The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 3 - 2 Team BathTuesday 18/01/2005 Southern League Cup | John Reidy |
When Tivvy face the same team twice in rapid succession it is always difficult to approach the game with a fresh outlook. Bad enough when it happens‚ as it has done previously this season‚ in the case of Gloucester City and Hednesford but at least on those occasions the meetings were home and away. Even less inspirational then‚ when both games were at Ladysmead and worse still when the second encounter was in a Donald Duck (why should Micky Mouse get all the plaudits?) competition. Add to that the facts that despite their performance in the holiday encounter Team Bath are hardly the most glamourously perceived opposition‚ that many of the Devon Football aficionado´s minds were concentrated on the following evening´s visit of some reputedly ‘big´ club to neighbouring Exeter City‚ and finally that it was a foul evening as far as the weather was concerned and you had all the ingredients for a non-event. The lack of enthusiasm was reflected in the 185 souls that trickled through the turnstiles. I too shall reflect that tendency towards ennui by keeping my views on the event (comparatively) short. The Yellows started brightly and despite the slippery sloppy state of the pitch played some good football to pressure a Team Bath defence that‚ just as they had last time they came to Ladysmead‚ took a while to settle. On that occasion when they did begin to gel the ‘students´ (inverted commas seem appropriate) had taken control but‚ though they too managed to overcome the conditions to string together some good moves‚ this time Tivvy remained on top. The first real chance came on the eleventh minute when David Steele made a lively run on the left wing and drove in his cross to the near post. Kurt Nogan met the ball perfectly - well almost - but sent his header crashing into the advertising hoarding a foot to the right (wrong) side of the post. What Team Bath lacked‚ and forgive me for referring back to the previous encounter‚ was the width. Luke Prince who had caused so many problems was still in-situ but on the other side Matt Lewis had been replaced by Matt Reeves who‚ initially at least‚ was to make far less impact. Prince wandered from wing to wing and caused work for the Tivvy defence whenever his side did break but looked less of a threat without his partner stretching the back line across the park and this enabled Steve Winter and Shaun Goff to get forward more. Jamie Densham seemed to be revelling in the conditions. The heavy pitch clearly suited him as it slowed the ball down and his lightweight frame skipped across the surface of slime. Nogan too was looking good. His ability to control the ball became steadily more obvious as Tivvy pushed forward and in the 16th minute there was another close call for the Team Bath goal when Nogan hoisted a cross in from the left and keeper Ali Hines´ punch fell to Winter just outside the box. Winter steadied the ball‚ moved forward a yard or two and fired in a curling shot that swerved past the upright. A Yellows goal clearly was on the cards and sure enough it came in the 20th minute. Densham chased an apparently lost ball into the left hand corner in typically ‘Ovenesque´ style. He didn´t get there but his harassing did force the defender who reached the ball first to touch it out over his own goal-line. Over went Winter to lift in the now familiar pressurising in-swinging corner. It looked as if ‘Wints´ kick might have done just the same as Chris Vinnicombe´s effort had up at Merthyr and snuck inside the far post‚ but just to make certain Densham got his head to it to claim the goal and put Town in front. The Yellows continued to make the running‚ Densham tested Hines in the 27th minute after combining well with Nogan and Steele saw a firm drive held well by the keeper after Tivvy had built an attack that involved Densham‚ Winter‚ Goff and Nogan as the ball was swung from wing to wing. The second goal had to come and when Mike Booth curled a ball along the right touchline and Densham slithered past defender Mark Townley‚ it was on its way. Jamie cut in towards goal and looked to be teeing himself up for a shot when‚ with defenders closing on him‚ he slipped the ball sideways to present Nogan with the simplest of debut goals. Still the Tiverton onslaught continued and when Densham pounced on a poor headed clearance after a sustained session of cross (Tivvy) and clear (TB) and drove the ball firmly through the crowded six yard box to bulge the net the ‘Two goal lead´ nerves among the fans began to evaporate as the half time whistle sounded. Half time.....everything changes....or so it often seems. Team Bath seemed to have forgotten that they were three goals down and had hardly been able to mount an attack. Tivvy just seemed to have forgotten. That they were the dominating team for 45 minutes. That they had scored three good goals by pressing forward. That they only had to keep their shape‚ a decent percentage of the control they had shown and most importantly their ‘cool´‚ to run out comfortable winners. One thing that the visitors did seem to remember was that if they attacked Tivvy they could come back from behind. They seemed to respond to the challenge with the attitude that they´d done it from two down - now let´s see if we can do it from three! They came out and poured forward. It took five minutes. Winter had a chance to send the ball upfield. He faffed and lost possession to Reeves. Reeves ran at the Tiverton defence and fired in a low shot that skimmed past Mark Ovendale and into the net. The nerves were back - on the terraces and on the field. Five minutes later it looked as if the deficit was about to be reduced further. Prince was put through by a long ball. Steele chased and just as the lively royally named livewire was about to shoot made the tackle that just touched the ball away from the Bath man´s boot. Prince recovered but before he could get to the loose ball Ovendale scooped it away and then up. But it was a short reprieve. As Team Bath laid siege to the Tivvy penalty area Michael Walker was judged‚ perhaps harshly‚ to have brought down Caleb Kamara-Taylor. Ovendale went the right way as he faced the kick but Reeves´ low drive was past his glove and in the net before the hand reached the point where it might have made contact with the ball. 3-2.....did someone mention the jitters. Frontmen Densham and Nogan almost vanished into obscurity as far as being an attacking force was concerned. The visitors were rampant and forced Tivvy back into their own final third. The defending was sometimes desperate‚ always determined but seldom successful as far as actually clearing the ball away was concerned. Ovendale had to turn a fierce rising drive from Prince over the crossbar for a corner and Rob Cousins swept the ball off the line when it looked as if the equaliser had been scored. Team Bath threw everything they had at The Yellows......even including the use of one of two substitute keepers they had named among their three replacements. Somehow Town hung on. It was very much ‘somehow´. The visitors will wonder how they failed to find a way through in that last half hour. Had they managed the equaliser they would have been very likely to have found the winner and it might not even have needed extra time. In the end the one goal margin was enough - it always is in cup football. One goal and progress but it was far from convincing when on the first half performance it should have been. Tiverton Town: Mark Ovendale‚ Steve Winter (Chris Vinnicombe‚ 75)‚ Shaun Goff (Kevin Wills‚ 82)‚ Michael Walker‚ Tom Stocco‚ Rob Cousins‚ Jamie Densham‚ Mike Booth‚ Kurt Nogan‚ Paul Buckle‚ David Steele. Subs: Dave Hambley‚ Pete Conning‚ Ian Nott. Yellow Cards: None Team Bath: Ali Hines‚ Ali Otto‚ Matt Towney, Carl Heiniger, Paul Tisdale (Ian Andrews, 82), Alex Ball, Luke Prince, Joe Long, Caleb Kamara-Taylor (James Edgerley, 80), Stefan Wojciechowski, Matt Reeves. Subs: Darren Chitty, Yellow cards: Reeves. Att: 185 Referee: Mr. R. Greenwood (Exeter). |
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