor is a coach for Sheffield United. One wonders how many seats they can get into his mouth. It´s certainly big enough).

Indeed‚ joking aside‚ this was one of Boston´s downfalls. They spent a lot of time getting involved in petty arguments and not concentrating on the game. They should have been able to use their experience from last season when they stormed through the Dr Martens Premier but it almost looked as if they had disdain at Tivvy and were too confident that they would win just by turning up.
After 39 minutes, the referee saw fit to book Jim Dick after a collision with Paul Tatterton. It looked accidental though it is always possible that he dissented and that the booking was for that. However, he had been running a fine line with numerous other fouls and skirmishes so it could have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel´s back.

Three minutes later Neil Saunders was one more on the line to to bundle the ball away with his left peg for a corner with Edwards beaten and Mark Rawle there sniffing to knock the ball home. Indeed, it was this very scene that is pictured on the front page of the NLP, even if the caption is slightly inaccurate.

From that corner there was a right roger (melee) and the farce was eventually brought to a close when the ref spotted Hoyle stamp on Edwards. Why he only booked him I am not too sure. It looked a lot worse than a booking.

So, come the second half, it was all down to how long Tivvy could survive.

And it was that man Edwards again who had to save bravely under pressure from Ken Charlery and the impressive Andy Lodge after 58 minutes. And a minute later it was Lodge who showed the rest of his team how you could dribble the ball through by beating four Tivvy players before setting up another chance. It was this move that heralded Steve Winter´s departure and it is unlikely that he will be fit to play for a couple of weeks as his leg is giving him much jip. Steve Ovens came on up front and Phil Everett reverted to right back. Although this worked well, I just hope that this formation will not be adopted until Winter´s return. We need Phil and Dave Toomey up front just as we need Steve Ovens to simmer on the bench before coming on to devastating effect during the second half. He really is a super sub.

And within two minutes this extra pace up front reaped dividends as it unsettled an already tiring visiting defence. Phil Everett had time to join the attack and it was his through ball that found Dave Toomey who once more surged forward and took his chance well, cracking the ball home from an angle into the far netting - right across Bastock´s chest. He hit it so hard that Bastock had little time to react.

Boston were not going to roll over though and we saw more heroics from Edwards and his defence. Indeed there was hardly a foot put wrong all afternoon. When Paul Fewings came on for Richard Lucas it gave Boston an edge and a minute later they were awarded a penalty. Paul Tatterton had done superbly to win the ball on the edge of the box but, instead of releasing it and clearing the danger, he turned inside only to be dispossessed. The ball ran to Mark Rawle who was pushed by Neil Saunders (although others thought it was Stuart Smith) and the ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. About the only thing that Boston´s hero Ken Charlery did right all afternoon was to beat Paul Edwards from the spot. No mean feat as it is usually Edwards who comes out on top. But this set up a rattling final 20 minutes (plus four minutes of injury time).

Steve Ovens came close in the 78th minute and then, inside 60 seconds, Toomey and Everett linked up down the right and it was a wonderful cross to Nancekivell but Joby Gowshall just did enough to nudge Nance away from making full contact with his head with the goal at his mercy. A few seconds later, Stuart Smith picked up another yellow card which will surely see him suspended in the not-too-distant future. And this was compounded by another yellow for Steve Daly who is similarly soon to be banned. Both were for overstrong tackles.

Boston were now desperate for the elusive equaliser and brought on Anthony Elding for Rawle with five minutes of normal time remaining.

In that final period it was wave after wave of attacking football from both sides with Tivvy looking much the more dangerous and fitter going forward. Steve Ovens, Kevin Nancekivell, Scott Rogers and Dave Toomey were all unlucky with Rogers, playing one of his best games for weeks, seeing a wonder save to deny him following some neat one-touch football by the other three in the 85th minute.

With the last throw of the dice, Boston withdrew their best player, Lodge, to put on Mick Nuttell and we had high drama in time added on for injuries. It involved a free kick near the half-way line out on Boston´s left wing. Up went keeper Bastock and the ball found his head. However, he made only partial contact and the ball was cleared upfield. The race was on. Steve Ovens, under plenty of pressure, managed to pump the ball towards the vacant goal but somehow Bastock had got back. Still outside his box he could only head the ball otherwise he would be sent off if he handled it. And head it he did and he was able to regain his six-yard box before Tivvy could make the game certain.

On the final whistle it was total euphoria especially for Paul Edwards who bounced up the field (maybe he is going to audition for the lead in The Tigger Movie II?) to applaud the fans. He even brought Mike Hawkins down in a love grapple as he was walking off with the flags!

Give Boston´s fans their due, they applauded Tivvy off the park. They could not be accused of sour grapes. What happened to the Boston players I do not know. I know they look different when they have changed out of their kit but they appeared to be conspicuous by their absence. There were tons of food awaiting them. Hopefully they eventually decided to show their faces. It´s a long way back to Lincolnshire on an empty stomach.

Tiverton Town: Paul Edwards, Steve Winter (Steve Ovens 59), Neil Saunders, Paul Tatterton, Nick Marker, Scott Rogers, Kevin Nancekivell, Dave Toomey, Phil Everett, Steve Daly, Stuart Smith

Boston United: Paul Bastock, Joby Gowshall, Andy Lodge (Mick Nuttell 90), Colin Hoyle, Lee Howarth, Richard Lucas (Paul Fewings 69), Tim Wooding, Ken Charlery, Paul Raynor, Mark Rawle (Anthony Elding 83), Jim Dick

Referee: D. Spicer (Totton, Hants)