The unofficial archives of Tiverton Town Football Club
Bath City 1 - 0 Tiverton TownTuesday 16/08/2005 Southern League Premier Division | Chris Bell |
Second in the table plays third in a local derby‚ surely the setting for hotly fought six pointer and local bragging rights. Initial impressions suggested otherwise. The evening was that unusual English phenomenon‚ a fine warm sunny one‚ and despite a crowd of 800 the noise levels were low. This had much to do with the way Tivvy started‚ much in the same vein of the first half against Evesham‚ stringing passes together in good flowing movements. This despite the loss of Hambly‚ Rudge and Friend‚ Wills‚ Walker and Goff being asked to deputise. Somewhat worryingly the programme informed us that one of the linesman was a Homer. What was strange was the lack of pace or bite to the Bath play for the initial quarter of an hour‚ Tivvy were a yard faster. During this period Mudge played Yetton in for a diving header that was well saved low down by Fisher and Walker headed on a near post corner for Mudge to volley over. The Tivvy dominance was briefly interrupted when Walsh‚ an old style centre forward in more ways than one‚ turned and shot. Ovo saved well with his legs and the rebound was put over the bar. Normal service was resumed when Goff had a good strike from a free kick that Fisher tipped over. Milsom then failed to get sufficient power on a back header‚ which let Partridge in‚ but he uncharacteristically dragged his shot wide of the far post. Bath awoke from their slumbers in the form of Power tackling through Bale‚ with the ball a coincidental participant in proceedings‚ for which he collected a yellow card. Almost immediately a Wills centre in from a short corner by Goff was intercepted and Bath broke 2 on 1. Winters was the one and he stopped his opponent in his tracks with a body check Mick McManus would have been proud of. Other way round and Tivvy fans would have been shouting for the red card. Bath didn´t disappoint but the referee did and a yellow was shown. However‚ this well and truly woke Bath up and now with a great sense of injustice they upped their play. The initial recipient was Winters who received a head in the face from Walsh‚ with the ball yet again just adjacent enough to avoid the Ref´s wrath. The suspicion was that Bath thought he was lucky to be there to be jumped at. Holloway however‚ was less fortunate and soon after saw yellow for a late tackle. Battle had been joined‚ in more ways than one as we were to discover later. With half an hour gone Holloway half tripped an opponent as he ran into the area. He kept his feet until he realised he was in the area and the ball had run on at which point he mysteriously collapsed. The Ref didn´t take the con and the free kick came to nothing‚ but the temperature on the pitch rose despite the sun setting. Half time arrived with Tivvy starting to compromise their passing game in favour of long balls under pressure from Bath. More worryingly they were allowing themselves to be distracted into niggling feuds. Soon after the restart Bale attempted to dummy a ball out of defence‚ but Power read it and hammered in a twenty five-yard shot that Ovo saved superbly. Tivvy replied with Yetton heading a Winters free kick just wide of the post with the goalie beaten. Partridge‚ who like Mudge had a quiet night‚ briefly sprang into life when he collected a hopeful clearance by his defence‚ held off two defenders‚ but then shot over. Tivvy were still creating occasional chances but the force was with Bath in all but the handbag stakes where Bale and Coupe exchanged pleasantries. The Ref´s decisions continued to provide Bath with more motivation than their manager seemed able to. Then ten minutes into the half Tivvy´s chances waned in sympathy with the moon that appeared on cue over Twerton Park‚ Wills receiving a straight red card for a tackle. The pressure on the Tivvy goal inevitably mounted and they had an escape when a cross by Walsh from the left ran across the six-yard box behind all of the onrushing players. However‚ the relief was short-lived as the ball was crossed back in to be headed into the goal by Sandell. Dodge´s answer was to bring on Moor for Goff but it was Bath who went on the attack when Partridge cleverly controlled a clearance by his defence and gave and took a pass that put him clear in on goal with “only?” Ovo to beat. His shot was blasted high‚ wide and not so handsome. If Bath´s star striker was having a bad day Tivvy´s was just about to get worse when Mudge went down under a tackle that resulted in him being carried off. The officials consulted but nothing had been seen although much was suspected. On a rare attack Walker fired in a fierce shot from distance which Archer struggled to hold at the second attempt‚ but the feeling was that no points were going to be carried back down the M5. This thought was cemented in the dying minutes of the game when Holloway was sent off for a second yellow for a foul tackle. First away game of the season‚ two sent off and a sense of déjà vu reared up and wrapped its clammy hands around the Tivvy faithful. The game ended with Yetton back on defensive duties clearing loose balls from the area on a damage limitation exercise. Far too early in the season for this result to be significant in the final shake out‚ but injuries and suspensions are a more worrying immediate concern. One thing for sure was that we missed Dave Hambly. This time last year most fans wouldn´t have heard the name. Shows how things can change. Lets hope it starts with better news from Banbury on Saturday. |
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Bath City 1 - 0 Tiverton TownTuesday 16/08/2005 Southern League Premier Division | Sam Lear |
Twerton Park in recent years hasn´t been a great hunting ground for Tiverton and Tuesday wasn´t to go against that statement‚ as Tiverton slumped to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Bath City after an Andy Sandell header was to be the only goal for the Romans. A 1-0 loss wasn´t the only disappointment for the Yellows‚ with Kevin Wills and Chris Holloway having an early Bath! It was a clear blue sky that the teams ran out to‚ as well as a crowd of 800 supporters. Tiverton started with good flowing football‚ with passes that broke up the Bath defence time and time again. The first attempt at goal was after five minutes‚ when a Steve Winter free-kick from the right hand side was headed down by Mike Walker in the area‚ to Stewart Yetton who heeled it wide of the left post. Possibly Tiverton´s best chance of the match was after eight minutes‚ when a Jamie Mudge cross was headed well by Yetton‚ whose header from eight yards was saved with a corner the result. Bath´s first chance came after 13 minutes‚ when Scott Partridge made a run down the left hand side and managed a cross on the by-line to Phil Walsh‚ whose shot blazed over the bar from 18 yards. Shaun Goff – in for the injured George Friend‚ had a stab at goal from a free-kick 40 yards out‚ which looped in the air and eventually tipped over the bar by stand-in ‘keeper Andy Fisher - in for the injured Paul Evans. After 20 minutes‚ a Winter corner from the left was headed by Paul Milsom over the bar. As the hot-air balloons flew over the ground and into the horizon‚ so did Tiverton´s reign of terror that caused the Bath defence to duck for cover. A long ball from the halfway line by Sandell met Partridge on the edge of the area‚ who was judged to have been brought down by Milsom‚ but much to the Bath´s fans anger‚ for only a free-kick. Long-ball football was starting to be played by Tiverton‚ Bath gained the momentum and had the best chance of the half‚ when a long-ball to Partridge‚ whose shot just missed the right post after 24 minutes. The first controversial decision by Christopher Banks from Oxford was when Winter brought down Partridge‚ after his darting run and was thought to be the last man by the Bath faithful‚ who made that clear with chants of‚ “Cheerio‚” but to their disgust‚ Winter was to be shown a yellow‚ and a free-kick being the outcome. Half-time blew to the delight of some Tiverton fans‚ and possibly to the players as well as they were feeling the heat of the Bath pressure‚ who should have been winning with some of the chances hey had. Man-of-the-match Graeme Power had a blast from 40 yards‚ but his effort was parried away by Mark Ovendale to no-danger after 50 minutes. That was the start of the bombardment of attacks from the Romans in the second half. Jim Rollo was then taken out from behind by Wills‚ who saw red after 62 minutes‚ and the pressure mounted even further with a wide gap in the middle of the field‚ which was exploited by a Roman march. After 69 minutes‚ the Tiverton defence failed to clear a Sandell cross from the left‚ which was gathered up by Steve Jones‚ whose shot from the edge of the area sailed over. It was starting to become a matter of when Bath would score and not if. Bath then had a glorious opportunity‚ when they were 2 vs. 1 against Tiverton‚ but a Walsh pass went behind Partridge‚ who had an empty net to score from‚ if the pass was good enough. It was cleared for a corner by Mike Walker. Steve Jones then played the corner short to Partridge who placed an accurate cross to the unmarked Sandell at the far post who‚ despite Ovendale´s best efforts‚ headed in from 5 yards‚ to confirm the inevitable after 74 minutes. Martyn Rogers then went for a more attackive approach by taking Shaun Goff off and putting on Reinier Moor. This proved to make little difference, and with chants of, “City ‘till I die” Bath looked comfortable. After 79 minutes, Bath had a perfect chance to cement their win when a Bobby Ford through-ball to Partridge, who was one on one with Ovendale, missed the right post when it looked easier to score. In the 89th minute, Holloway was given his marching orders by Christopher Banks, after he lunged into Adie Harris. It was his second yellow, with first coming in the first half, when he fouled Jon Holloway. In stoppage time there was enough time to see a Martin Paul shot cleared off the line by Walker, and scrambled away. The final whistle blew; the fans left, the players sunk. The team will have to pick themselves up after that performance, which was well below par. There were very few positives to come out of that, the only one being the opening twenty minutes, when Tiverton played great football. They missed the leadership presence of Nathan Rudge, but they need to find a way around that as he is expected to be out for a month. Bath City: Fisher; S Jones, Power, Holloway, Coupe, Rollo (c), G Jones (Ford 66), Harris, Walsh, Partridge (Paul 86), Sandell. Subs not used: Hulbert, Holland, York. Tiverton Town: Ovendale; Winter, Goff (Moor 74), Gould, Walker, Milsom, Wills, Bale, Yetton, Holloway, Mudge (Nogan 82). Subs not used: Hambly, Booth, Kelly. Attendance: 800 Shots on target: 2-5 Shots off target: 8-5 Corners: 2-6 Bookings: 1-2 Sent off: 0-2 |
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