TIVVY ARCHIVE

Taunton Town 3 - 1 Tiverton Town

On a blisteringly hot Bank Holiday the Yellows fell to their first defeat of the season to rivals Taunton Town by three goals to one, with more than a hint of deja-vous about several key facts. Wind the clock back twelve months and the Yellows went into the local derby at the top of the pile only to be beaten three one at Ladysmead, while the Boxing Day fixture saw Steve Colwell spark hopes of a comeback with a second half goal. Matt Wright & Shane White put the hosts two up at the break, Bristol City loanee added a third at the start of the second half before Steve Colwell volleyed home what proved to be nothing more than a consolation while Man of the Match goalkeeper Lewis Williams ensured the final score remained respectable with several top drawer saves towards the end.

George Nancekivell was restored to the starting line-up after serving his one match ban in place of Jordan Bastin for the only change to those that had comfortably seen of Beaconsfield previously while the hosts made one change to the eleven that had seen off Wimborne, Lewis Hall for Brad Webb. It could have all been so different early doors though. Olaf Koszela drew a fine save from Lloyd Irish with a curling effort early on and Irish was adjudged not to have fouled Lewington before that, much to the disgust of the visiting dug-out and supporters while at the other end Jamie Price headed a Matt Wright cross wide before they took the lead on twenty eight. Noah Smerdon lost out to Jamie Short and he and Andy Neal combined down the Peacocks right to give Matt Wright the simplest of tap ins before they doubled their lead eight minutes before the interval as Harry Kite sent Shane White through and White finished clinically and only a superb Williams save denied Smith and the Peacocks a third before the break

The hosts continued to push forwards after the break and six minutes in Zak Smith finally further extended their lead, tapping home an Andy Neal cross to send the majority of the one thousand plus crowd ecstatic and only an offside flag denied Neal from getting himself on the score sheet ten minutes later. The shell-shocked Yellows were a shadow of the side that had picked up ten points from four matches to this point but Steve Colwell sparked hopes of a revival twenty minutes from time with a smart volley from the edge of the area through a crowd of defenders. Try as the Yellows did though, the hosts were in no mood to surrender their lead and the Taunton back line snuffed out everything they mustered and only excellent saves from Williams denied Smith, Neal and Brett from extending the lead further in the final minutes.

Tiverton Town: Lewis Williams, Jordan Dyer, Noah Smerdon (Tyler Elliott 77), George Nancekivell, Michael Landricombe, Jordan Bentley, Steve Colwell (Shane Krac 82), River Allen, Jared Lewington, Olaf Koszela (Jordan Bastin 54), Chris Shephard
Goal: Colwell 69

Attendance: 1068