The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 1 - 0 Truro CityWednesday 02/12/2009 Southern League Cup | Tivvy Archive |
The jinx is over, long live the jinx! After five games and forty years of trying Tiverton Town finally put one over Truro City in an entertaining game at Ladysmead, and there would have been only one talking point in the match had Steve Book not rolled back the years to make a couple of breathtaking saves in the second half. For without Book’s match-winning heroics the subject on every witnesses lips would have been the goal – was it or wasn’t it? The result tells us that it was. That it was Alex Faux who bundled the ball into the net from close range. Had it not been Faux then it could only have been Sam Malsom, and had it been Malsom the goal wouldn’t have counted as the previous touch before the goal was when Malsom himself crashed a 36th minute penalty onto the crossbar. Truro might feel hard done by but the referee and his assistant both agreed that Faux was the goalscorer and that is as far as it goes. By that stage in the match it was already an open affair and Malsom struck a shot across the face of goal and wide as early as the eight minute, and Tivvy’s appeals for a penalty soon afterwards were waved away as Chris Long was adjudged not to have handled after Nathan Rudge had nodded back a deep Mike Humphreys cross. Truro were not without their moments in the ascendancy but the nearest the came was when Marcus Martin fired a low shot straight at Book from well out, easy pickings for a goalkeeper that would prove to be in top form as the evening wore on. All the while Martin’s radar gradually untuned itself and he ended the night shooting from anywhere and missing by miles. Midway through the first period Tiverton carved out another opening but Matt Bye frustrated all in attendance by dithering too long when he was in a fine shooting position, and eventually the ball broke to Faux who could only scoop a shot on his wrong foot several yards over the bar. Faux the Younger was then cautioned for a late challenge on Shane White, but made amends soon after with the first and ultimately only goal of the match. White himself was this time the villain as he chopped down Elliott Frear as the loanee winger went on one of his many scampering runs on the left hand side. Crucially the challenge was just inside rather than just outside the area and so Tivvy were awarded a penalty kick. Malsom stepped up and struck the spot kick sweetly enough, but fractions too high, and the ball cannoned the crossbar, bounced in front of the line and up into the heavens. Malsom went himself for the rebound (why I don’t know), Faux was quick off the mark and made up ground, Martin Rice had gathered himself but was out of position having dived when the penalty was initially hit, and Santos Gaia was back there too to further confuse matters. As the ball fell back to Earth is somehow squirmed its way into the net, Truro protested, the officials conferred and Tivvy were ahead! The ever-sprightly Andy Watkins twice missed the target with swerving shots at the tail end of the first half, one high, the other wide, and after a fifteen minute break it was Tivvy back on top. Mark Saunders kicked himself after missing the target from eight yards with a free header from Frear’s cross, and Faux slipped through the City defence but missed the target by inches rather than feet. And after that it was all Truro. Chances came and chances went, and Mike Booth was lucky to stay after he hacked Watkins when the Tigers’ forward was through on goal. Arran Pugh glanced a header wide, Watkins volleyed over at the far post and Stewart Yetton climbed off the bench to drag a shot of his own outside the post. Tivvy were under pressure and Book rose to the challenge with a stunning save to deny Pugh, scooping the ball from foot to hand in an instant as Yetton raced in for the rebound. And if that wasn’t enough the old man with the gloves made another miraculous double save from Yetton in the final minute of the game to ensure his sheet kept clean. All of this wasn’t enough for the Man of the Match award - that went to the excellent Frear, but Book won’t mind one bit, he had played his part and Tivvy were through to the Third Round of the Southern League Cup! Tiverton Town: Steve Book, Mike Humphreys, Alex Faux, Mike Booth, Nathan Rudge, Adam Faux (Jake Wannell 74), Jamie Hatch, Matt Bye (Josh Ford 46), Sam Malsom, Mark Saunders (Adam Mortimer 66), Elliott Frear Truro City: Martin Rice, Shane White (Barry McConnell 74), Chris Long, Arran Pugh, Santos Gaia, Lewis Edwards (Stewart Yetton 57), Marcus Martin, Danny Clay, Martin Watts, Andy Watkins, Scott Walker (Andy Taylor 57) Attendance: 190 |
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