Tiverton Town welcomed League One neighbours Exeter City to Ladysmead in the Yellows’ third mid-season friendly match since being dumped out of the FA Cup at the hands of Paulton Rovers. Martyn Rogers has taken the opportunity of a break in the competitive schedule to familiarise his squad with a newly adopted 4-4-2 system, and will be pleased with his charges’ efforts over the past fortnight.
The Grecians sent a team with plenty of first team experience and raced into a 3-1 half time lead as Tiverton struggled to contain their more illustrious hosts. Chris Shephard put the visitors ahead when he beat the offside trap before firing a low shot past Steve Book in the twelfth minute.
However, Tivvy forced an equaliser just five minutes later when good work from Dave Morrissey allowed Mark Saunders to drill home from ten yards.
But City upped the tempo and began to dominate the match. It was no surprise when Ben Watson put the Grecians back in front after 21 minutes, although the Tiverton defence laboured when trying to clear a loose ball and Watson was alert to the commotion.
And the flurry of goals continued when Jack Furzer rose unchallenged in the area to head home Scott Goldborne's left wing cross from close range, still with less than half an hour on the clock.
There was no more scoring in the first half, but Tiverton pulled a goal back ten minutes after the restart. Morrissey was once again the architect, this time stinging the palms of City goalkeeper Matt Armstrong-Ford. With the initial shot too hot to handle former Exeter midfielder Jamie Hatch pounced for an easy tap-in.
With a number of substitutions from the home side there was little chance of an equaliser arriving, and indeed Exeter should have increased their lead but for a string of excellent saves from Man of the Match Book. He denied Watson from long range and then pulled off a fabulous double save from substitutes James Norwood and James Berry close to the end.
Tiverton Town: Steve Book, Mike Booth (Jake Wannell 55), Alex Faux, Adam Faux, Nathan Rudge, Tom Gardner (Luke Cole 61), Jamie Hatch, Ben Cleverley (Mike Humphreys 72), Dave Morrissey, Mark Saunders (Craig Veal 61), Matt Bye (George Rogers 72)
Goals: Saunders 17, Hatch 55
Booked: None
Sent off: None
Exeter City: Matt Armstrong-Ford, Steve Tully, Scott Goldborne, Joe Burnell, Jack Furzer (James Norwood 55), Scot Bennett, Chris Shephard (Lewis Tasker 55), Neil Saunders, Ben Watson (James Berry 81), Craig McAllister, Elliot Frear
Goals: Shephard 12, Watson 21, Furzer 27
Booked: None
Sent off: None
Attendance: 121
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