TIVVY ARCHIVE

Tiverton Town 1 - 1 Hartley Wintney

Confidence. It plays a huge part in a teams ability to perform. Go back less than a month and a confident looking Yellows side comprehensively despatched the latest visitors by five to one in an FA Trophy replay after the first ever meeting had ended all square. However, the latest meeting, with the Yellows clearly still reeling from their midweek humbling in South Wales, was a polar opposite. Granted the pitch condition played a part after the torrential downpour in the lead up had almost put paid to the match in the first place, but as a footballing spectacle, it will not live long in the memory. Man of the Match Jamie Price headed the hosts ahead just after the half-hour mark, getting on the end of a Levi Landricombe corner before Hartley defender Jack Ball bundled in the equaliser from a Tyron Smith corner with just under half an hour to play. A rearrangement in personnel and formation from those who were comfortably beaten at in midweek as Davis, Smallcombe, Jordan Rogers and Wadham were all made to do with a place amongst the substitutes as Mammola, Gardner, Bath and Scott Rogers returned to the starting XI and the visitors who were also well beaten midweek were without pacy front man Michael Campbell, who had scored in both previous meetings, otherwise their line up was very similar from the afore mentioned previous meeting of the sides at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium.

Adam Desbois in the visitors goal spectacularly foiled Levi Landricombe early on after a Cameron Allen ball from deep was volleyed goal bound and Jayden Englefield fired narrowly wide after a neat one-two with Romario Hart was as close as either side came to breaking the deadlock before the Yellows captain did exactly that. His flick header in to the top corner, for his second league goal of the season, from a Levi Landricombe corner on thirty one was, apart from the earlier Landricombe volley, the only shot registered on target by the hosts in the first half while the visitors equally failed to trouble Armstrong at the other end, apart from when a Ciardini cross-come-shot needed to be dealt with.

An early second half chance for the Yellows to double their advantage was inexplicably curled wide by the normally prolific Landricombe after Desbois could only palm an Allen cross towards him then a right footed shot, the final destination need not be mentioned, failed to find the target after brother Michael had sent him clear and the visitors took full advantage of the missed opportunities and drew level. Tyron Smith sent a corner in from the Hartley left, the opposite side from which the Yellows had opened the scoring, and Jack Ball was afforded time and space to bundle home from close range. Both sides created chances to take all three points but either profligacy in front of goal or excellent defending ensured a share of the spoils and the second one-all draw between the sides in three meetings.

Tiverton Town: Liam Armstrong, Josh Key (Harrison Davis 69), Callum Hall, Jamie Price, Ben Mammola, Tom Gardner, Scott Rogers (Max Smallcombe 71), Michael Landricombe, Tom Bath, Levi Landricombe, Cameron Allen (Jordan Rogers 81)
Goal: Jamie Price 31

Attendance: 211