The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 3 - 0 Liskeard AthleticSaturday 16/07/2005 Friendly | John Fournier |
Those Tivvy fans eagerly awaiting the playing return of two former heroes‚ Jason Smith and Dave Leonard‚ were left disappointed as both failed to show. Smith has apparently broken down in pre-season training and Leonard decided to bask in the sun by the dug-out rather than risk his ageing body on the pitch. He left that to his young protégés and they didn´t let him down. Tivvy did field another returning “old boy“ in Chris Holloway signed from Merthyr alongside his former teamate Chris Bale. It was the latter who caught the eye‚ tough in the tackle and some rampaging runs that bode well for the sides future. In one crunching challenge on the right wing he turned a 50/50 challenge into an 80/20 tackle that saw the Liskeard skipper Harry Richardson limp out of the action. Bale walked away from the incident without a bruise! Looking like a pitbull terrier he is going to be a firm favourite with the Tivvy crowd this season. The game started brightly for the visitors‚ three corners in the opening two minutes almost saw Matt Hawke open the scoring. From the third he headed goalwards but keeper Mark Ovendale palmed the ball away. On six minutes Kevin Wills put James Mudge away down the right flank but his appalling cross sailed over the bar. Two minutes later came the Yellows first corner‚ Steve Winters flag kick headed downwards and against a post by Paul Milsom. Matt Cusack was causing the Tivvy rearguard problems down the left and they had to be alert to block his angled drive on fifteen minutes. Bale then had a half-chance as Mudges cross reached him but he headed well wide. The Tivvy defence was hesitant again as the ball was swept up the field‚ Marc Thorne should have done better as he was robbed in the box.In the 20th minute Ovendale had to be at his best to deal with a Sam Matthews shot‚ and Liskeard had another chance five minutes later as Brinton Nute´s free-kick was headed towards goal by former Tivvy player Lee Harvey but Ovendale held the ball under the bar.Just past the half-hour mark Kevin Wills put through a delightful ball for James Mudge‚ last seasons top scorer held off the challenge of Hawke but sent his shot wide when he should of scored. However sixty seconds later Tivvy took the lead. Mudge was fouled by skipper Richardson‚ and from the free-kick Winter curled his 20yard effort round the wall‚ keeper Simon Zinn reacted well to dive low down and push the ball away.Athletic failed to clear the ball and when the cross came back in Winter was on the spot to control the ball and hammer it home from the edge of the box. Athletic the lost Richardson after challenging Bale and the half ended with a great turn and shot by Kurt Nogan that Zinn saved brilliantly. HT 1/0 Boss Martyn Rogers made four changes at the break including the introduction of ex-Yeovil Town youngster Sam Croft‚ the tall central-defender almost scoring with his first header from a Mike Booth corner‚ the ball going inches wide. In the 50th minute Bale produced a storming fifty-yard run before feeding Booth whose cross was dummied by Mudge leaving Dave Hambly in acres of space to hammer the ball home. Tivvy netted again 16 minutes later‚ another Booth corner was met by the head of Mike Walker‚ now playing at left wing-back‚ and although Zinn produced an excellent save‚ poacher Stewart Yetton was on hand to net. The second period saw Chris Vinnicombe move from his accustomed left wing-back role to that of sweeper‚ maybe to fill the Smith void and allow Shaun Goff to return in his favoured position. Three members of last seasons succsessful Youth team then joined Hambly on the pitch as Terry Skeggs‚ Adam Kelly and Keeper Ryan Lewis joined the action. Liskeard briefly threatened in the 70th minute as Matthews burst clear but Lewis comfortably held the shot. Five minutes later a Yetton angled shot was beaten away by Zinn for a corner. Zinn then saved well from Bales well-struck 25 yard shot.In the last couple of minutes Reinier Moor´s shot sailed wide but Liskeard almost netted a last minute consolation as Kevin Mee´s 20 yard screamer flew over Lewis´s bar. Boss Martyn Rogers declared himself satisfied with the performance‚saying “ It was extremely hot out there‚ and as a fitness test it went very well. We didn´t pick up any serious injuries or bookings. The boys aquitted themselves really well‚ some of the movement was encouraging. I suspect that Wednesday evening´s game will be much tougher.“ TTFC 1 Ovendale 2 Winter 3 Vinnicombe 4 Walker 5 Rudge 6 Milsom 7 Wills 8 Bale 9 Nogan 10 Holloway 11 Mudge 12 Yetton 14 Hambley 15 Moor 16 Booth 17 Croft 18 Kelly 20 Skeggs g/k Lewis (All subs used) John Fournier |
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