The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 7 - 1 Cirencester TownTuesday 24/04/2001 Southern League First Division | Robin Matthews |
I have to admit that I wasn´t up at Rocester last week to witness that performance‚ which I am lead to believe was a fine one‚ but in my opinion this was one of Tivvy´s finest league performances in a long while. They were‚ each and all‚ absolutely superb and a joy to behold. There should be no complaints from Cirencester as they played well when not letting their temper get the better of them‚ but they were simply outplayed by a rampant Tivvy‚ fighting for every ball‚ using all the pitch and with lethal passing and finishing. The go-ahead for this game was not given until 4.30 in the afternoon such was the deluge that‚ once again‚ timed itself perfectly to appear on match day. Indeed‚ it was a sterling effort by the ground crew to get the playing surface playable. The pitch was excellent considering the amount of water that fell on it. There were one or two ´damp´ patches that stopped the ball rolling‚ but other than that it was remarkably playable. Cirencester had the better of the early exchanges and looked‚ initially‚ quite menacing‚ but as early as the fourth minute Tivvy won a corner following a really good move. Steve Winter placed the ball perfectly for Scott Rogers´ run‚ which ended in a super cross‚ frantically cleared for a throw in. That move was the start of what was to follow and with Tivvy gradually increasing the tempo and steadily building up momentum they managed their first real effort on goal after 10 minutes. Stewart Smith gathered the ball deep in the Tivvy half‚ ran with it but sent his 20 yard shot just over the bar. We only had to wait another three minutes for Kevin Nancekivell to open the scoring. It was a fantastic goal. Phil Everett with his back to goal‚ gathered the ball on his chest and looped the ball over his shoulder to the unmarked Kevin Nancekivell who rounded the keeper‚ composed himself and gleefully slotted the ball in an empty net. The crowd had only to wait another three minutes when Scott Rogers beat the offside trap and at about 18 yards tried to chip the keeper from what was an acute angle. The ball curled over and away from Cirencester ´keeper Kevin Sawyer and fell at the feet of Phil Everett who took time to look up and put in a short cross to Paul Chenoweth who fired his second goal for Tivvy into the roof of the net. Now Tivvy were absolutely rampant with attack after attack. With only 21 minutes gone Tivvy got their third goal when Stewart Smith played a lovely ball wide to Kevin Nancekivell‚ who with a one touch pass found Steve Ovens. Steve then did brilliantly to shrug off a very persistent defender and then ran the ball into the box to shoot between the ´keeper and the near post. Five minutes later and Tivvy considered themselves very unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty when Nance was clearly pushed to the ground‚ but ref Keith Johnson waved play on. And so to the second half. Tivvy came out and continued as they left off with wave after wave of attacking football. Cirencester had no answers and were beginning to loose their cool. Especially when after only three minutes of the start of the second half Steve Ovens cheekily back heeled the ball for Steve Winter to chip the ball just wide‚ it was clear to see that the Cirencester players were beginning to get irritable. And so it was‚ on 50 minutes following a very slight tussle between ´keeper Kevin Sawyer and Stewart Smith resulted in another slightly bigger tussle between Stewart and Cirencester´s Andy Grange for which they both received a yellow card‚ but to be fair to Stewart‚ it was little to do with him. After 51 minutes the game had to be stopped for physio‚ Dai Morgan to attend to Steve Ovens who was taken out with a blow to the head. Three minutes later‚ and again Cirencester´s discipline was very much in question when Steve Winter was taken out after he had received the ball from a Nicky Marker clearance. He beat defender Dave Gee‚ to start his run but Gee caught Steve´s ankle very late and received a red card for his trouble. Six minutes later and Tivvy produced a fantastic move which involved Steve Daly putting the ball through for Nance to pass first time to Paul Chenoweth who shot first time from 20 yards. The ´Keeper could not hold on to the ball and it was knocked out for a throw in. From the throw in‚ Phil Everett was very unlucky not to get on the score sheet when his shot went just wide into the side netting. Tivvy´s relentless pressure paid off as on 60 minutes Scott Rogers won the ball deep in the Tivvy half and ran with it beating off two players before passing a beautifully weighted ball to Phil Everett. He ran the ball into the box and unselfishly crossed the ball perfectly for Steve Ovens to nod home just inside the far post. 4 - 0 Two minutes later and with the game now secure‚ Tivvy made a double substitution. Dave Toomey on for Paul Chenoweth and Pete Conning for Stewart Smith. This meant that Phil now dropped back into the left back role and Steve Daly took up position as sweeper. Pete Conning needed no time to settle in. He was put through by a great ball from Scot Rogers. Pete curled a beautiful cross for Steve Ovens who dummied for Dave Toomey to fire home but‚ unfortunately‚ Dave was tackled from behind‚ but the loose ball fell to Steve Ovens and did the honours slamming his hat-trick into the roof of the net. Hat-trick man and man of the match‚ Steve Ovens then received a standing ovation as he left the field to be replaced by Richard Pears. Tivvy were awarded a penalty in the 76th minute. Richard Pears set Phil Everett up‚ but he was caught badly on the back of the ankle and over he went. Up stepped Nicky Marker to fire home to the keepers right and make it six nil. Shortly after that Cirencester got an undeserved consolation goal. Scott Rogers lost possesion and Scott Griffin had the relatively simple task of rounding Paul Edwards to slot home. Tivvy continued to pressure and in the 81st minute Richard Pears was unceromoniously pulled down in the box by Cirencester´s no 6 Andy Grange. Up walked that man again - Nicky Marker to complete his penalty taking masterclass. To complete his repertoir‚ for his second penalty he deftly chipped the keeper‚ who was busy diving to his right as the ball‚ as if in slow motion‚ gently looped into the back of the net. Absolute magic. To end a dismal night for Ciencester‚ substitute Jimmy Carter was their second sending off for a dreadful tackle on Neil Saunders just minutes before the ref ended the game and what was a memorable night. Line up: 1 Paul Edwards‚ 2 Steve Winter‚ 3 Neil Saunders, 4 Stewart Smith, 5 Nicky Marker, 6 Scott Rogers, 7 Kevin Nancekivell, 8 Steve Ovens, 9 Phil Everett, 10 Steve Daly, 11 Paul Chenoweth. Subs: 12 Pete Conning (Stewart Smith 62), 14 Dave Toomey (Paul Chenoweth 62), 15 Richard Pears (Steve Ovens 72). Cirencester: 1 Kevin Sawyer, 2 Dave Gee, 3 Steve Bennett, 4 Martin Blackler, 5 Stuart Fraser, 6 Andy Grange, 7 Steve Coleman, 8 Giles Harris, 9 Scott Griffin, 10 Justin Miller, 11 Gary Morgan. Subs: 12 Jimmy Carter, 14 Adam Mayo, 15 Ray Baverstock Referee: Kevin Johnson from Patchway |
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