The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Chippenham Town 4 - 0 Tiverton TownTuesday 08/02/2005 Southern League Cup | John Reidy |
Anthropologist and one time football club director Desmond Morris probably had something to write about it in his book about the tribal element to be found in soccer fans; Freud - Sigmund the psychologist fella‚ not Clement the gourmet and erstwhile Liberal MP - could no doubt have come up with some theory of explanation blaming a deep seated Oedipus complex; but as yet there seems to be no commonly known explanation of the strange fixation that Chippenham Town´s fans have that convinces them that‚ no matter what competition it might be in‚ a fixture against Tiverton Town is an event of world shattering importance. Possibly it has historical - or maybe that should be ‘hysterical´ - roots‚ that go back to the days when Tivvy were the team that all Western League clubs set on a pedestal as an example to be emulated. Taunton Town‚ The Chipps‚ others too‚ tried but never quite reached the heights that the turn of the Millennium Yellows did and perhaps it is a jealousy factor that motivates the artificial rivalry that now exists in the Wiltshiremen´s thoughts and nowhere else. Or maybe it is similar to the mind set of Scottish football fans of a past era that hardly cared what their team did through a season as long as England - The Auld Enemy - was beaten by the tartan army when they faced each other every April: and even better if the meeting was on the Sassanach territory of Wembley. Whatever the reason the pre match build up among the Wiltshire outfit´s fans prior to this ‘Dandy and Beano´ Cup tie‚ followed what has become the ‘norm´. Chippenham were up for it...Tiverton´s fans would go through the motions‚ be glad of a win if they got one‚ but if not‚ then‚ like Rhett in ‘Gone With The Wind´‚ “Frankly.......‚ I don´t give a damn.” For the opening ten minutes or so the two teams sparred‚ metaphorically that is....the ‘real´ stuff was to wait until a lot later. Both sides seemed prepared to probe forward but it was the home ‘lot´ that made the first incisive move when‚ in the 9th minute Dave Gilroy collected a mis-clearance to hammer in the initial shot of the game from the edge of the penalty area‚ an effort that was powerful but always drifting high and wide away from goal. A couple of minutes later and there was a similar scenario. Tiverton once again failed to put distance onto a clearance‚ this one a free kick headed away but falling to Matthew McEnteggart‚ who unleashed a typical defender´s thunderbolt that came a lot closer as it curled just inches past the upright and‚ with The Bluebirds clearly getting on top‚ James Constable rounded Michael Walker wide on the right a minute later to drive in a fierce low shot that Mark Ovendale did well to get down to even though he couldn´t keep a hold on the ball and Rob Cousins had to nip in to clear up with a hefty boot for touch. The home side´s ‘rookie´ keeper Chris Astley was able to watch in comfort from afar as Ovendale continued to give a display of reactive goalkeeping a hundred yards away as Gilroy was denied by Ovendale´s feet first save as the Weston - super - Mare loan player pounced on a headed down ball to continue the home side´s barrage of the Tiverton defence with quarter of an hour gone. A goal was beginning to look inevitable and sure enough it came in the 17th minute. Constable‚ this time in a central position slipped a pass through the Tivvy defence that put Gilroy in the clear to drive the ball convincingly under Ovendale. Tiverton had no real answer. They did mount something of a retaliatory effort but the best that they could offer was a Steve Winter shot that Astley collected comfortably after the Tivvy man had made a break on the right before turning inside to take a pot from 25 yards. The difference between the attacking play of the two sides - apart from the quantity - was clear to see‚ The home side were spreading the ball around‚ getting it wide and switching from wing to wing. Tivvy‚ when they did manage to make forward progress were playing a lot closer and were seldom moving out of the channel in which a move started. This saw the Chippenham forwards stretching the Tivvy back line whilst all The yellows were doing was running into a solid blue wall. The only way Tiverton looked likely to find a way through was with an individual run and with Jamie Densham looking decidedly inadequate Winter was the only apparent option. And it was Winter that was to create and then fail to take Tivvy´s best chance of levelling the score. Robbing McEnteggart as the Chippenham defender lingered on the ball‚ Wints was round him and away at full tilt for the penalty area. McEnteggart regained his composure and gave chase but as ‘Wints´ crossed the line into the area he was bundled off the ball by the chasing Bluebird and the referee hesitated not as he pointed to the spot before showing McEnteggart the yellow card. Winter hit his spot kick hard and low to the keeper´s right. Astley chose the right way to dive and beat the ball out from just within the upright. It was a fine save and within a minute Ovendale matched it in his own way at the opposite end as he used his feet again to deny Constable as the nippy striker was fed with a through ball by Gilroy. And that was the way the game continued to the break. The hosts having the best of things but Tivvy hanging on in there. That could all have changed within the opening two minutes after the restart. Scott Walker hit in a free kick from 25 yards out that dipped and curled to test Ovendale who did well to flip it over the crossbar for a corner and the quadrant kick was met solidly by the head of Simon Charity to force Ovendale down to ground level to hold the effort. Tivvy were putting in a bit more effort but still lacking penetration and it was still Ovendale doing all the goalkeeping as he did in the 54th minute to hold a shot on the run from Constable. With The Yellows becoming a little more competitive the home side responded in like manner and the free kick count started to accelerate....as did the frequency of flashing yellow cards‚ Cousins and Harvey both being on the receiving end though it must be mentioned that Cousins was only shown his after the referee had been pressured from the Chippenham bench after he had apparently decided to settle for merely awarding the free kick. Tivvy made a double substitution on 58 minutes. Nathan Rudge‚ also on the end of a measure of ‘winding up´ from the home management duo‚ was withdrawn to delirious delight from the home fans (call in Freud!) to be replaces by Tom Stocco‚ and Mike Booth took Kevin Wills midfield spot. Booth in particular seemed to add some sparkle to the centre of the team but there was still little up front until Jamie Mudge was called off the bench in the 68th minute. Within 60 seconds Mudge had managed to latch onto a long forward ball to hit a first time shot on the volley that curled well wide....but at least it was a shot - something of a rarity. Twenty minutes to go saw Chippenham decide to liven up their attack but before there was a chance to see if It would make any difference Harvey was shown his second yellow card for what was a comparatively innocuous tackle. Again‚ he probably would have got away with a stern lecture from the man in black were it not for the incessant calls of his number and “book him‚ ref”‚ “What you gonna do about him”‚ ”How many more times”‚ etc. etc. from the previously mentioned management pairing of Messers White and Needham. The congratulatory hugging and congratulations between the two when the official produced the yellow card was a disgusting display of bad sportsmanship. Back to the game and those celebrations at the reduction in Tivvy numbers was shown to be justified. With the extra man and the wider open spaces to be exploited the home side´s task was going to be far easier. It took them just three minutes to underline that with their second goal. Substitute Sam Allison had looked lively from the moment he stepped on the pitch and it was no surprise when he motored down the left to hoist in a cross to the far post where Gilroy was lurking in space to crash the ball into the net with 15 minutes to go. That Tivvy managed to hang on without conceding another goal is slight testimony to their hard work in defence. But there was no denying the final swoop from The Bluebirds. With three minutes to go Sub Ellis Wilmot flighted a free kick in from the right that fellow sub Martin Paul headed firmly home at the far post‚ and in the final minute Gilroy rounded of an excellent performance to lift in a cross that Allison flicked home to round off the scoring. It was‚ though‚ the last goal only thanks to the heroics of Ovendale as he flung himself full length to turn a Paul Rocket away for an added time corner. No doubt the Chippenham fans will mark the evening of 06.02.2005 as a major landmark in their club´s history‚ along with the evening of 20.01.2004. Both were clearly of far more significance than defeat by Deal Town at Wembley in the FA Vase Final......or so it would seem. What strange delusions. Tiverton Town: .Mark Ovendale‚ Steve Winter‚ Chris Vinnicombe‚ Mike Walker, Nathan Rudge (Tom Stocco, 58), Rob Cousins, Kevin Wills (Mike Booth, 58), Iain Harvey, Kurt Nogan, Shaun Goff, Jamie Densham (James Mudge, 79). Subs not used: Bradley Haynes. Booked: Rudge, Wills, Cousins, Harvey(x2). Sent Off: Harvey Chippenham Town: Chris Astley, Simon Charity, Matthew McEnteggart, Wayne Thorne (Sam Allison, 70), Rene Regis, Mark Badman, Gary Horgan (Ellis Wilmott, 80) Lee Davidson (Martin Paul, 70),James Constable, David Gilroy, Scott Walker. Subs not used: Ben Kirk, Gary Thorne,. Booked: Horgan, McEnteggart, Badman, Walker, Gilroy. Att: 403 Referee: Mr. James Evamy (Liphook, Hants) |
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