TIVVY ARCHIVE

Hartley Wintney 1 - 4 Tiverton Town

The new look management team promised a different brand of football at the start of the season and boy have they delivered on their promise so far. Top scorers in the league with twenty-one goals from seven matches and the sort of attacking football that is a delight to watch. But after the Yellows had bowed out of the Southern League cup at Truro in midweek and only picked up one point in their two previous league matches, a trip to in-form Hartley Wintney, who  had won at Dorchester and Metropolitan Police in two of their three previous matches, was not the ideal fixture to return to winning ways, but the Yellows screwed up the form book and threw it out the window as they came from a goal down to record their biggest away win of the season so far with without question their best performance on the road for a good long while.

At the break the sides went in level as Dean Rule gave the hosts the lead on eighteen before Matt Drage turned a Jordan Bastin corner into his own net six minutes before the interval. Bastin then put the Yellows ahead just after the restart before wonderful goals from Jared Lewington and River Allen sealed the win. The Yellows made two changes to the personnel that had won by the odd goal in five at Burnham in the FA Cup on the previous Saturday as Josh Key, who had re-joined from Exeter City on a six month loan deal the day before, replaced the unwell Steve Colwell and Tyler Elliott started a league match for the first time in place of the hamstring-stricken Chris Shephard, who is likely to be out of action for month. The hosts made just one change from the side that had also progressed in the FA Cup as Josh Webb replaced Louie Paget.

The home side started well and were good merit for their lead when it arrived, in slightly fortunate circumstances it has to be said, on eighteen minutes. Sal Abubakar drilled a low cross in from the Hartley right that Mickel Platt swung a boot at and completely missed his kick which fooled Yellows defenders and probably Lewis Williams for that matter, and Dean Rule rolled into the somewhat unguarded net. To say it was one-way traffic after that would be unfair but, as they have done on several occasions already this season, after falling a goal behind, the Yellows turned on the style and it was only a matter of time before they drew level. Luke Williams in the Hartley goal somehow kept out a Bastin effort with a one handed save on the line and a River Allen shot from distance crashed down off the underside of the crossbar the right side of the line from a Hartley point of view before the equaliser came, again with a hint of fortune about it as Bastins corner drifted over Williams, who alleged he had been fouled before the ball bounced in off Hartley defender Matt Drage.

The second half belonged to the visitors and just three minutes in to the second period had gone when the Yellows took the lead. Key and Man of the Match Tyler Elliott burst forward before the ball was worked to Allen and his through ball was emphatically despatched past Williams by Bastin into the far corner, the same corner of the net that would eventually be struck twice more before the afternoon was done. Another fast flowing move from back to front saw Lewington further extend the lead with a brilliant curling effort on sixty-four before River Allen rubbed salt in to gaping wounds and sealed the win with an almost identical replica of the Lewington goal five minutes in to eight minutes of stoppage time to seal their biggest league win on the road since the 5-0 win at Gosport back in January 2018.

Tiverton Town: Lewis Williams, Jordan Dyer, Noah Smerdon, George Nancekivell, Michael Landricombe, Jordan Bentley (Isaac Furness 84), Josh Key, River Allen (George Rogers 90+8), Jared Lewington, Jordan Bastin, Tyler Elliott (Brad Riggs 90)
Goals: Matt Drage OG 39, Bastin 48, Lewington 64, Allen 90+5

Attendance: 212