The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Halesowen Town 0 - 1 Tiverton TownSaturday 02/10/2010 Southern League Premier Division | Tivvy Archive |
Apart from the first meeting between the clubs back in 2002 Tiverton always score at Halesowen’s Grove, and with the home side typically troubled and their fans typically disillusioned it was understandable that the Yellows would arrive in high spirits and confident of not leaving empty-handed. With a win against Leamington and a good break from competition now behind them the legs were fresh and the optimism high and the trip to the Borough of Dudley didn’t disappoint as Town did it the hard way and sneaked a victory despite playing the entire second half with ten men. The hopes and dreams harboured by Chris Vinnicombe and his merry men might have been scuppered almost directly from the kick off when Lee Osborne sprinted through a defensive line that had yet to settle and bobbled a shot past Ryan Draper. But Tiverton were saved when the upright came to the rescue and Osborne’s effort clipped it before rolling out for a goal kick. For twenty minutes thereafter it was one way traffic as Tivvy laid siege upon the Halesowen goal, and ’keeper Dean Coleman was forced into a diving save to deny David Steele after Adam Mortimer’s initial shot had been blocked and the ball bobbled around amongst feet that were not reacting quickly enough in a crowded area. The same pair of Tiverton players combined again a few minutes later but this time Steele sent his shot wide, and Mortimer lifted a volley over the top when Adam Faux looped a header into the area and perfectly between the defensive line and the goalkeeper. And the waves kept coming – another Steele show was blocked and Alex Faux sent the rebound high into the stand behind the goal, an effort later matched by Liam Ellis as he took aim with his less favoured left peg. Halesowen weren’t without their chances but the nearest they came to breaking the deadlock was on the half hour when their captain Craig Connor sent in a snapshot that Ryan Draper gathered above his head. A couple of minutes before the interval Tivvy were dealt an unfortunate hand when Alex tripped Daryl Taylor as the Yeltz winger made headway through the inside right channel. With Tom Gardner and Jak Martin covering the consensus was a yellow card for the Tivvy left back but the referee had other ideas and showed Alex a straight red. Town were forced to reshuffle and Kevin Hill dropped back from midfield to make up the numbers in the back line, but, as if to underline the positivity in the camp, the Yellows stuck with two up front and for long periods of the second half one would not have realised Tiverton were a player short. Ian Sampson shot low at Coleman midway through the second period but the game was generally tied up in midfield. Halesowen had no nous and no idea how to carve out an opening, relying on deep crosses towards the back post that inevitably dropped behind for goal kicks, while Tiverton showed more creativity but succumbed to a lack of numbers in the final third. That is until Jamie Hatch came off the bench and gave the home defence something to really worry about, and Hatch had only been on the pitch for five minutes when he instigated the move that led to the crucial goal. Off he scampered down the left to gather up a ball played long, and when the Halesowen defence recovered Hatch was forced to check his advances. He held the ball and then flicked a back-heel down the line for Mortimer, and the striker was free to pick his moment, roll the ball across the six yard box and perfectly into the path of Sampson to sweep the ball past Coleman. Coleman saved superbly to deny Hill a stunning goal, tipping the ball onto the crossbar from a volley that was struck as perfectly as is humanly possible, but from the moment Tiverton were ahead there was never any doubt that the three points would be travelling back down the motorway to Devon. Halesowen Town: Dean Coleman, Ade Manchester, Jamie Williams (David Burtoft 46), Courtney Sowe, Chris Goodwin, Anthony Bruce (Ayad Yousif 74), Daryl Taylor, Craig Connor, Lee Osbourne, Ruben Izquierdo, Connor Gater Booked: Goodwin 11 Sent off: None Tiverton Town: Ryan Draper, Adam Faux, Alex Faux, Ian Sampson, Jak Martin, Tom Gardner, Kevin Hill, David Steele (Russell Jee 84), Jamie Densham (Jamie Hatch 74), Adam Mortimer (Perry Carpenter 90+1), Liam Ellis Goal: Sampson 79 Booked: Adam Faux 76 Sent off: Alex Faux 43 Attendance: 172 |
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