The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Tiverton Town 1 - 1 WeymouthFriday 05/08/2005 Friendly | Sam Lear |
With Tiverton´s penultimate pre-season friendly before they start off against Evesham‚ Martyn Rogers would be starting to familiarise himself with his first eleven to kick off their campaign. It was the visit of Weymouth‚ the town boasting its right to host the Sailing games in 2012 that were to visit Ladysmead on a clear‚ blue sky with the sun descending behind the Sponsor´s stand. These games spark a rivalry and the Weymouth supporters made themselves heard for most of the game. It was Weymouth that started the game with the momentum when a free-kick from Adam Wilde on the half way line was headed by Chukki Eribenne on the right hand side of the area to Wayne Purser rushing in to head it towards goal but gave Mark Ovendale an easy take. Weymouth carried on the pressure when a Steve Tully cross found Purser on the back post who had a free header towards the bottom corner but Ovendale managed to scoop the ball off the line quite spectacularly and was cleared from danger. Then came a darting run down the middle by Eribenne who passed the ball to Purser who then powered a shot straight into the ´keeper´s chest. Nathan Rudge was then booked for an awful tackle on Tully which in a league game would have almost certainly been rewarded with a red card. However‚ Martyn Rogers substituted him straight away. Steve Clarke then found Eribenne with an inch perfect cross three yards out but the header sailed over the bar and over the East Stand. Wayne Purser had a run on the left towards the crowded penalty area and dribbled past Steve Winter and Croft but his shot from five yards was parried away by Ovendale. Tiverton had their first crack on goal just before half-time when a free-kick from 40 yards by Paul Milsom bobbled in the area and Dave Hambly took advantage but his effort from five yards was held by Jason Matthews. As Malcolm West blew for half-time the sun set and the floodlights were in full mode and so were the Terras in the second period when Eribenne danced through the middle but his shot was well wide of Mark Ovendale´s right post. The deadlock was broken when an almost unexpected blast from Jamie Mudge from 30 yards out cannoned the right post and into the back of the net to give Tiverton a surpising lead after 64 minutes. The Weymouth pressure then grew. Richie Hanlon darted down the right towards the penalty area but his shot from 20 yards at an acute angle missed the left post. Tiverton broke away from some heavy pressure when Reinier Moor played a square ball from the right to Mudge whose shot from 25 yards whacked the bar and over. Weymouth´s dominance finally paid off when the Tiverton defence failed to clear a cross which substitute Darren Wheeler slammed the ball into the bottom left corner from 15 yards with ten minutes to go. Tiverton had the last laugh when a Hambly corner from the right found Booth at the far edge of the penalty area whose effort nestled into the side netting. The professionals of Weymouth gave a young‚ under strength Tiverton side a very good lesson on what life will be like if they get promoted into the Conference South. The younger players would have gained some vital experience from the clash and how life compares from the youth team to the first team. With Witheridge the last opponents before Evesham‚ Martyn Rogers will have to decide his starting eleven as they head into a potential promotion challenge. Tiverton: Ovendale; Winter‚ Walker‚ Kelly‚ Rudge‚ Milsom‚ Wills‚ Booth‚ Yetton‚ Hambly‚ Mudge. Weymouth: Matthews; Tully‚ Challis‚ O´Brien‚ Bound‚ Harris‚ Clarke‚ Hanlon‚ Eribenne‚ Purser‚ Wilde. Attendance: 381 |
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